"So, you're willing to do anything to make Potter mad?"
Lily laughed. "Just about." She walked out of the two heave double doors towards the Quidditch fields, laughing and Talking animatedly with Snape, as she had spotted James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius leave the Great Hall with her dorm-mates.
She kept it up until they were out of sight, then both of them practically fell on the ground, laughing.
"Did you see their faces? I could have simmered soup for an hour if Sirius were the stove!"
"I know! This is working!" They quieted down a bit as Malfoy came in view, looking puzzled at the sight of Lily.
"What's she doing here?"
Snape shrugged. "She's fighting with Potter and his gang, so I decided I'd help. It's working for me, too. You should have seen his face!"
Malfoy was looking at Lily with a new kind of face. "Well, welcome to the club!"
They walked out to meet the rest of the team, Lily feeling much better than she had since school started.
Their Keeper, Cathryn Clarik, a very pretty fourth-year with long, straight black hair and soft dark eyes, greeted Snape and Malfoy, but hung back a bit when she came to Lily.
"Serverus, isn't that James' little girl?"
Lily winced at that. "I don't belong to James Potter, I never have, and I never will. Serverus suggested this so as to made him livid. It's working pretty well, too."
"Oh." Cathryn nodded. "Well, welcome. You can sit over there while we practice-" she gestured towards the raised teacher's tent, devoid now of its coverings so people could see the field a bit better-"since Lucius is going to be watching us from there."
Lily smiled, nodded, and climbed the stairs to her seat. Malfoy was asking her a few questions.
"So, why're you in our Potions class now?"
"Oh-that, McGonagall skipped me into third year."
"Oh-We were wondering about that. So, how did you manage to get Potter and Black so mad?"
"My new dorm has someone called Serena Sikora in it, and she hates me. She has also managed to turn them against me, which, to tell you the truth, I don't mind so much."
"You don't? I thought you five were best friends or something like that."
"Were is right. I sort of gave up on them once I realized that they care more about what a girl looks like than what she's really like. I mean-you know what I mean, don't you?"
"Yeah, but I'm kinda surprised that you just noticed that."
She shrugged. "I felt really stupid when I found it out, too."
"I can imagine."
"Oh, shut up!" She hit him on the shoulder playfully.
The team practice went very well, and Lily was almost looking forward to the day when Slytherin would wipe the floor with Gryffindor. After the last disastrous match, when Hatcher caught the Snitch when Gryffindor was 160 points in the lead, the team had shouted at him so much that he promised several times over that if he didn't do better, they could have all the fun jinxing him as they wanted to. The team agreed hurriedly and with lots of enthusiasm.
There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Lily wasn't a spy for the Gryffindors when they walked back into the entrance hall and found the entire Gryffindor team standing there, glaring at Lily.
James lost no time pointing her out. "That's the girl. She was bragging to the girls in her dormitory that she was giving our team's secrets to the Slytherins. Anything to say, Evans?"
Lily retrieved her jaw. She had said no such thing, but she had an idea of where the accusation came from.
"Yeah, I've got something to say. Do you believe every stupid rumor that you hear?"
"This isn't a rumor. This is fact." Sirius, Remus, and Peter were also standing with the team.
"And how do you know?"
"Our source had no reason to lie. In fact, I believe she left off some things. Some things you wouldn't want put out in the open." James was looking at her as if she had just killed his parents. He reached behind Nigel and pulled Serena out. "Did you honestly think no one would notice?"
Lily gasped. Serena's left eye was swollen and red, with a nasty purple ring around it. Her face had a cut running from her temple to her chin; the blood running form it had partly dried and had matted her hair down, and she was fighting back tears.
"What-I didn't do that!"
James started to hiss at her. "Of course you did. She told you that she'd tell us what you were going to do, and you attacked her. We have witnesses." He nodded over his shoulder to someone, and Diana and Elspeth came forward. "Tell her what you told us."
