Chapter 40
Over the next few weeks nothing exciting really happened. James parents had gotten a bit angry about the so-called engagement of James and Lily and made sure a retraction was written. Lily and James seemed to be even more in love. They also tended to disappear from time to time. Only a handful of people knew about Lily and James becoming more intimate, but they were sure everyone else was guessing it.
One evening at dinner Lily was sitting with Claudia, Michelle, Sophie, Laura - her other dorm mate, and several other girls including a few from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. They had finished their dinner and were just sitting about talking.
"It's a wonder she hasn't done something by now. Its common knowledge she wants him back Claudia. If I were you I'd watch out for her." Alice Valmont, a seventh year from Hufflepuff, said. She had long brown hair with a few freckles scattered over her face. She was very pretty but clumsy none the less.
"You think?" Claudia asked apprehensively. Mandy, a girl from Ravenclaw nodded her head.
"You should hear her in the dorm about how you are 'wrong' for him. But we disagree with her. I mean just look at Remus-" and everybody did. His dark golden locks were spiked fashionably and he looked as if he needed a shave in a very handsome rugged way. His blue eyes sparkled, as he was about to shoot a pea from his tablespoon at James. "-He's a whole lot happier looking than when he was with Ruth. With Ruth he looked as if the world was on his shoulders." Mandy said. Remus noticed that the girls were watching him and looked at them oddly.
"Sirius did it." Remus said automatically. The girls rolled their eyes and turned away from him. This earned a carrot hitting his head from Sirius.
"I wouldn't worry about her, Claudia. She's jealous." Joey, another seventh year Gryffindor said. Claudia sighed and shrugged. Just then James plonked down between Lily and Michelle.
"Hello lovely ladies." James said with a smile. The girls smiled as Lily eyed him carefully.
"What are you after?" Lily asked. James was about to reply when a voice cut him off.
"Just because you're sitting with the girls doesn't mean I won't hit you Prongs." Sirius called from down the table at him. James ducked a piece of flying broccoli as he turned to Lily.
"Sirius if any more flying vegetables - or any food for that matter - comes near me I will kill you." Michelle warned form the other side of James. Sirius put his hands up and gave her a smile and a wink.
"As I was about to say before I was RUDELY interrupted." James said looking pointedly at Sirius who continued his food fight by hitting a few third years. "I left my Potions book in the dungeons. Wanna come with me to get it?" James asked with a grin. Lily grinned but shook her head.
"I would really love to but someone has to make sure that a food war won't break out between Sirius and the rest of the school." Lily said. James mockingly sighed.
"Fine. But we're studying together later." James said with a mischievous grin. Lily grinned also.
"That's cool. I really have to get that Charms essay written." Lily said. James kissed her cheek then whispered into her ear.
"Who said anything about studying schoolwork?" James said before he stood up. Lily blushed as he winked at her before leaving. The last thing James heard before leaving the great hall was Lily scolding Sirius.
"Food is for eating not throwing, Sirius!"
As the doors closed behind him all the noise disappeared. The Entrance hall was very quiet as James walked towards the dungeon corridor. He stopped however when he heard loud whispers come from a nearby classroom. Not one for being nosy he walked on until he could distinctly hear a familiar voice.
"Look I told you it was over." A female voice said.
"You look beautiful. I could give you anything you wanted." The sleazy voice of Lucius Nott could be heard.
"Look I told you I'm with someone. Just because you can't be faithful doesn't mean I can't be." The female voice said. James knew it sounded familiar but couldn't place it.
"Faithfulness never bothered you before. What can he give you that I can't?" Nott asked. James's curiosity grew as he stepped towards the open classroom door.
"Objects are not important to me." Nott 'hmphed'. "Plus I love him and he loves me."
"Whatever you'll be back. You are nothing but a slut anyway." Nott sneered. James grew angry. He had no right to talk to a girl like that.
"I'm not a slut. I slept with you once, and you brag like we did it a million times. But at least I found love. You'll be stuck for the rest of your life stuck with some bimbo who truly doesn't care about you." The female voice said. The door of the classroom opened and the girl walked out. James gasped as he saw who it was.
