Chapter 11

"Hi."

The sound came from behind James, who was talking to Jonathan, Tibby, and Fred for a few minutes before their next class. The young boy whirled around and was face to face…with his little sister. He sighed; for a moment, he had thought it was Evelyn.

"What do you want, Lily?" her brother said in an exasperated tone.

"She's like Roxie—I swear they follow us around," Fred said. He gave his younger cousin a teasing look.

"We do not!" the young girl retorted. "I'll have you know, Roxie, Hugo, and I have done a fabulous job at making friends and…"

"What do you want, Lily?" James repeated. His patience for his sister was growing thin, though it had never been very thick to begin with.

Her eyes twinkled; like him, she enjoyed messing with her siblings and did so every chance she got. James couldn't blame her for that. "Just wanted to say hi. And mum sent me some lemon drops. Thought you might want one." She thrust out the colorful package in her hands.

"I'm alright thanks…"

"I'll take one!" Tibby said quickly, reaching out to grab one of the sweet candies from Lily's hand. But Lily quickly pulled her treats back and held them close to her chest.

"Are you thick, Gawmdrey?" the girl said with a laugh. "You have been nothing but mean to me since the moment I met you. No…these aren't for you. But Jonathan can have one…"

Giving Tibby a small smirk, she reached her hand out to place a lemon drop inside Jonathan's palm. "Thanks, Lils," the boy said before placing the drop inside his mouth.

Lils? James thought. He looked at Jonathan and then at his sister, who was staring at his friend with eyes that said more than 'I'm just being nice to my brother's friend.' Her eyes were too bright, her smile too sweet. James wasn't sure what was going on here, but if it was what he thought, wasn't going to happen as long as he was on this planet. "Get out of here, Lily," he said firmly.

Her smile never left her face and she gave one last glance toward Jonathan. "Fine. See you later, Jonathan. Bye Fred and James."

James glared at his friend. "What?" Jonathan asked, suddenly looking nervous at the weight of James' stare.

"What was that about?"

"Looks like Lily has a crush on Jonathan," Fred pointed out in a matter-of-fact manner.

"What?" Jonathan asked again. "No she doesn't!"

"Obviously she does!" replied James. "Please don't even humor her. Hell…can't even believe I am having this conversation. She's still a baby…"

"Not a baby, mate," said Tibby. "And she's going to date sometime. Not Jonathan, obviously…!" he said quickly when he saw James' face twist in protest. "But sometime, she's going to date someone. So you might want to come to peace with it now."

James wrinkled his nose. "Disgusting. Also, not happening as long as I'm at this school."

An empty quill bottle lay in front of them in the hallway, which Tibby began kicking down the hallway as they walked to Transfiguration. "Alright, alright enough about your sister. We playing Quidditch after class?"

"Ye, course we are," said Jonathan. "But let's make sure…" He stopped, looking forward curiously. Walking toward them, dark robes flowing behind her, was Evelyn. If it was even possible, she looked more beautiful than usual. Her hair shimmered each time the bright lights from the staggered windows shown on her. Piercing eyes narrowed in on the three boys as she grew closer and closer to them.

"Who is that?" Jonathan whispered to his friends.

"Ev…Evelyn," James stammered just as the girl reached them.

"Aren't you that Slytherin girl? The one in our Magical Creatures class?" Tibby asked.

Evelyn smirked, as if she was simply humoring him. "You're a smart one. Now…I want to talk to your mate here."

Tibby laughed and leaned smoothly against the wall. "Potter? Why do you want to talk to him?"

"Just go, Tibby," James said through gritted teeth. His friend, although loyal in every other aspect, thought every girl they came across was part of an unspoken competition. He still hadn't fully forgiven him for taking Aleyna Pentahouse out on a date to Hogsmead when Tibby knew that James had a crush on her.

"Fine," his friend grunted. He gave the girl a final smile before walking away with the two other boys.

"See ya, James," Fred said, elbowing his cousin as he walked past.

James turned back to Evelyn, his mind suddenly going blank. He always had the right thing to say; why was this suddenly so hard for him?

She tilted her head in a curious way as her lips pursed. Oh god, she's so perfect, he thought.

"Nice friends you got there," she said, not unkindly.

"They're great," James replied calmly. "Been friends since first year. We're on the Quidditch team together."

"I've seen you play Quidditch."

"Oh?" he said. "And?"

She laughed and narrowed her eyes at him. "You need a new broom."

"Ahhh…right. Kind of smashed my old one into a thousand pieces. My dad won't buy me another one right now."

