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Along with some "Thank You" notes for Avada Kedavra Avada Off, Tiva-Babe UK, jane, Orange-Coyote, and Super Cara.
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I hope you all enjoy this next chapter :)
~MissChievous13
Chapter 6- The Confession
Lily managed to avoid James for almost the entire week. In their classes, she sat at the very front. At meals, she squished herself between Kat and Ali, making sure to sit across from anyone but him. And in the dorm, James didn't push her to talk. Maybe he felt he had done enough damage. Or maybe he thought Lily would get better on her own. Whatever the reason, Lily was thankful that he didn't pester her. But things were bound to get shaken up at some point, and it finally happened one night at dinner.
"Hey, Lily," Kat started. Lily noticed that she seemed hesitant.
"Yes? What is it, Kat?" Lily asked, expecting another inquiry about her status with James.
"I was, well, we were wondering where you are all of the time." Kat said as she served herself some carrots.
"I think Kat means, where are you living? We've figured out that you don't live with us anymore." Ali said.
"We've barely seen you since this year started! And it's our last year, and we miss you." Kat pouted her full lips.
Lily choked on her soup as her stomach twisted. Her imagination couldn't even come up with what horrific things they would say when she told them she was living with the person she loathed. "Uh, what? What do you mean? I see you two all the time! We eat all of our meals together and-"
"Oh, no you don't," Kat waved a finger. "I can see it all over your face. Now spill it, Lily Evans."
Lily took a deep breath, held it for a good three seconds then said in a whoosh, "James and I live together in a special 'Heads Only' living area," she finished wincing, waiting for the onslaught of comments and/or laughter that was sure to hit her. But she waited with her eyes squeezed shut for a long time, and it never came. Slowly, she pried them open and looked at her two best friends. Their mouths were hanging open, almost wide enough to be resting on the table, and it was a wonder that their eyes hadn't rolled onto the table to join the Brussels sprouts.
"You're kidding," Kat choked.
"No way," Ali said.
"Dumbledore and the rest of the staff thought it would be a good idea to keep Head Boy and Girl close by in case of any attack. Even though that isn't expected, the increasing threat of Voldemort rules nothing out, so the teachers couldn't rule anything out. So, in order to increase security, the Head Boy and Girl have living quarters very close to Professor Dumbledore's if there were ever an emergency." The only sign of life her friends showed was a shiver at the sound of Voldemort's name. And suddenly she remembered, "But each of us has our own bedroom and bathroom. We only share a Common Room…"
"You…you're…" suddenly, both girls were howling like werewolves. "YOU, Lily Evans… are living with… with… with JAMES POTTER!" Kat screamed jerkily through her uncontrollable laughter.
"Shut up," Lily hissed shooting a glance at the Marauders. "Yes, I guess you could say that," she said in an almost inaudible whisper.
"Never thought I'd ever see the day that happened!" Ali shrieked.
"Okay, are you two done now?" Lily pleaded as their giggles began to subside.
"Hey! What's so funny over here?" Sirius came and asked Kat as Remus and Peter followed him. Thankfully James was talking with Frank and didn't come over. But Kat and Ali's laughter renewed. "What? Do I have a bogie or something?" Sirius asked with mock disbelief, as he nervously rubbed his nose.
"Ewww, no! We just found out," Kat gasped for air as the two girls' laughter was strengthened yet again, "that our good friend Lily here, is," her laughing fit was so violent that it punctured her sentence, "is… living with her most favorite person in the world, your good buddy, JAMES!" Kat seemed to have finished her sentence just in time because her uncontrollable laughter had progressed so that she could no longer breathe.
"I know! We found out just the other day! Isn't that something?" Remus added as he and the other two present Marauders joined in the laughter.
Lily endured exactly four more minutes of teasing, before she stuffed some food in a napkin and went to her room to eat her dinner in peace.
After she finished her cold roll and some cheese, Lily picked up the book she was currently reading and went down to the Common Room. She pulled one of the squashy chairs up to the fire and sat with her feet hanging off one arm and her shoulders against the other. She adjusted until she was just comfortable, opened her book and—
"Lily, will you just listen to me?" James begged. Lily allowed herself a moment's thought that James would never give up. But thought again; she wasn't known for giving up either.
"Potter, I don't care anymore. I don't care what you meant or what happened or what you're thinking. End of story. Case closed. Good night." Lily marched right back up the stairs not bothering to pick up her book which had flown off her lap as she bolted up.