"James?" Eve said looking at him in alarm. "How long have you been standing there?" Eve asked frantically. James stared at her.
"Tell me what I heard wasn't real, Eve. Tell me!" James said to her. Eve took a deep breath and was about to say something when Nott walked out of the room with a grin.
"It's rude to eavesdrop." He said with a smirk. James glared at him then turned on his heel and walked away.
"James!" Eve called after him. James didn't turn around. She ran after him and caught up with him in the Entrance Hall. She grabbed a hold of his arm and swung him around. "Talk to me!" Eve said to him.
"I can't even look at you." James said turning away.
"Aww is Potty angry?" The sneering voice of Nott said. He was leaning against the wall beside the point's board. James turned to Eve.
"He tried it on with you didn't he? He forced you, right?" James asked hopefully. Eve looked at the ground and shook her head.
"Eve was more than willing." Nott said gleefully. James turned to him and walked towards him. Before Nott realized it he was being pinned to the wall be James.
"James stop it!" Eve screamed at him.
"You stay the fuck away from my sister!" James said. Nott pushed him away.
"I'll do whatever I bloody well want to do." Nott scowled at him. Just as the doors to the Great Hall opened James punched Nott in the jaw. Nott's head swung to the side because of the impact. He then punched James in the stomach and pair started to fight. As the students came out of the hall they all stopped as they saw James and Nott fight.
"What's going on?" Sirius shouted as he moved his way through the crowd.
"Nott and Potter are fighting." A third year said.
"Shit!" Sirius said as he pushed people out of the way. He stopped as he seen the pair fight. He quickly split them up much to the annoyance of the crowd. Nott had a black eye and James had a bloody lip.
"What the hell is going on?" Sirius asked the pair. James threw a murderous glance at Nott.
"I swear if you go anywhere near her again, I will kill you." James said before walking away.
"James!" Eve called after him. James stopped and glared at her.
"Leave me alone Eve." He said before making his way towards Gryffindor tower. The crowd started whispering as Lily made her way towards Sirius.
"What happened?" She asked him. Sirius turned towards Nott.
"What'd you do?" Sirius asked him. Nott sneered then left. They all turned to Eve but she wasn't there.
A while later Lily stepped through the Portrait hole. There were a few people sitting about including Eve who was sitting on a chair beside the window
near the Boys staircase, with a book on her lap. She didn't seem to be paying much attention to it, as she stared out through the window. Lily walked over to her and sat in the seat opposite her.
"Hey." Lily said. Eve looked up and let out a deep sigh. "Wanna tell me what happened?" Lily asked.
"James knows about Nott and me." Eve said quietly. Lily's jaw dropped.
"What? How?" Lily asked.
"He heard me telling Nott that it was over." Eve said as she stared at the ground. Lily shook her head. Unbeknownst to them but somebody was eavesdropping.
"Eve I told you to tell him ages ago. I knew something like this would happen." Lily said as she shook her head.
"I know Lily." Eve said in a whine. "Maybe you can go talk to him for me? He'll listen to you." Eve said as she put the book on the floor and moved forward.
"And say what to him Eve? It was all just a fling that meant nothing to you." Lily said. Eve sighed and sat back on her chair.
"It didn't mean anything. It was just the thrill of getting caught." Eve said quietly.
"I know you told me this." Lily said. "Maybe I should've told him when I found out." Lily said with a shake of her head.
"When did you find out?" A voice said. Lily and Eve looked up to see James standing there. His bleeding lip had been healed. Lily stood up.
"James I-" Lily began.
"Lily tell me!" James demanded. Lily looked at her feet.
"Before Christmas." Lily said. Rage burned in James's eyes.
"You've known about this and you didn't tell me?" James asked angrily.
"It wasn't up to me to tell you." Lily said looking at him pleadingly.
"You're supposed to be my girlfriend. If you loved me you would've told me." James said angrily. Lily stared at him as tears came to her eyes.