Lily had had enough. She turned to Snape. "Do you mind walking me to Gryffindor Tower? I don't think I trust these lunatics. They'll attack me as soon as I'm alone."
Snape nodded. "Of course."
He took her arm and walked her out of the entrance hall, wand drawn.
Three corridors from Gryffindor Tower, Lily saw Eva rushing towards her.
"Lily! Where have you been? The whole darned Gryffindor Tower's looking for you-I got the impression that you'd killed someone! What happened?"
Lily took Eva's shoulders. "Eva, are you also mad at me?"
"What-Lily, of course not!"
Lily breathed again. "Good. At least I know I have two friends. Serverus-" she turned to Snape-"thanks so much for getting me here. I'll be all right now; at least I know that two people are still talking to me."
He smiled. "No problem. I'll see you tomorrow, then." He vanished down the corridor, and Lily pulled Eva into an empty classroom fast, because she heard the noise of feet coming from the direction of the entrance hall.
They slammed the door and locked it, and as soon as Lily was sure they were alone, she snake to her knees, silent tears running down her face.
"Lily, what's wrong?"
"Eva, I don't know. Serena hates me, and I suppose she got in a fight and used the fact that she was hurt and that I was going to see the Slytherin team practice to her advantage. They're saying that I betrayed all of the secrets to Slytherin, and I'll bet the whole of Gryffindor House hates me now!"
Eva sat down in front of her friend and offered her a handkerchief, which Lily took gratefully. "Lily, not all of Gryffindor Tower. I don't hate you. And neither do Vanessa and Amanda. Or Abigail. You'll be all right. Trust me." She smiled a bit as Lily stopped her tears for a bit, then broke out crying harder than ever, hanging on Eva's neck.
Thirty minutes later, Lily had calmed down sufficiently to allow her to climb into the common room and to not instantly be noticed that she had been crying. They left the classroom, opened the portrait (Puritan hysteria), and climbed into the common room. Lily closed her eyes.
Relief flooded her as she saw the empty common room, filled only with flickering flames.
Eva shook her head. "Lily, I'm not so sure if this is a good thing."
"What-why not?"
"That no one's in here. I'll bet they're all either looking for you so they can turn you into a corpse, or looking for your corpse."
"Oh."
"C'mon, let's get you upstairs. I'd hide if I were you."
"What do you suggest?"
"I have a very large closet in our dormitory. C'mon." They climbed the stairs as fast as they could, dashing into Lily's old dormitory. Her bed was still empty, Lily noticed with relief; there were only five instead of six trunks in the room.
"Lily, you'd better sleep here tonight. Want me to get your things?"
"No. I'll do that." Lily quietly tiptoed into her new dormitory to get her night-gown, then stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the Gryffindor team leading Serena to her bed.
"Serena, don't worry, we'll get her for you."
"I know. I'll bet she'll be transferring somewhere else at the end of the week." There was lots of laughter, and Lily slipped behind the door.
Serena's voice, weak and trembling, came from the bed. "Thank you so much, guys. I'll be-"her voice broke into an anguished whisper-"I'll be fine."
Slowly, the team trickled downstairs, and Lily saw Serena jump off of the bed as soon as Elspeth and Diana entered.
"Diana, I told you I could pull it off!"
Diana shook her head. "I didn't think they'd fall for it, but you did do a good job!"
Serena smirked. "I know. Help me get this off, will you?" She had moved towards a mirror that had a bowl of water and some tissues next to it. She took one of the tissues, dunked it in the water, and carefully started wiping her face. Lily had to bite back a scream of rage.
As the tissue was rubbed across the purplish ring around Serena's eye, the nasty bruise wiped off as easily as the flame on a candle blows out, leaving powdery yellow and purple residue on the tissue. Lily's eyes narrowed. She watched as Serena removed the cut from her cheek, the blood from her hair, and the ring from her eye. Then, with an evil smile on her face, she pulled out James' present to Lily, the makeup kit. Lily started to boil.