James marched after her and shouted, "But, Miss Smarty Pants, you forgot! It's not over 'till the fat lady sings!"
"Then go find her. I trust you remember where she is. Ask her, I'm sure she'll sing for you!" Lily slammed her door.
"I'm not leaving you alone until you show or grow the decency to accept my apology like a reasonable human being! You might be able to snub everyone you know like this, Miss Lily Marie Evans, but not me!" James yelled through the door.
"FINE! Bug me to my grave! What do I care?" Lily was surprised that none of her anger had subsided over the past few days.
"Why is it that when one little thing doesn't go your way, you go crazy and insult the entire world, but then expect people to come running back to you? Just accept for once in your life, that I am trying to be nice and apologize to you!"
"Why? So we can go through all of this again the next time you embarrass me?" Lily bellowed back, livid from her hot ears to her balled up fists. "Just so you know, I will no longer be able to hear you, so yell as loud as you want!" Lily took out her wand and cast a spell to make her door a sound barrier. It worked, she couldn't hear James's ridiculous rants anymore. Lily knew that there was something to what James had said, but he did truly embarrass her. Of course, she did lose control a bit much sometimes. But she hated being embarrassed more than she hated Potter, which, in her mind, was really saying something. But then, her father had been telling her she needed to grow patience since the time she was five and didn't want to wait for her birthday cake to bake. Every thirty seconds she would ask her father to check on the cake. After only four and a half minutes, the cake was finished. Her dad thought he must have set the timer wrong. Later, Lily deduced that it was the first true sign of her magical ability.
Even so, Potter had the cursed ability to press her buttons. She admitted that she didn't really make an effort to hold back her anger when it came to him; his ridiculous hair and his incessant need to show off at every possible moment, playing with that irritating Snitch. Lily guessed this was because she was still mad at him for splitting up her's and Severus' friendship. But Severus had made the choice too. He had called her a name he never would have used, and Lily was slowly realizing that this might be the first thing in her life she couldn't fix. She couldn't force Severus away from the Dark Arts. She couldn't save him. But that wasn't James' fault.
After another couple of hours trying to do homework, but getting caught in the back-and-forth between the part of her that loathed James, and the part of her that realized her recent behavior wasn't working, Lily decided she should at least accept his apology. Maybe she would try to go easier on him, too. Ignoring him was getting difficult, and it was putting her friends in an awkward situation.
Lily opened her door and held back a gasp of surprise. There was the big Quidditch Star, James Potter, sitting on the floor. His head hanging to his chest, his glasses lopsided, and fast asleep. For the second time in her life, Lily looked at James and felt remorse for the way she treated him. When he slept, he looked like a normal person. Not the joker or prankster. Not the Marauder or King of Embarrassment. Just a normal person. A cute one too. Lily mentally smacked herself and told herself to get a grip. But if he was sleeping, she could apologize and feel better, without being embarrassed or giving him the satisfaction that he was right.
"James," Lily whispered not wanting him to wake up. "I just wanted to let you know that I've been thinking. I accept your apology, but also I should apologize to you. Maybe I'm too hard on you sometimes, and I'm sorry for that." Lily paused as she collected her thoughts. "This is so much easier when you're sleeping."
Lily sat down next to him, leaning against the smooth stone wall. "I get embarrassed really easily, and you're usually the one embarrassing me, so I guess that's why I always get mad at you. When you scared me, I got embarrassed, and clearly, I didn't know how to handle it. But you saw that," Lily smiled. It felt a little silly talking to a sleeping person, but it also felt surprisingly good to speak her thoughts out loud; even if it was to James.
"Anyways, I'm sorry for all the times I've taken my anger out on you. Severus was such a good friend to me, and I guess I needed someone to blame for our broken friendship. I'm sorry," she took another cleansing breath. "And I'm going to try harder from now on, to ease up on you and have more patience. Also, I'll try not to yell so much," she rubbed her sore throat.
Lily laid down on her side and propped her head up on her hand, her elbow easing into the carpet. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone." Taking his silence as a promise, Lily continued. "Sometimes I think about our first Hogwarts Express ride. You know, I actually thought you were cool," Lily giggled quietly. "You were funny, you had already made friends, and you knew a lot about the magical world. I was impressed." Lily felt her eyelids growing heavier, but she fought against her fatigue. "James, there's this part of me that's known since that first train ride, that you were meant to be in my life in one way or another. From right after the first feast, until just today, I was afraid it was only to torture me and teach me patience." Stifling a yawn, Lily felt herself slipping towards sleep, but she felt like she owed James an explanation, of course, only while he was sleeping. She would never tell him if he were awake.
