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Lily sat next to Alex in Transfiguration, working on changing her desk into a pig.
“He’s not all that bad, you know,” Alex stated out of the blue.
“Who?” Lily asked absentmindedly, growing more and more frustrated with her unchanging desk.
“James.”
Lily snapped up. “What did you say? Potter kissed me, remember? He’s such a pigheaded, conceited, bullying little…”
She continued to mutter to herself as Alex shook her head. “Maybe he kissed you because he likes you. That’s always a possibility.”
Lily scowled. “I don’t think so. He’s always enjoyed mocking me, even when we were little. This is just another attempt to humiliate me.”
“Can’t you just give him a chance?” Alex asked in exasperation. “What more does he have to do?”
“What has he done in the first place?”
Alex tilted her head. “Well, in the first place, he always tries to help us when we run into the Slytherins, especially Snape, he opened his home up to you during the summer, he certainly helped you when you ‘ran into’ Snape and Bellatrix, and now he’s staying with you almost 24-7 so nothing more will happen.”
Lily bit her lip and looked at the floor. Alex backed off as she watched Lily silently think about what she just heard.
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“SHUT IT, POTTER!” Lily roared.
“YOU CAN’T JUST PRETEND IT NEVER HAPPENED, LILY!” James yelled back.
“I CAN AND I WILL!” Lily screamed. James had been trying to talk to her about their morning in the broom closet, but it wasn’t going too well.
Noticing all the stares they were getting in the common room, James grabbed Lily’s arm and pulled her outside. “Why can’t you admit it happened?” he hissed.
“Because it never should have. The whole thing was a mistake.”
“Is that all I am to you?” James asked. “A mistake?”
Not daring to witness the hurt in his eyes, Lily looked down. “We can’t be together James. It would never work.”
“Why not Lily? What would you have me do?”
“Stop bullying Snape,” Lily retorted.
James quickly shook his head. “That’s impossible.”
Lily smiled sadly. “Exactly,” she whispered, almost to herself, as she walked back inside.
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A blinding light shone in Lily’s eyes. “Go away,” she muttered, but the light persisted. She blinked, and made out the smiling face of Alice trying to wake her up.
“Rise and shine, sleepyhead!” she exclaimed happily. “It’s time for breakfast!”
Lily groaned. She had not slept well last night, bothered about what she said to Potter. “Can’t you just go without me?”
“Nope! James is waiting downstairs for you, and I don’t think he wants to miss breakfast again.”
Lily moaned again and sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “I hate mornings.”
Alice rolled her eyes. “Don’t we all. Hurry up, though. Alex is waiting for us in the Great Hall.”
Somehow, Lily found the strength to get dressed, and make her way down the stairs without falling.
James silently accompanied her. On the way, she gradually regained her lost strength, and became more alert and cheerful.
Alex waved Lily and Alice over, and James joined his friends. “I can’t wait!” Alex exclaimed, bouncing up and down. “It’s Thursday at last!”
Alice and Lily exchanged confused glances. “What’s so special about Thursday?”
“T.J.’s back in England, and he’s going to drop by Hogwarts this afternoon!”
Lily knew that T.J. was Alex’s older brother, and he went to Scotland after finishing school to study their unique style of dueling. T.J. was an Auror, and was trying to learn new techniques to surprise Voldemort’s forces in battle. He was also Alex’s only brother, and the two of them shared a special bond, being that they were much closer than most siblings.
Alex hopped through the morning classes, almost literally, until lunch finally arrived. She sat by the doors of the Great Hall, waiting very impatiently. “Where is he?” she muttered. “He was supposed to be here a minute ago-”
“Waiting for your boyfriend?”
Alex spun around, and immediately flew into her brother. “T.J.!” she squealed. He was laughing as they hugged. His year in Scotland had given his skin a light tan, and his brown hair was speckled with blonde.
“It’s good to see you too!” he said, laughing.
Alex led her brother over to the Gryffindor table. Sirius was eyeing the two of them with a little bit of wariness. After all, T.J. had graduated before he came to Hogwarts.
“Well, this is James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.” The three boys nodded their hellos. “And this is my- well, this is Sirius Black.”
T.J. started. “A Black in Gryffindor? I thought I’d never see the day.”
Sirius glared at him. “Not all Blacks are evil, you know.”
“No offense meant, but I was just a bit surprised.” He eyed Alex. “Is there something going on between you two?
Alex looked uncomfortable, but Sirius said shortly, “Yes. Why?”
“Well then, I guess I’ll have to give you the big brother speech, won’t I?”
Sirius’s eyes opened wide, and he sputtered, “You mean you’re Alex’s brother?”
James burst out laughing, while Remus tried to stifle his. Peter just looked confused, and Alex was very embarrassed. She tugged on T.J.’s arm, and dragged him over to her friends.
“Lily, Alice, this is T.J. He’s been in Scotland since we’ve been in school, and finally finished training.”
T.J. smiled. “Not quite. I still have a few months to go, but I decided to take a short break.”
“What did you do in Scotland?” Lily asked.
“Well, mainly we train for becoming Aurors, and do things like duel and study. We always have to be on the move. Voldemort’s closing in, and we have to be ready to fight.” His eyes turned dark. “There are already to many deaths in our world.”
Lily was surprised. “I guess we don’t really hear about them much in Hogwarts, do we?”
Alex nodded. “We don’t hear about it here, but there are battles in London about once a week. Raids, attacks, slaughters, it never stops. Dumbledore doesn’t like that sort of news leaking into here, unless it directly pertains to you.”
Lily nodded. Being a Muggleborn, she didn’t hear about Voldemort at home, and was shielded from it at Hogwarts. It was hard to believe that people were killed every day. She felt sorry for all the students with wizarding families, who never knew what news the next day would bring. She knew most Slytherins did end up turning to Voldemort, and perhaps their rivalry with Gryffindor had a deeper meaning than she thought.
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Author’s Notes:
Argh! That was really hard to write. Well, on with the story. Lily is beginning to see James’s reason behind hating Slytherins, finally. I thought Alex could use a little more background, and T.J. will show up again.