This story takes places at Hogwarts, in James' and Lily's sixth year. Please, bear in mind that English isn't my native language, and I don't have someone to proof-read it for me and takes out all the grammar mistakes and typo's. Please review, rate, favorite, leave some comments.
**As I realise there are a lot of typo's and mistakes, please, feel free to point it out. I mostly read over them, you know, those are my own mistakes and I don't really see them anymore. Thank you!
I do not own these characters or the world that's been created around them. All credits go to the mighty J.K. Rowling.
AEQUOS - CHAPTER TWO
When Lily was discharged from the Hospital Wing on Monday, just in time for classes to start, she felt like she had been drinking for the entire weekend and was suffering from a major hangover, although the opposite was true, she had spent the whole weekend in bed. She went up to the Gryffindor Tower to take a quick shower, gathered all her things and headed to History of Magic with Marlene and Dorcas. Whoever thought it was a fine idea to have a ghost teaching History of Magic first class on a Monday morning, either had a bad weekend, or it was professor Binns himself. As a sixth year, History of Magic was still a required subject for your curriculum. Lily couldn't wait to drop it for her N.E.W.T.'s in seventh year.
The three of them took a seat in the back of the class and chatted further about the weekend and how much Lily missed at the party. Apparently, when the heavier drinks came out, some people came loose, like Rachel Edgecombe. Much to Marlene's dismay, although she wouldn't admit it, Rachel seduced Sirius, and they gave a public performance of their tongues down each other throats. Dorcas made a whole show of it and stated that she had the tendency to vomit at the sight. At two in the morning, McConnagall came to wrap to party up, in her bathrobe (Lily! You had to see that! Even my grandma has more style then her!) and Peter, drunk of his arse, tried to seduce 'dear old Minny', which earned him a detention. Behind them the four Marauders strolled in, taking their seat lazily. They always had a special air around them, they reflected a special aura, like the Divination professor said, but some people say that the 'aura they reflect' was because they are sharing a massive secret. Bullshit, Lily thought, it's just their arrogance showing.
Professor Binns flowed in, just at the moment when James leaned in to reach the girl sitting in front of him, "Lily," James whispered, "you're out! Hooray!" He nudged her shoulder. She didn't budge, watch straight ahead from her, pretending to pay attention to Binns, who was nagging on about the Giant Wars, oblivious to the fact that nobody was listening to him. "Oh come'on Evans, don't be like that, we have to celebrate the fact that the old toad let you out." Lily rolled her eyes and turned around, "Ah, parties, you do like that don't you? Well, you didn't get one with me this weekend and you sure won't be getting one now. I want to pay attention, would you mind?" She stated, focussing her attention to Binns, who, if she was honest, was boring her to death with his not so eventful and monotone story about Giants fighting for their rights in the Wizarding World. If you think about it, it could be an exciting class, if it wasn't teached be a man who's been death since the 17th century.
"Good job Prongs, even a blind man can see that the girl is pining for you," Sirius teased, clearly amused, "I can hear the wedding bells chime already!" He grinned, elbowing James in the ribs. "Sod off Pads. I didn't have my tongue down Edgecombe's troath this weekend. I hear that girl's standards aren't very high." "Auw, did you mean to hurt me Prongs?" James smirked. He was a bit bummed by the way Lily treated him and at some time in the past, he clearly earned it, but he tried to be decent to her now and seeing how they did spent half of their summer together, he wondered if he didn't warm up to her. Obviously not, considering her cold answers and remarks towards him.
Half of the class was dozing off by now and the other half was either chatting, very loudly, or they were looking out of the window, daydreaming. Marlene had her head on the table, sleeping and Dorcas was doodling on her parchment, too far to chat without waking Marlene up (and that girl can be really grumpy when you wake her up), Lily opted for daydreaming. Her mind wandered to Scott Bell, noticing how fine and respectable he looked in his robes this morning, Headboy badge glimming on his chest. He had been walking by when she was on her way to the Gryffindor Tower, stopping to say hello and asking how she was feeling, as he knew she had been in the Hospital Wing for two days. But in her mind the conversation had gone very different, oh so different...
Lily saw Scott getting up to her, eyes wild with concern, he looked pale, with dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in two days. "Oh Lily, you're out, Merlin, I was so worried about you," Scott grabbed her by the shoulder, "Are you really okay? You don't miss any body parts?" At this time, his fingers where touching her face, searching for something to be out of place. "I'm fine Scott, my dear, really. No need to worry about me." "I wanted to visit you, but Pomfrey, that hag, forbid my presence. 'No boys' she had said, 'not even the Headboy'". They stood really close, foreheads almost touching. "I'm here now Scott, and everything is alright, no body parts missing" She could feel his heart almost beating out of his chest. Their lips where so close. "Oh Lily," he breathed, "Lily..."