"Today, something is different. Just a little bit, but different enough to make me think that maybe your role in my life is something other than 'torturer'. Maybe," Lily stretched out her sore arm, and rotated her aching wrist. "Maybe, your place is supposed to be a positive one."
Yawning, Lily felt a giant invisible weight lift off of her chest. It felt right to finally be telling James the truth. "Call me crazy," Lily slipped further and further into sleep with each word. "But I think if you stopped embarrassing me, we could be friends. Or..." Her last thought got lost as she fell asleep beside James on the floor in the hall. But the last thought that registered before her eyes closed to complete darkness, was that she thought she saw James smile.
"Hey Lily," James said softly as he gently shook her. "Lily wake up, it's time to get ready."
At first, Lily didn't realize where she was, and she awoke with a start.
"Lily?" James asked.
"Huh?" she shook her head. "Sorry. I uh…" then she remembered the night before and realized she must have fallen asleep. The crick in her neck confirmed it.
"Lily, I think you need to get ready. Breakfast just started a few minutes ago. You wouldn't want to be late," James flashed a grin.
"I'm sorry! This is the second time I've done this!" Lily said as she jumped to her feet.
"Don't worry about it. I'll wait for you to get ready, and then we can go eat," James called to Lily who had already shut her door.
Lily raked a brush through her hair and secured half of it back with a green clip. With the speed of a Fanged Frisbee, she dressed, grabbed her bag, and headed down the stairs, jumping the last three.
"Hey, Lily?" James asked as soon as he saw her. "I have a question for you."
"Yeah, about yesterday, I'm really sorry," she said as she climbed the stairs out of their common room. "I was really embarrassed, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you like that. It wasn't fair." Lily resolved. "Though it was your fault."
"So, you accept my apology then?" James questioned hopefully.
"Yes," Lily answered sincerely, as they entered the corridor.
James's golden eyes sparkled behind his glasses. "Can we be friends?"
Taking Lily by surprise, she quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching them. Though she had admitted to herself that she might be able to have a friendship with James Potter, she wasn't ready to tell the whole school. "On one condition. You promise that if you must prank someone, you won't do it around me. Especially," she gulped back nerves, "Severus. Okay?"
"I would do anything for you, Lily." James grinned and stuck out his hand.
"Deal," and Lily, making sure once more that no one else was in the corridor, shook his hand and made it official.
"Now let's go! I'm starving!" James cried as Lily laughed and freed her mind from her grudges of the past. Surprisingly, it felt easier than she thought it would be.
The day went smoothly. Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus were in all the same classes. Today they had another dose of Herbology, double Potions before lunch, and double Charms. Charms was Lily's favorite and best subject, but it just so happened that James and Sirius' needed a bit of extra help. So, aside from almost being smacked in the head by the small figures they were trying to maneuver around the room with their wands, Lily was having a great second day.
In fact, Lily had a really relaxed time after she had decided to start over with James. Even Herbology first thing every morning, didn't bother her as much as she expected it to. The only bad thing was the amount of homework they got. All of their teachers seemed to be trying to see how much homework they could give their students before their backs broke with the weight. They were all trying to "prepare" their students for their N.E.W.T.'s, but more importantly, their jobs and lives after school. Lily and James were so busy with their homework that they didn't have much time to talk. But there was a much friendlier manner between the two.
In the library one night, Lily, Kat, and Ali were sitting at a table deep in the "Spell Casting" section. Surrounded by towering wooden shelves of books, Kat cleared her throat and said, "Hey Lily, what's going on between you and the infamous Potter?" from behind her Arithmancy book.
"Umm," Lily scribbled notes about levitation charms, trying to stretch the seconds until she was forced to answer the question. "Well, we decided that we would try to be friends." Lily replied, not looking up from her parchment. But feeling their gazes on her, she looked up and saw the surprised looks on their faces. Her defenses kicked in. "What? You two look as if that's a huge shock or something."