"You know, it's a good thing that Evans girl doesn't use this. It came in very handy today."
"Didn't it, though! And the best thing is, if she finds out-"
Lily had had enough. Clearing her throat, she stepped out from behind the door.
"If I find out what?"
Serena lazily dunked her face into the water, then came back up and dried herself on a handy towel. "Find out nothing; there's nothing to find out."
"Oh, yeah, right. And what about that?" She gestured to the makeup kit and dirty towel. "I believe that's mine."
"Don't be so silly!" Serena flung her clean blonde hair over her shoulder and started to french-braid it. "You gave it to me, don't you remember?"
"No."
"Oh, honestly, Evans. I came in this room to say hello to you the day you moved in, and you gave me this, saying you'd never use it. You mean you don't remember?"
"Remember what? There's nothing to be remembered."
"Evans, don't be an idiot. If I scream right now the whole of Gryffindor Tower will come running to beat you into the ground. Be wise and remember that you gave me the makeup."
"If you screamed right now, they'd see you were a fraud."
"How so? If you mean to tell them, that certainly won't go over very well."
"I know. Because they'll realize that I'm right. You wiped off your makeup." Relishing Serena's white lips, Lily went over to her trunk, pulled out her nightgown and change of robes, and left the room.
The next day, Eva woke Lily up as early as possible; four forty-five. They were ready in five minutes and were running down to the kitchens. Eva knew how to get inside; Basil had told her.
After receiving as much food as they could carry from the house-elves, they joined Vanessa and Amanda, who had followed them downstairs, and escaped out onto the grounds.
It was still dark outside, and the moon was almost full. Lily noted that especially, remembering Remus. They went to the lake, and, grateful for friends, Lily told them everything.
"So you didn't do a thing to her?"
"Well besides insult her after she did so to me, no."
"Wow. I wonder what is possessing her to do that?"
"To tell you the truth, she hated me ever since she saw me. I have no idea why."
"Hum. And you didn't reveal any of the Gryffindor team's strategies or anything?"
"There's nothing to reveal. I only went to their practice once, and that was last year. And then I only sat in the bleachers; I didn't hear a thing, and, besides, I was too new at Quidditch to know what exactly they were doing."
"Shame."
Lily and her friends whirled around to see Malfoy leaning on the trunk of a weeping willow.
"Lucius-what're you doing here?"
He yawned. "I wish I wasn't."
"What are you doing here?"
"Serverus wants to see you."
"He does? Why?"
Lucius shrugged. "I don't know. I wish he didn't, because I just got dragged out of bed and landed on the floor. I'm a bit sore all over." He felt his back. "But I don't know."
"Oh." Lily was a bit puzzled. "You don't have the faintest notion of what this is about, do you?"
"If I was a good guesser, I'd say yes, but I'm not, so I'll say no and see what happens. No."
"I see." Lily got up and brushed her robes off. "Mind telling me where he is?"
"Over by the Forbidden Forest, close to the Quidditch Field. You're welcome."
"Oh-right, thanks. Hey-Lucius!" He was turning back to the entrance hall, but her last remark made him come back.
"What?"
"This isn't a trick to make me run headlong into the arms of ferocious Gryffindors that want to stick my head on a pike and dance around it, is it?"
"Why would I want to help them? No. Not to my knowledge. Goodnight." He yawned again and made off for bed.
Eva caught Lily's arm. "Do you want us to come?"
Slowly, Lily shook her head. "No-no, not right now. I don't think you need to."
Vanessa pursed her lips. "Lily, he's a Slytherin."
"So what? Where does it stand written in the Book of Truth that all Slytherins have to be evil and hate me? Every single generalizations is false. Including this one," she added as an afterthought. "No, really. Just stay here." She finished getting the wet leaves off of her robes and made for the forest.