"I do love you, James." Lily said looking at him hurt.
"Well it sure as hell doesn't seem like that." James said before walking out of the common room. The small amount of people in the common room sat in silence as they watched Lily, having heard the whole argument.
"Lily he didn't mean that. He was just angry with me." Eve said to her. Lily shook her head as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"No he meant it." Lily said. She looked at Eve then left the common room to find solace. Eve sighed as she sat down.
A while later James was running through the forest in his animagus form. He felt so free as he ran letting all his thoughts just wash away. He couldn't believe that Eve and Nott had actually been together. That made him sick. And it made it even worse to know that Lily had known about it and hadn't told him.
He thought Lily had loved him. He had told her every secret he ever had. It hurt him to know that she didn't share all of hers. He knew he was being stupid and he knew he shouldn't have said what he did to her. He knew she loved him. Every time he looked into her eyes he could see how much she did. It was just his anger that had gotten the better of him. He stopped his running when he had gotten to the edge of the forest. He heard a few soft sobs come from close by. He decided to go check out who was crying and if he could help them. That's when he saw the red head sitting on the log a few feet away from the lake's edge. His heart plummeted as he saw her. He moved slowly towards her.
Lily had heard the rustle of the animal and looked up to see a stag looking at her. She wiped the tears away from her face and sniffled. The stag took a step closer. Lily looked at it oddly because of its boldness. She put her hand out to stroke its dark coat. It was silky smooth under skin.
"I wonder what it's like being an animal?" Lily said voicing her thoughts. The stag tilted it's head and Lily looked at it oddly. Could the stag actually understand her? Maybe it was just a magical one.
She studied the stag closely and realized that its eyes looked strangely very familiar. Then a question came to mind. What would a non-magical stag be doing in a magical forest? If it were an animagus, then that could be the only explanation. But who did she know that were animagis? The people she could think of was Peter, Sirius and... Oh she had him now. She knew it couldn't have been Peter because he caved long ago and told her he was a rat. So unlike him, Lily thought.
And Sirius he didn't seem like the type to become a stag. He was seemed like the type that liked to jump about and annoy people, like a cat or a dog. Now a stag seemed right up his alley. Noble looking and strong. Why hadn't she thought this before, it was so obvious now. But what was he doing here? Was he spying on her? Well he had no right to do that especially since he openly doubted her love.
"You'd think you'd be smarter than this." Lily said as she looked at the stag. "Of all people to stand in front off, you stood in front of me. Not the best way to hide James." Just as Lily said it the stag transformed into a very handsome male. He looked at her then at the ground and shuffled his feet.
"How'd you know it was me?" James asked.
"Truthfully? Your eyes." James looked at her oddly. "Don't ask they just seemed familiar." Lily said as she turned her head away from him. There was a few minutes silence between them.
"Why didn't you tell me?" James asked. There was silence again before Lily spoke.
"I forgot." Lily said quietly.
"How could you forget about a thing like that?" James asked in a restrained voice. Lily turned to him.
"How could you think that I don't love you?" Lily asked in an angry tone. James sighed.
"I'm... I'm sorry I said that. I was just angry and I felt betrayed." James said. Lily looked at him. "How was I supposed to feel? My girlfriend knew that my little sis was out doing god knows what with Nott. That git of all people." James said as he sat on the log beside her.
"James how old where you when you first had sex?" Lily asked. James looked at her oddly.
"What's that got to do with anything?" He asked curiously.
"Just tell me." Lily said with a roll of her eyes.
"I don't know I guess sixteen. Why?" He asked.
"Do you think you were too young to have sex?" Lily asked. She sounded like a teacher the way she was speaking. James shook his head. "Do you consider Eve an equal?"
"Yeah I suppose." James said wondering what these questions were leading too.
"James you weren't angry that it was Nott of all people she was with. You're just pissed because you're not so little sister has grown up and become a woman and you might not be able to protect her from the world anymore." Lily said. James looked at Lily.