"But Lily," Ali began, after magically clearing the ink she had just spilled all over her essay, "It is! But, I'm more impressed than shocked. I never expected you to listen to us. I mean, with how much you complained I—"
"Wait. Stop. Back up." Her friends faces changed from looks of shock to masks of guilt. "Explain. What do you mean 'listen to you'?" Lily asked suspiciously. Ali bit her lip and determined not to speak. Kat's eyes widened, but she snapped her gaze to observe a book magically replacing itself on a shelf. "Hold on. But you didn't. What are you two smirking at?" But they didn't answer. "Hello? What is it?"
"Well, Lily we hate to say it but—" Kat began…
"We told you so!" they both exclaimed. And Lily couldn't help but laugh with her friends.
"You two are off your rockers." Lily shook her head with a smile. "But you better can it, or Madame Pince is going to kick us out.
Not wanting to be harassed any further, Lily sneaked away from her friends to search for a book she remembered she could use. But she spotted Heath talking to James, and thought it extremely odd. For one, James had a reaction to the library similar to the reaction vampires had to crosses. And two, she noticed they were pretty close to where her friends had been shrieking about her living situation. "Hello boys. Did you get caught copying Remus' essays and have to come spy on someone else writing?"
"No," James said seriously. "For your information, Remus knows well enough to change the wording when he writes my essay so that the two aren't too much alike." Lily smiled.
"Lily, James and I were just figuring out when he's going to help me with flying." Heath answered. "But, I'll leave you two alone," Heath teased with an eyebrow wiggle at James as he dragged out the last syllable in a suggestive way.
"Wait, what?" Began a thoroughly confused Lily, but Heath had already left with his bag and books. "What was that all about?" Lily directed at James.
"Oh," he stalled and pushed his round glasses up on his nose, "he just heard that we are sharing a dorm, and he thinks it means something." James smiled. "He thinks we like each other. You remember that third year mentality." James laughed, and Lily allowed herself a nervous giggle. "So, how about that Potions homework?"
"It's just long. Not that difficult though," Lily shrugged.
"I guess," James conceded, "but Charms is where I, think I sort of, maybe, need help," James admitted nervously. "Do you think you could help me sometime with the Contrata charm? It's much more intense than Wingardium Leviosa." James was now ruffling his hair.
"Well, I don't see why not."
"Thanks, Lils."
That night at dinner, James and Lily both received a message from Professor Dumbledore. He required a meeting with them and the prefects later that night. They spread the word to the prefects, and that night, the Headmaster, the heads of the houses, the Head boy and Head Girl, and all of the prefects met in the Great Hall near the teachers' table.
As everyone slowly gathered and conversed, James and Lily walked around making sure everyone was present. Finally, Dumbledore spoke. "Good evening to you all. I'm sure you're all very tired and want to know why you were called here. Tonight you will be receiving your patrolling duty assignments." Professor McGonagall then began handing out pieces of parchment. "On these slips of parchment, the patrolling duties are listed. Specific nights are reserved by year, except for a few special occasions."
They all followed along as Dumbledore read the schedule out loud. "Fifth year prefects are to patrol on Wednesday nights. Sixth years, on Tuesday nights. Seventh years on Monday and Thursday nights, and Heads, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. The hours you will be patrolling are from 10:00pm to 12:00am. Of course, as exams creep closer, your duties will be lightened. In the event you cannot make it to your patrol, notify your head of house, immediately. And always patrol with your fellow House prefect. Are there any questions?"
After a few moments of silence, Dumbledore concluded the meeting. "Alright. Well, go get some sleep or do your homework," he said with a wink. "Good night."
Everyone began picking up their things and heading for their dorms, but they all stopped as Dumbledore spoke once more. "Ah, I almost forgot. Lily and James, if you two could kindly stay a moment longer. Thank you." Lily and James doubled back towards their Headmaster. "Good night to you all." He called to the others.
Now it was just James, Lily, and their Headmaster. "I would like to start by congratulating you on your first week of being Head Boy and Head Girl. I am very proud of the two of you." Dumbledore said with the twinkle in his eye a bit more noticeable than usual. "But down to business." Lily listened alertly. "I need the two of you to come up with a theme for this year's Halloween Ball. It is tradition that the Head Boy and Head Girl plan the ball. I will need some ideas in, shall we say, about a week?" Lily and James nodded. "Alright, 9:30pm a week from this coming Sunday, in my office. Good luck on your first night of patrolling!" Dumbledore said with a smile. He then got up and left through a concealed passage behind the teachers' table.