Lily didn't see Serverus until she was ten feet from him, he being in his black Hogwarts robes. He stepped out from in front of a tree.
"Um-Lily?"
"Oh, there you are-What?-That is, Lucius told me you wanted to speak to me."
He nodded. "YeahI didListen, I want you to know that I'm sorry about last night."
"Sorry? Why? Did something else happen?"
"Oh-no-I don't think so, but-Lily, if I hadn't invited you out here for practice, I doubt this would have happened. I'm sorry."
Lily stared at him incredulously. "Serverus, Serena would have found some way to make me miserable, and I'm thankful it wasn't worse. This whole thing just goes to show me how dumb I was to think they were my friends."
"So, was she really hurt?"
"Nope. She could have a future in theater, however."
"How so?"
"She's very good with makeup. Makeup she stole form me and is now claiming as hers, including the nice teach casket it was in. And I can't protest, otherwise I'll have all of Gryffindor Tower on my back. And that would hurt. I'd be smushed."
Serverus smiled a bit. "Oh. I see. Well-" he kicked the ground nervously-"I just want you to know that-well, that-erm"
"That what?"
He took a deep breath. "Thatillalwaysbeyourfriendnomatterwhathappens."
"That wh-wha-what?"
"That-oh, never mind. You remember when you said this could be worse?"
"You're wandering from the point and changing the subject intentionally, but I'll humor you. What about it?"
"It can get worse."
"Well, I knew that-" She whipped her head around, staring him in the face. "How?"
"Do you know what the Minister of Magic's name is?"
"Where did that come from? I hate to display ignorance, but no."
Serverus, biting his tongue, seemed a bit reluctant to speak.
"Well?"
"His full name is Rowland Stuart Sikora. That tell you anything?"
"That depends. How many Sikoras are there in England?"
"Not that many. You know what I'm trying to say."
"Well, yeah, that Serena Sikora's father is the Minister of Magic. That explains why she has a lot of followers."
"It certainly does. And, Lily, if you don't want to get into an even bigger mess than you're in now, you might want to make up with her as soon as you can. The Minister has a very ruthless temper."
"Oh, posh." Lily gave a short laugh. "I can deal with that when it comes."
"Oh, really? How?"
"It might help if I knew what exactly was going to come, but trust me, I can deal with this."
Serverus looked a bit doubtful, but he slowly nodded. "All right, I guess you can-you did take care of me and Lucius very well the day we met," he said, grinning. "And you hadn't even been to Hogwarts yet!"
Lily smiled. "I'm a bit sorry about that-I thought James and Sirius and them were my friends then-I guess I was mistaken. I've said that so many times now," she added.
"You know, Lily, why exactly did you stop being friends? I never found out the whole story."
Lily shrugged. "Oh, nothing big, just after that last Quidditch match last year, I figured I'd find out who really liked me for who I am, so I threw all those painful curlers and things like that out. They refused to have anything to do with me from then on, so-well, you know what happened after that. We're practically tearing each other's throats out now." She sighed. "And I suppose, from his point of view, that what Serena told him is quite believable. I only have my word for it."
"What-but our team knows you didn't tell us anything!"
"Well, but that just might be because I hadn't gotten around to it yet."
"Oh. She does have a strong case, doesn't she?"
Instead of answering, Lily looked out over the grounds, which were now a light pink from the sunrise. Drawing her breath in sharply, Lily drew Serverus into the forest, where the dark trees his them from view.
"Lily-what the-"
"Shh!" Her set face made him quiet down and look towards the castle. He bit his lip. The Gryffindor team members, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were out combing the lawns.
"Lily, this isn't going to go very well if they find you."
"Even worse if they find us. Malfoy is the team manager, and you're his best friend, and if I'm caught here, I might as well check into the hospital wing right now. Go!" She pulled him farther into the forest, out of sight of the team.