"Lily!" Dorcas yelled, snapping Lily out of her delicious daydream, "Class is over!" She looked around her, Marlene was waiting at the door and Binns was snoring behind his desk, flowing above his chair, the classroom empty. "Oh shit," She exclaimed, rushing to pack her things and get out, running to get in time for Defence Against the Dark Arts.
The rest of the day want be uneventful, with no time to daydream about Scott, and with lots of schoolwork to handle. Their Defence teacher wanted them to write an essay about non-verbal spells and how to cast them, she needed to read four chapters in her Transfiguration textbook and she had to work up on Charms, where they were learning to cast a sticking charm. Quite tricky, but Lily liked Charms, and was pretty good at it.
As always, Lily sat in the back of the library, finishing her schoolwork, Dorcas was back at the Tower and Marlene was somewhere in the Castle, probably raiding the kitchens. That girl was lucky she had a fast metabolism and a Quidditch-body, she would eat so much in one day, you would think she was starving to death. Just as she was finishing her essay about non-verbal spells for DADA, James slouched down in the chair next to her. "Oh Evans, all this homework is doing my head in. How far are you? Finished the essay for Defence? Mind if I had a peek?" He complained, trying to glance at her parchment, which Lily hid under her Transfiguration book. "Just like the essay I wrote for Potions? So you can copy it and hand it in, with your name on it? I think not." They had done a piece about Felix Felicitas the first two weeks when they were back at school. James, already behind with homework, begged Lily to read hers, bribing her with chocolate cake, her favourite. Charmed, she let him read it, oblivious of the fact that he bluntly copied the entire parchment, her exact words. It did earn James a night of detention because Slughorn, more clever then he seems, catched on real quick and gave Lily a fair, but amused warning. "You're lucky you're one of the Sluggers, otherwise you'd had been in detention with me. And that would've been so much fun! You could've spend an entire evening cleaning kettles with me!" He made a big spectacular gesture with his hands in the air, looking stupid while doing it. "Ah man, too bad I missed that! I'm sure any girl would've jumped at the chance of being in a foggy, cold dungeon with you!" James ran he hand trough his already messy hair, making it even more messy, if that's even possible. He did it often, when he was nervous or couldn't quite assess the situation, not sure how to reply. "Well," He smirked, "I'm very confident I could arrange something like that for you." It was such a cheesy answer, Lily couldn't help but laugh. "Potter, you're a walking cliché, you know that? But if you write that essay, maybe I can read it trough and see if you're on the right track, deal?" She looked at him expectantly. "And then I can take you out for detention in the dungeons?" James said, making Lily laugh for the second time. "Just give me your bloody essay Potter!" She stated, amusement on her face.
He liked this, the way they were acting towards each other, it almost felt like flirting. It was an all-known fact that James Potter was smitten with Lily Evans, everyone knew, except for the girl who was sitting right next to him, if he simply just stretched his arm out, he could touch her. He couldn't tell when it started, he felt like it always had been there. Her red hair that made her stand out in a crowd, those piercing green eyes, always curious. The way she could focus on a book, stepping into it, letting to story or context flow over her, in her, making you want to get up and listen to her babbling about what it was about and retelling the entire tale. Or how she seemed to know every answer to every question asked in class, and how focused she was during potions, weighing and slicing her ingredients to the perfect amount. It were the little things about her that lured him in, that made him want more, know more. She rejected him countless times in the past, always with a clever or witty reply and he wasn't ready to give up. Until.. Until that unfortunate and stupid incident last year. He had been so mad at Snivellus, but he had been more angry with himself, regretting his immature and childish behaviour, wishing he could take the entire conflict back. He didn't regret standing up for her, he would have done it for anyone who's bloodstatus was harshly being offended, but with Lily around, his protective side came out more and he honestly couldn't control his anger. And lately their conversations became lighter, more playful, it felt like they could actually be friends and James couldn't help but smile about that. He wanted to be her friend, it was the only way to could evolve to more.
Before realizing he was staring at her, Lily said, "Potter! Hellooo-oo! Are you even on earth?!" He blinked with his eyes a couple times, hoping thas wasn't about to get awkward. "Oi, I dozed off for a minute here!" "Well, I checked your essay, it's pretty good, if I'm honest. I scratched out some of it in the middle, because it got boring, and I changed your end. It's good to hand in!" She handed him his parchment and James stood up, "Ah, thanks Evans, who would I become without you?" He winked and walked out of the library. Without thinking, Lily stood up, getting after him. Hearing her footsteps, he looked behind him, watching her curiously. "I was finished with my homework and I figured you're on your way back to the Tower, so I could keep you some company..." James nodded, not really knowing what to say and continue to walk out of the library, Lily followed, in silence. It was comfortable, walking together, both lost in their own thoughts, their arms occasionally touching.