"No I think it's because of Nott." He said. Lily rolled her eyes. James sighed. "But why does she have to grow up? Why can't she stay the annoying little sister that painted my room bright pink?" James said. Lily chuckled and threw her arms around James.
"Because then you would still be the little boy that decided your sister would look better with green hair." Lily smiled as she leaned her head on James's shoulder.
"I do love you, y'know. And I know you love me. Sometimes it's just hard to comprehend that someone so wonderful could love me." James said as he snaked his arm around her and kissed her head.
"I know the feeling." Lily said as she sighed.
Later that evening Eve paced her room as she thought about the trouble she had caused. She couldn't take it any longer she had to find James. She ran downstairs to see Michelle and Sirius making out on the couch beside the window.
"Umm guys." Eve interrupted. Sirius and Michelle pulled apart and looked at her. "Have you guys seen James?" Eve asked.
"He's in the dorm but-" Sirius began.
"Thanks." Eve said before heading upstairs. When she reached the door she knocked on it. There was no answer so she knocked on it again.
"Please James I need to talk to you." Eve said through the door. A few seconds later James opened the door wearing only a pair of sweatpants.
"What?" James asked annoyed.
"Look I know you're pissed at me and I'm really sorry. It was just a bit of fun between me and Nott. And it only happened once. When I came back from Christmas Break I ended it with him. And the reason why Lily didn't tell you was because I begged her not too. So please don't be angry with her or me. It was a mistake and I know it." Eve said very fast. James looked at her.
"Ok." He said, as he was about to close the door. Eve stopped him.
"That's it? That's all you're going to say to me? I thought you were going to tell me how disappointed you were and stuff like that?" Eve said looking at him oddly.
"I am but you already know that so what is the point in repeating it. I know it was only a one-time thing cause you're with Caspian and I know how much you like him. But that doesn't mean I'm happy about you two being together." James said as he went to close the door again. But Eve stopped once again.
"You're hiding something." Eve said suspiciously. She looked at James's bed to see the curtains drawn around it. She looked around the room to see a school skirt on the ground. She gasped.
"Just because you and Lily had a fight doesn't mean you can cheat on her!" Eve said angrily as she hit James's chest. "I can't believe you would - Lily?" Eve said as Lily opened the curtains around James's bed and stepped away from it with a sheet wrapped around her.
"Hi." Lily said as she looked at Eve determinedly.
"What're you- oh! Umm I'm going." Eve said as she chuckled and walked away. She heard the door close and shook her head as she thought about what they were up to.
Eve walked down stairs and sat beside Michelle and Sirius as they had stopped kissing and were doing their homework.
"You could've warned me." Eve said.
"I was about to but you didn't let me finish." Sirius said with a grin. Eve rolled her eyes as she looked at Michelle. She looked very different, her face was a lot thinner and pale looking and she looked a lot more tired.
"You okay Michelle?" Eve asked gently. Michelle looked at her and nodded her head.
"I'm fine. Just a sore stomach, you know." Michelle said giving her a look.
"Oh that." Eve said nodding her head.
"What?" Sirius said looking from Eve to Michelle. "That what?" Sirius asked. Michelle went slightly pink.
"Tom." Michelle said. Sirius looked at her oddly.
"Tom ... Tom ... Tom who?" He asked. Michelle rolled her eyes.
"Time of month." Eve said.
"For what?" He asked. Michelle and Eve rolled their eyes again.
"Okay let me put it in terms you'll understand. You won't be getting any for the next few days." Michelle said.
"Why?" Sirius asked whining, then it dawned on him and his eyes widened. "Oh that." Sirius said. Michelle and Eve chuckled. "But that was last week." Sirius said looking at Michelle oddly as did Eve.
"It's just a bit irregular, Sirius. That happens." Michelle said with a shake of her head.
"Oh." Sirius said with a shrug. There was silence between the three for a few minutes as Michelle and Sirius finished their homework. Sirius then looked up. "I'm never going to be able to look at a Tom in the same way again." He said as he shook his head. Eve and Michelle looked at each other then burst out laughing.