"Your dad?" she asked. She lifted her chin up a bit more as her curiosity piqued again. "You mean Harry Potter?"

James heart sank. His father's name truly haunted him at every corner, and he couldn't help but wonder if he would ever escape it.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Harry Potter."

"He put my father in Azkaban, you know."

It was as if she told him that their parents had gone to Hogwarts together, the way that she said that sentence. James' mouth dropped a little bit, unsure of how to respond to that statement. His father had put a lot of people in Azkaban—especially after the trials concerning the Second Wizarding War. He knew of a few students who were related to people in the prison at this very moment. However, this was the first time someone had come up to him to inform him that Harry Potter had placed his or her parent in the most brutal jail in the world.

"Oh," he finally decided on. "I…I'm sorry your father is in prison."

She shrugged, her eyes dancing with humor as she watched James uncomfortably. "Always sad when innocent people are thrown into Azkaban like animals," she said.

"In…innocent? How do you know he's…" James gulped. "…innocent?"

"I was there when it happened."

And then, she leaned in slowly. James' heart began pounding furiously at the picture of this beautiful girl leaning in to kiss him…

But she didn't kiss him.

"You're late for class," she whispered. She was so close, he could smell her shampoo. Lavender. Or was it violet? It made him dizzy.

With a smile, she turned around and walked down the now empty hallway. Cursing under his breath while at the same time being happier than he had felt in weeks, James ran to class.

"You're late, Potter," MacMillian said as the young boy walked through the door. Why did it have to be MacMillian's class I was late for? James thought. After getting in trouble the other day, he didn't think he could talk his way out of a detention.

"I know, Professor. I…it won't happen again," James said smoothly, hoping…praying…his professor would show a little mercy.

"50 points from Gryffindor. And detention."

James collapsed in his seat with a sigh. "Aww, Professor, please…" But he stopped when he realized that the other students were staring at him. Heat rushed to his cheeks and to his ears.

After class, he hurried up to his professor, who was busy cleaning up some plants he had borrowed from Professor Longbottom's Herbology class. "I don't want to hear it, Potter…" his professor warned.

"Here. Let me help you with that," the boy said quickly, grabbing two of the plants out of his professor's arms.

"I appreciate it," MacMillian said. "But you still have detention." The two began walking out of the room and down toward the greenhouse.

"Professor, listen…" James said calmly. "I apologize for being late. But you have to understand…my mum is going to kill me if I get detention."

"And why didn't you think of that the past three times you have been tardy?"

"Great question. Excellent question…wasn't thinking, I guess. The first two times I really did forget my stuff and had to go back. Take full responsibility for those ones. But this time…" he stopped walking, causing MacMillian to stop as well and turn toward him. "I'm going to be honest with you here, Professor. Completely honest. There's…this girl."

MacMillian chuckled. "I'm sure you have had your fair share of girlfriends, Mr. Potter. But that doesn't excuse…"

"No, Professor. You don't understand. This girl…I can't get her out of my head. You know how I suddenly stop paying attention in class? It's because of her. The way she walks, the way she talks. I can't focus with her in my mind."

"You weren't that great at paying attention before this girl," MacMillian noted as they began walking again.

James grinned. "Point taken. But this girl was talking to me in the hallway, and I just lost track of time. When I realized that I was late, I ran as fast as I could. The old James would have taken his time. I've really been trying to do the right thing this year. Come on Professor…you've been in love before, right?"

They reached the greenhouse, and with a thump, they each set down their armful of plants. "Not something I feel comfortable discussing with you…"

"Right, right, right," James said quickly. He leaned against the counter where they had set their plants. "Look…have a little mercy. My parents are under a lot of stress right now. I've really been trying to be better. Let me help you in the green house for a whole week. Just don't write home to my parents. Please, Professor."

MacMillian paused for a minute with a deep sigh. "Oh, alright Potter. Help me in here for a week. You can start planting the new shipment that arrived yesterday. But I'm warning you—next time you're late, I'm writing directly to your father's office. Do you understand?"

"Wouldn't expect anything less, sir. Thank you! I'll see you tonight." With a smile, he turned to leave the green house.

"8 pm!" he heard MacMillian's voice call after him.

"8 pm!" James repeated, happily. He couldn't believe what he had just done. Trading one night's detention for a whole week helping in the greenhouse—that was a deal he never thought he would make. But he had to. It wasn't just about the new broom anymore. His parents were finally proud of him. His dad might finally respect him now. He had never before realized how great of a feeling that was.