Chapter 22: I Do It Differently
"Happy Valentine's Day, Lily!" James sang, plopping down next to me. He gave me a small peck on the cheek and began piling his plate up with food. I let out an exasperated sigh and put down the bread I was eating.
"James, today is the one day you never seem to get me!" I told him, facing him. He raised an eyebrow. "For the last what's it now, five years, you thought it was you and your bloody annoying gifts that got me all worked up on this day. But it was never you James, it was me. Valentine's day can shove itself down a toilet." I said, rather sourly. It was true; I cannot stand Valentine's Day. It has to be the most pointless holiday ever. And it's not even a holiday! To celebrate love? My arse. What's wrong with the other days to celebrate love? And then there's the pink flying around, all the 'romantic roses'. Girls expecting cards from boys and when they don't get them, they're all broken up about it. It's all so wrong. And then it's supposed to be romantic to ask a girl out on Valentine's Day? Hogwash. If you really like the girl, even the Giant Squid's presence can make it romantic!
"Err…okay…Just stay away from Padfoot, all right?" He told me hesitantly. I was about to ask why, but the answer sat down in front of me.
"Happy Valentine's Day, guys!" Sirius said cheerily. He was wearing ALL pink. Even his oh so precious hair was pink. And he was wearing little red hearts everywhere. And he looked hideous. Just looking at him was making my blood boil.
"Lily, are you okay? Your eye's twitching." James said worriedly, placing a hand on the small of my back.
"." I grumbled back, still eyeing Sirius in disgust.
"Then why, Lily-flower, is your spoon bending, and you're not even touching it." Sirius asked. He tilted his head, completely clueless that I wanted nothing more than to rip his head off. In the corner of my eye, I could see James shaking his head at Sirius and waving his hands around. "Oh, I get it! She doesn't like Valentine's Day!" Sirius yelled, slapping his forehead. Breath, Lily, Breath. "Is it because it clashes with your hair?" He asked, tilting his head once more. He did not just ask that. James slapped a hand to his forehead.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" I screamed at him. His eyes widened in fear. "I'm going to kill you! 'Is it because it clashes with your hair?'" I mimicked. "You have some nerve, boy! To do this today, of all days! And look at you! Shamelessly dressed in all pink! Where's your pride? Are you just losing it because it's just a stupid holiday? Little red hearts everywhere. You should be ashamed!" I screamed at him. James started tugging on my arm, to try to sit back down. He was nervously looking around.
"Lily, everyone's staring at you…" He muttered.
"Oh…is it her time of month?" Sirius whispered to James in a not-so-whisper. I lunged at him.
"SIRIUS!" James pulled me back, but I was fighting. I needed to hit some part of him. "SIRIUS!" I screamed again. "You." I took a swing at him. "Are." I took another swing at him. "A-" I was cut off by James who quickly pressed his lips to mine. And it worked, I slowly felt myself calm down. I sighed and pulled away. I glared at Sirius as I got up and adjusted my bag on my shoulder.
"Lily…" James muttered in warning.
"For your information, my 'time of month' isn't for another two weeks." I sneered at Sirius. He turned pink, to match his ridiculous outfit. I smirked and walked away.
"Merlin, I forgot what it was like when you were angry…" James said, coming up behind me and running a hand through his hair. I smiled sweetly at him.
"You calmed me down a little. But I'm still pretty angry. Don't say anything you'll regret." He nodded numbly and opted not to say anything. Instead, he just put an arm around my shoulders and we walked silently towards Potions class. We were at the door when he talked again. "Hold on." He said, stopping both of us.
"Yes?" I asked, not as irritated anymore. He pressed his lips to mine as he did only a little while ago. But only once my back was against the wall and his hands were playing with the hem of my shirt did he reluctantly break away.
"Thought you might want to be calmer…you're not going to like this lesson." He told me as he held the door open. I groaned. There were some days I really hated Slughorn.
"Come in, come in!" Slughorn said, his face lighting up when he saw me. Besides Sirius, everyone was already in the room. "Unfortunately because of an incident with my Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw classes, we will not be brewing the Love Potion; instead, we will be learning an extended history of it!" Slughorn said, clapping his hand together. The class was silent. Clearly, Slughorn expected more of a reaction because he said, "Oh. Uh, well I guess we'll get started then?"
"If I fell in love with you,
Would you promise to be true?
And help me understand.
'cause I've been in love before,
And I found that love was more
Than just holding hands." Doves sang as they entered the classroom. I knew who it was before he came in. I quickly glanced at Slughorn. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. Sirius came strolling in, a red beam surrounding him and he was wearing a new, long red cape. I heard a little groan from Remus.
"He did not." I muttered.
"Lily…" James said in a warning voice. Then, house elves followed him in, holding the cape behind him. "Lily…" James repeated, now terrified. He quickly grabbed my hands.