There was something about walking with someone in silence, Lily wondered and she would've never thought it would be so easy being around James. She felt like something in the air changed between them, that they shifted from being classmates, to being friends, often being sarcastic and yes, she did have an attitude towards him, but she liked the bantering, the playful chatting between them.
"A sickle for your thoughts," James asked, not trying to hide his curiousity. They were approaching the portrait of the Fat Lady, walking slower for those last steps. "I was thinking how I would tell you that you smell like a hippogriff that's been flying over a dump!" She pestered him, hoping he would find the humour in it, but all he could wonder about was what in Merlin's name a dump was. "I'm sure I smell delicious then!" Lily laughed out loud at that, stepping through the portrait hole, with a wide-grinned James behind her.
After taking a shower and brushing her hair, Lily dressed in her pyjama's and bathrobe, ready for a night in her dorm, reading up on a Jane Austen novel. She took a seat on her bed, folding her legs underneath her, opening her book at the section where Elisabeth was proposed to by her cousin.
"What was that all about?" Dorcas asked while teaking a seat on the egde of Lily's posterbed. "What?" She said, not following what her friend was referring to. "You and James, entering the Common Room together, laughing." Dorcas exclaimed shocked, "Did you forgive him for... You know... For the incident?" "Oh Dorcas, it was harmless. Potter found me in the library, begged me to help with his homework and it was just coincidence we both headed to the Tower at the same time. And no, but I think I've let the situation cool down a bit, he seems genuine now, not so much of a show of, less arrogant." Lily sighed, not wanting to talk about the incident, she would rather lock it up in the back of her mind. "So, it was not like flirting or something?" The girl presumed, leaning in to Lily's face, shutting her eyes together, trying to figure the situation out. "Bloody hell no, why do you even ask?" She directly answered, a bit disgusted at the thought. "Potter and me? I don't think so."
"Well, your mind has been with Scott Bell for quite a while, hasn't it? Daydreaming in class about him, drooling on your schoolbooks, I bet you even started a loveletter to him!" They ended up discussing the pro's and con's about Scott Bell, Lily feeling excited and she got completely lost in the subject. They both decided that Scott had one major downside, the Headboy-badge, which made him not so keen on going wild and lose, and maybe he would have had a little more duties than any other male student, but Lily oppered she could totally live with that. After a while, Marlene joined them, being so considered to bring them chocolate cake and the three of them talked about boys and dating and romantic trips and parties and being young, until Lily yawned so wide, Dorcas decided it was time for their beautysleep.
The rest of their week went by uneventful. Lily recieved a letter from her parents on Thursday:
My dearest Lily,
I hope you already had an excellent and magical week at Hogwarts. I was a bit worried when I recieved an owl from a certain Madame Pomfrey, informing us that you where admitted in the Hospital Wing with a concussion, but she assured us that there was nothing to worry about. But you know you're dad, so would you be so kind to write him how you are now? How you are feeling? He's been looking out for your owl since Monday.
Here's everything just fine. Daddy goes to work, I keep the house clean and Petunia's never home, as she is spending all her spare time with her new boyfriend, Vernon. Didn't she write you to tell about him? She's up in the clouds with that one, although your father thinks he's far to pompous and bigheaded for a country girl like our Tuney. But you know how she is and at her age, we can't controle her anymore.
I hope you have a fine time at school Lily! Don't worry about us!
All my love (and your father's too).
Big hug and a kiss,
Mom xxx
P.S.: Give my greetings to Marlene and Dorcas! Such nice ladies!
Ofcourse Petunia didn't write her, she has been ignoring her for the past six year, ever since she found out Lily was a witch with magical skills. Petunia saw her little sister as a freak, a weirdo and wasn't shy to throw it into Lily's face whenever she had the chance to do so. No matter how much she tried to be normal around her sister, Lily couldn't seem to change Tuney's mind about the Wizarding World.
Her parents, on the other hand, where very fascinated by the fact that they had produced a magical child. Even though they had never had met the real Wizarding World, except for her very first visit to Diagon Alley, that had been horrendously confusing for her parents, they were closely involved with Lily's education and the options she had for her future.
It made her happy, knowing that how magical, mesmerising and often confusing the Wizarding World could be, she always had a home to come to.
Thanks for reading. Please rate, review, give some advise, tell me if you like it xxx