Scratched by brambles and wet from the morning dew, Lily managed to get into Gryffindor Tower and lock herself in her old dormitory. Eva, Vanessa, and Amanda were already there, with cloudy countenances, but their expressions cleared as soon as Lily walked in without a stretcher or crutches.
"Lily! We were so worried! We had to leave as soon as we saw them,-but how ever did you get away?"
Lily sighed and flung herself down on her bed, breathing hard. "You know Serverus and I were talking near the Forbidden Forest, right?"
"Right. I told you not to."
"Shut up. Anyway-Vanessaa, I was joking!-anyway, when they came out, we took a large detour through that wonderfully charming forest we have on our grounds. It needs to be weeded badly. After that, we got in through the kitchen door and the house-elves got me back up here. They have their own special entrance to all the towers-on the end of the long hallway out there. So I didn't have to face anyone in the common room." Exhausted, Lily fell back on the pillows, jumping back up immediately and pulling a ring of brambles out of the back of her robes. "Ouch."
Eva shook her head. "You certainly were lucky. Did you see anything in the Forbidden Forest? Besides the usual creatures and plants, I mean something like werewolves and vampires."
"Oh-" Lily shrugged. "I saw this horse-man thing about fifty feet away, but that's all. Nope. No werewolves or vampires. Lots of other things, plants, squirrels. No vampires." she added in a playfully mournful tone.
The rest of the Saturday went well, seeing that Lily managed to hide from the Gryffindors She hadn't had any lunch or dinner, and at eleven o'clock at night, she was in a terrible mood.
"You know, Eva, I'm about ready to let them find me, just so I can eat again."
"But they'll permanently paralyze you! You can't!"
"I'll have to go back to classes sometime, won't I?"
"Well, yeah, but there're teachers there. You'll be safe."
"Oh, honestly, who cares about safe?"
"You should."
"Well, right now I care more about getting a square meal. Unlock the door."
"Lily, this is dangerous. Go to bed."
"So, you're telling me now to go to bed? Who died and made you my mother? Not that I obey her," she added.
Eva and Amanda managed to get Lily into bed around twelve. The only promise they got from her was that she wouldn't sneak out during the night, but in their turn they had to let her out in the morning. Neither of the two parties was much pleased with that, but it was the best compromise they could reach.
Sunday morning was rainy with lots of wind, so the option of escaping outside when things got to violent inside sort of blew away. Lily woke her friends up at six-thirty, and they quickly showered, dressed, and went down to breakfast.
It was just being served, and there were only about five people in the Great Hall, total. Eva was very pleased.
They went back up to Gryffindor Tower afterwards (Puritan hysteria), and went straight to the fire, as the wind was beating on the cold windows. They pulled out a chessboard, but no one's mind was really on the game until there came yawns from the top of the dormitories' stairways.
Lily's attention suddenly became riveted on the game, as did the attention of her friends. Ignoring the stares of Miranda, Ashley, John, and Remus, Lily coolly attacked Eva's knight. Pieces of spear and armor were flying all over the table as Remus stepped forward.
"You've got a lot of nerve, Evans."
Lily didn't turn from the chessboard. "Eva, do me a favor, get that Anatomy book out of my trunk and see how many nerve cells there are in the average human body."
"Oh, so now you're being smart?"
"I know I am; thanks though for telling me."
John vanished back up the stairs. Several others were appearing, wondering what on earth was going on, then becoming enlightened as they saw the four friends playing chess in the totally empty common room. Remus advanced down the stairs. "You know, you honestly should get re-sorted into Slytherin. Crafty, mean, scared-You really don't belong here."
"I know. If I could get re-sorted I'd do it; you really don't think that I willingly live amongst you people, do you?"
Remus was speechless. "You mean that you'd honestly prefer Slytherin over us? What kind of traitor are you, anyway? First you turn on us in Quidditch, then you insult our House-What next, Evans? What next?"
"I'm killing a pawn."