"SIRIUS!" I screamed, standing up. I quick glance around the classroom showed me everyone else was mortified. "The second time today! ARE YOU OUT TO GET ME?" I screamed at him. He paled. "I cannot believe you! Using house elves! Are you mad?" I asked. He opened him mouth. "Don't even think about answering that!" I told him menacingly. He shut his mouth. "It's a stupid holiday. GET OVER YOURSELF!" I told him. He mumbled something incomprehensible. "What was that?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. He met my eyes with a hint of amusement I did not like.
"I bet it is because all the pink clashes with your hair." I made a move towards the door, but James pulled me back down by the waist. He pulled out his wand and quickly muttered some spell before I could get my wand out. I tried moving, but my legs seemed to be stuck together.
"JAMES!" I screeched. He shrugged.
"Sorry. I had to, you would've killed him!" He told me apologetically. I was about to say something back but Slughorn cleared his throat. I nervously looked at him. The entire class was staring at us either in awe or amusement. Slughorn looked confused. I didn't blame him; I wouldn't know what to do in this situation either. I sent a murderous glare in James' direction.
"Mr. Black, please sit down!" Slughorn said with an annoyed sigh and started writing the ingredients of the love potion on the board. It was useless, I already knew all this!
"I knew it was her time of month!" Sirius muttered as he went past me. I opened my mouth to speak but found no sound came out. I looked at James angrily. He gave me a guilty smile.
You're VERY lucky I love you. I passed a note to him.
I know. He replied. He gave me an uneasy smile.
"Aww…look at them!" Sirius cooed from behind us. "OW! Mooooonnnnnyyyy! What was that for?" Remus mumbled something in response. "Aww…Is it your time of month, too?" Sirius asked, louder than necessary.
"Shut up!" Remus said in a worried tone. I looked around, hoping no one heard that. Fortunately, the only person that seemed to have heard was the only one, other than the five of us, who knew: Snape. He was staring intently at us and only until my eyes met his did he look away.
Why's Snape staring at us? James passed to me.
I'm not sure…it's weird.
Yeah, he kinda does that a lot…ever get the feeling you're being watched?
I'm not sure what you're on about, James, but yes, I do get the feeling I'm being watched, and it's always because of you.
But…
Do you even know where you're going with this?
Well, not completely…
Exactly! Just give it up. There's nothing to decipher here.
I don't know…
James!
But I find it kind of weird…like there's something unsettling about the way he looks at you…
You're imagining things.
Hmph. Fine.
Please tell my why you decided to write out 'Hmph'?
Why'd you?
But I was just writing it because I was asking why you wrote it!
She's got a point, Prongs
Moony! You're supposed to be taking notes!
You already know this stuff anyway, there's no point!
That's true…
Padfoot is here. This conversation just got interesting
BLACK! YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR BACK TODAY!
Lily-flower, I prefer 'Mr. Padfoot', thank you.
Go away…
If you insist…
She didn't mean it literally, you daft imbecile!
That wasn't very nice, Moony.
YEAH! Thank you, Wormtail!
Peter, why are you supporting him? You know he's wrong.
I'm not supporting him, I just didn't think that calling Padfoot a daft imbecile was very nice
It's true though.
What? Is it 'go against Sirius Black' day?
Yes.
Shut up.
You shut up.
You shut up first
You
You
You
You!
Guys! Shut. Up.
Fine.
Guys, why'd it get all quiet? And where'd Lily go?
"Whoops." James whispered. I rolled my eyes. They finally realized.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Pettigrew, detention, tonight." Slughorn said tiredly.
"YES!"
"NO!" James and I screamed at the same time. I was grateful that the silencing charm was broken. I liked silence, but only when I wanted it. "Wait, how'd you know about my plans for tonight?" He asked, his shoulders slumping a little.
"Why don't you ask Peter?" I replied with a triumphant smirk.
"Wormtail!" James yelled in disbelief.
"She took my food." Peter shrugged.
"But Professor, I can't do it tonight! I'm er…very busy!" James protested again.
"No, he's not. I think today would be just fine." I smiled. Slughorn nodded in agreement.
"This isn't over." James muttered to me.
"Wait, hold on, Moo- I mean… Remus' name wasn't mentioned in this!" Sirius remembered.
"I think it's punishment enough that he has to patrol today." Slughorn said tiredly.
"But-"
"Mr. Black! If you interrupt my class one more time, I will start taking points!" Slughorn threatened.
"Fine!" Sirius muttered. "It seems like it's everyone's time of month today!" He added under his breath. I shot a silencing charm at him.
A/N: I realize this chapter is super short, but I was unfortunately suffering from horrible writer's block. Couldn't think of anything to write about...
Anyway, I put up a Lily/James oneshot this week that you might want to read?
Please REVIEW!
Until next Friday...
Love,
SAM :)