"Wow," Lily sighed. "Patrol duty all weekend. That's a lot."
"Yeah," James smiled. "You have to endure two straight hours of me every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Think you're up to the challenge, Evans?"
Lily laughed. "Don't remind me!" she said playfully.
"Hey!" James exclaimed in mock injury. "That hurts, Evans! It won't be that bad. You know we'll have fun."
"Right," Lily rolled her eyes just like she would with Kat or Ali. But she couldn't hold it in anymore. She burst out laughing. She laughed so hard and so loud that she started to cry. There she was. Co-Head with someone whom she couldn't look at without gagging for six years, and they were joking around like they'd been best friends since they could walk. It was absurd. It was beyond absurd, and Lily couldn't stop laughing. Not long after, James joined Lily in her laughter, and together their joy echoed across the empty Hall.
Finally, they began to calm down with tears still in their eyes. "Okay, okay, we have to go patrol," Lily finally got out between gasping for air and the last of her giggles.
"All right," James said as he wiped the tears out of his eyes. "I just have to go grab something from my room, and we'll be hot to trot." His choice of words sent Lily into another lapse of giggles as they walked back to their dorm.
Ten minutes later they were in their Common Room ready to go. Lily had her Charms notes with her so that she could quiz James, and James had a piece of old parchment. "What's that?" Lily asked James pointing to the parchment.
"You really want to know?" James asked and Lily nodded. "No, I don't think you can handle it."
"What? As your Co-Head I demand to see that parchment," Lily said smiling.
"Are you sure you can handle it?"
"Accio Par-"
"Okay okay. Sheesh. But you can't tell anyone." James whispered secretively.
"I won't. I promise."
"I thought it would help us on out patrols." Then Lily watched as he tapped the parchment with the tip of his wand and muttered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Lily uttered a surprised gasp as she watched the parchment suddenly grow ink out of nowhere. The ink curled, spiraled, and looped like tendrils of Devil's Snare. It formed shapes and words faster than Lily's eyes could follow the trails. It said:
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
Are proud to present
THE MARAUDERS MAP.
"Is that—"
"Hogwarts," James finished. "Yes, but not only Hogwarts," he said with a cheesy flourish. "Hogwarts, and everyone in and around it, anywhere, at anytime."
"Aren't those the names you and the Marauders have for each other?" Lily asked still not connecting the dots.
"Why yes they are, my Lily Flower!" James announced with a huge triumphant grin on his face. "Remus is Moony, Peter is Wormtail, Sirius is Padfoot, and I am Prongs." James added with a dramatic bow.
"This is really amazing!" Lily exclaimed with admiration. "You four did all of this? I mean, this is pretty advanced work!"
"Between the four of us, it wasn't that hard. A few tracking and tracing spells, a thorough investigation of the castle, an identification spell, and of course our special Marauder handiwork. Put them all together and this is what you get. Do you like it?" James said with a smirk.
"Like?" Lily said, and James cringed. "I love it!" Lily exclaimed giving James a huge hug. "This is so wicked! You know," Lily began as she walked towards the portrait stairs, "We could have fun with this. If we saw Malfoy out of bed, we could tip off Filch!" Lily exclaimed as her excitement grew.
"I didn't know that you were okay with rule breaking, little Miss Perfect Prefect." James teased.
"Ha, Ha." Lily shot sarcastically as she punched James' arm. "It's little Miss Perfect Head Girl to you!"
"Oh, I'm frightfully sorry, miss." And James lunged into a very low bow, causing Lily to start giggling once again.
The night continued in a similar way. They patrolled, talked, joked, and examined the map together. The Charms notes were forgotten. They didn't catch Malfoy, but plotted what they would do if they did.
Once they were back in their dorm, Lily said, "Wow! Tonight was so much fun!" They made their way up the stairs towards their bedrooms. "We should do this again sometime!" She said with a huge smile.
"Okay, how about," James tapped his head in mock thought, "tomorrow night?"
"Right," Lily said conspiratorially, "I'll meet you in the same place, at the same time!" Lily played along. Of course tomorrow was Saturday and they had to patrol again.
Laughing, James said, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, beautiful."
"Very funny!" Lily stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll see you tomorrow, James. Have a good night," she said.
"You too. And sweet dreams!" James called to her as she closed her door.
As Lily closed her door she realized that she had just called him "James" for the first time since their first train ride to Hogwarts.
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