James appeared at the bottom of the stairway, just in time to hold Remus back. "Hey, Evans, finally got up enough nerve to appear in front of us?"
"In front of what? It really doesn't take much to sit among moldy mushrooms. Well-besides clothes that you don't mind getting dirty-"
James grabbed her by the collar. "Listen, Evans, enough of that smart mouth. We want an explanation and we want it fast. Why did you reveal us to the Slytherins and attack Serena?"
Lily pinched his fingers hard, and he let go, fast. "I'm waiting, Evans."
Lily sighed. "So, really, what you want to hear from me is that I betrayed you and beat up Serena because I have a violent temperament and hate everyone in this room? Oh, and I can't forget in love with Serverus Snape. Is that what you want to hear?"
James was a bit taken aback. That was, as a matter of fact, exactly what he expected her to say under cross-questioning. "Well, confess already, why don't you?"
Lily sighed. She stared dreamily into space and started quoting something.
"I have been thinking I would confess to them, Elizabeth. What say you? If I give them that?"
She continued in a softer voice. "I cannot judge you, John." She paused, then went on. "What would you have me do?"
"As you will, I would have it. I want you living, John. That's sure."
Lily was speaking as if she were two people, her pupils contracted and her face frighteningly surreal.
"Giles' wife? Have she confessed?"
"She will not."
"It is a pretense, Elizabeth."
"What is?"
"I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man. My honesty is broke, Elizabeth; I am no good man. Nothing's spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before."
Remus broke in. "What is she doing? She's going insane!" He started for her, probably to bring her back to the world with a slap on the cheek, but James held him back.
"Remus, I'm not sure what's going on here. Just don't do anything."
Lily was still dreamily gazing into space.
"And yet you've not confessed till now. That speaks goodness in you."
"Spite only keeps me silent. It is hard to give a lie to dogs."
Then, frightening everyone half out of their wits, Lily's eyes snapped back to normal, cool and green, the dreamy expression gone.
"Does that tell you anything?"
The whole of Gryffindor Tower stared at her, shaken to the core by her strange behavior. It was so silent that one could hear every single heart beating, and Lily was the only one who kept her self-possession. Tossing her hair over one shoulder, she took Eva's arm and went back up the stairs to the dormitory, clearing a wide path as she ascended the stairs. No one wanted to come close to her, and she reached her bedroom unmolested.
Serena, Diana, and Elspeth were sitting on Serena's bed; Abigail was standing in the doorway, a bit of fright and lots of admiration on her face.
"Lily, I was so worried! I thought they were going to kill you or something like that!"
Serena, who had modified her makeup so that she had a pinkish scar on one cheek and a pale lavender ring around her eye, sniffed haughtily.
"Well, that was a minor performance. I could pull mine off much better than that. In fact, I have pulled mine off much better than you did. Diana, hand me that lipstick, will you?"
Lily pulled Abigail and Eva over to her own bed, where they sat down, still looking at her with a bit of reverence in their eyes.
"Sikora, I don't know where you get that idea."
"What idea? You certainly did hit me in the eye-Elspeth and Diana saw you do it. And you told us that you would give out the Gryffindor team's secrets to Slytherin; don't try to deny it."
"Where did that just come from?"
"It's not my fault that my ancestors were recognized, and it certainly isn't right of you to treat me like this. I've tried to make peace with you so many times, Lily."
"Oh, you're calling me Lily now."
"I always have. I've always counted you as my friend, and I'm willing to forgive you."
"Forgive me for what?"
"I have never wanted to fight with you. I still don't know what I did that made you hit me with your sword, but I'm sure you had a reason that was-"
"EVANS, YOU DID WHAT?"
Lily spun around. Crowded at the door was Gryffindor Tower, both boys and girls. James was standing in the front, eyes flashing.
"She never told us how she got that cut; she must have been too afraid of what we were going to do with you. You murderess, you-"
He stopped, flailing for words.
"Where's that sword you threatened us with over the summer?"
"In my trunk."
James, a bit taken aback by her icy tones in her voice, nevertheless moved towards her trunk, threw the lid open, and took out the first thing he saw.
"Potter, my foil's on the bottom."
"It is not. It was lying on the top of your things." He held her well-known sword up. Everyone stared at it, gasping.
Lily was a bit startled herself. The tip, usually flat and broad, was long and pointy, and covered in dark red, dark red that looked suspiciously like dried blood.
"What about it?"
"You attacked Serena?"
"No."
John had pushed his way forward. "For Pete's sake, Lily, confess, and you won't be punished as much!"
"Confess to what? This is turning into regular McCarthyism!"
James lost control. "EVANS, YOU'RE TERRIBLY RUDE, YOU'VE TRIED TO MURDER, YOU'VE BEEN A TRAITOR, AND YOU'RE STILL MAINTAINING INNOCENCE? FOR GOD'S SAKE, WOMAN, THE WORLD DOESN'T REVOLVE AROUND YOUR WISHES AND WHIMS!"
When Lily got angry, she didn't explode; she didn't start to swell with anger, scream, or go into tantrums. Her anger was of the frightening sort that no one ever wanted to come across.
Lily stood up. Everyone else practically melted before her; she radiated dignity and superiority to such an extreme that it was majestic. Her lips were an icy white, and everyone later swore that she grew several inches. Slowly, she walked towards James, not losing control, not shouting or screaming. She had never been made this angry before, and it was all the frustration of the past year that helped her appear like this. As usual, she had her black robes on, but they swung on her body like elegant clothing did on princesses. She was armed with nothing whatsoever, not a wand; not even her fist was clenched, but no one could doubt that if she struck, in whatever way she would strike, it would be fatal. Her eyes, still the forest green they had been, turned hard and dangerous, and as she paced towards James, he visibly cowered. She said this very slowly.
"I tell you this, and I tell it once, you are not finding in me a helpless maiden you may burn at the stake. Molester me again, and I swear to you, you will regret the day you ever saw daylight." For an instant, her eyes flashed, green with silver threads running through them, and then her normal gaze fell upon the almost empty doorway.
Almost empty. Almost. James was still standing there, not frozen, not frightened to death, simply quite a bit intrigued.
Wow.
Wow what?
How did you do that to your eyes? That was amazing!
What-what did I do?
You mean you didnt do it on purpose? Double wow.
He looked around. May I come in?
That depends.
On what?
On if, when you leave, Im still going to be alive.
Oh, that. He looked at her quizzically. If you promise never to attack anyone anymore, then all right, I promise.
Cant do that. Sorry. Have a nice day. She turned her back on him and pulled a stack of Exploding Snap cards out of her bag.
What do you mean, you wont stop? Next thing we know, you might be killing people!
Oh, honestly. Lily was a bit exasperated. Im leaving now. She got up and started out the door, but James held her back.
Hey-listen, I didnt mean to anger you. Please talk to me?
Lily started back out, but then gave in. All right, all right fine. Say the magic words.
Which ones?
She slapped her hand to her forehead. Never mind. Magic words in Muggle language are please and Im sorry.
Those are pretty pathetic substitutes. But Ill humor you. Please and Im sorry. There. Good enough?
I suppose. Its the best apology Im going to get out of you in any case.
Come play chess with us downstairs?
Lily narrowed her eyes. Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?
He shrugged. Well, part of it is that I dont ever want to see you angry like that again. Youre really frightening when you act like that.
I know. Thats why I do it.
Oh, really. I call the black pieces!
Oh, no, you dont!
Lily chased him downstairs, leaving the dormitory gaping with wide-open mouths. All but one. One particular one. Her beautiful blue eyes were narrowed in loathing and her delicate hands were clenching her perfectly manicured nails into her palms, making them bleed.
