‘Ok, what did you want to talk about?’ she asked softly and inquisitively, scuffing the ground with her shoe, making an invisible mark on the toe. James ignored her question and instead rather roughly pulled her along the corridor, weaving his way between people, barely noticing when he knocked a few over, much to Lily’s silent protest.
Lily closed her eyes after they knocked over the first load of people, hoping that if she kept them shut, then she wouldn’t have to witness a head-on crash between James and another student.
After Lily had felt a few more arms smash into her stomach, legs kick her own legs, and heads collide with her shoulder, they suddenly came to a halt. Lily carefully opened one eye, squinting slightly. Ah, they were in the Room of Requirement. Lily let out a fleeting breath that had been unknowingly constricting her lungs throughout their treacherous journey. Give her a roller coaster any day.
Lily shakily removed her hand from James’, not even noticing the cute blush creeping onto his face, and his hand diving straight into his pocket. She sat down on a newly upholstered purple cushy couch, gulping for air. What an ordeal, just to talk to James.
“Well, I just wanted to talk to you about what I said on the train, you know, the truth or dare thing…” trailed off James anxiously, fiddling with the hem of his robes and pacing up and down across the room.
‘Right. Well, that was just because it was the first name that popped into your head, wasn’t it? I mean, you don’t really like me, do you?’ Lily babbled, regretting it almost instantly, but unable to take it back.
James’ heart shattered into a million pieces and then dropped down into his stomach, making him want to cry like a girl with anxiety. But of course he didn’t show it. He was James Potter.
‘Oh, yeah, that was it, I mean you were just the first name that came into my head! That’s exactly what I was going to say!’ he said, trying to laugh and shrugging it off.
‘Oh. Ok. Right, then.’
Why did she feel so disappointed?
What had she expected him to do, profess his undying love for her right there and then, and then sweep her up off her feet in a very dignified manner, carry her out into the courtyard, and then conjure up a flying unicorn and fly away with her into the distance?
Well, yes actually.
That would be quite nice.
James looked at Lily’s face anxiously, his stomach still constricted and knotted together.
Why did she look so confused?
“Um, you’re okay, right Lils?” he said, stuttering a little on the word ‘Lils,’ but managing to pronounce it at the last second.
Lily looked up quickly, a look of surprise on her face, as if she had forgotten where she was.
“Oh, yeah of course. We’re all good right? Still friends?”
James’ stomach unknotted another knot, and he went over and sat next to Lily on the couch.
“Sure. Best friends Lil, always,” he said, engulfing her in a hug as she buried her head in his shoulder.
Lily nestled into James’ arms comfortably, wrapping her arms around his torso.
He certainly had filled out over the summer.
JAMES’ DORM
‘WHAT?’ shouted Sirius, screeching so loudly that James’ eardrums almost burst, but luckily, they managed to re-construct, although if Sirius had possibly been one decibel louder, James would be deaf to this day.
‘I told her that I didn’t like her in that way.’ James sighed, his face looking the same way he had felt only minutes ago, broken, confused and heart-broken.
‘But why?’ asked Remus, ever the practical one. If it were up to Sirius, he would sit there all night long yelling at James, until he stopped for a breath and James managed to get a single word in- to which Sirius would respond even louder.
‘She doesn’t like me! What was I supposed to say?’ James yelled exasperatedly, throwing his arms up in the air, then proceeding to put his hands over his face, as if to hide from the rest of the world.
‘Did she actually say that, Prongs?’ inquired Sirius, still a little too loud for James’ liking.
‘Well,’ said James, thinking back, ‘Not outright, but she hinted at it,’ he said, sure that she didn’t like him. Why would she? That was stupid.
What was he expecting?
Her to profess her undying love for him, leap into his arms, and them both to ride off into the sunset on a Firebolt?
Well, yes.
That would be rather nice.
‘God!’ cursed Remus impatiently, breaking James’ daydream rather rudely, ‘Now we’re going to have to put up with you moaning about it! Why didn’t you just tell her? Maybe she does like you back, you stupid twat. Did you happen to ask her? Or you just assumed?’
‘Just shut up Moony, I’m just going to get over her, and I’m never going to tell her - and neither are you two, ok?’ he said rather morbidly, looking as if he had just swallowed a vomit flavored Bertie Bott’s Every Flavored Bean.
Remus just glared at James and huffily went and sat on his bed in silence, Sirius following suit- minus the silent part of course. The Slytherins could probably hear him cursing from their dungeons.
LILY’S DORM
‘WHAT?’ shrieked Candace, screeching so loudly that Lily’s eardrums almost burst, although they just managed to hold out, for the day when Candace managed that extra half a decibel.
‘He doesn’t like me in that way,’ said Lily calmly and passively, keeping a perfectly straight face. By looking at the ground, of course.
‘YES, HE DOES!’ said Candace loudly starting to pace the room, her nails digging into her palms so much they were starting to bleed.
‘Calm down Candace! God!’ cursed Sammy. “Now what did he actually say, Lily?’ asked Sammy.
‘Well…’ and she relayed the entire conversation back to them.
‘You stupid little…!’ screamed Candace. ‘Look, Lily, I know you were confused, but you just screwed EVERYTHING up!’
‘I DIDN’T MEAN TO!’ Lily bawled back at her, tears starting to form in her eyes.
‘Ok, both of you just stop it, ok? Candace, Lily didn’t mean to, and Lily, Candace is just a little disappointed that he didn’t tell you that he liked you,’ said Sammy, trying to calm them both down, and, with her rather hypnotic voice, she managed to instantly.
‘Yeah,’ said Candace, much quieter now. ‘I’m sorry Lils, I just thought that he would tell you, that’s all.’
‘Yeah, I guess I did screw it up a bit, didn’t I?’ said Lily, thinking back.
‘I’ll say,’ mumbled Candace.
‘I heard that! Maybe he just doesn’t like me though,’ said Lily.
‘YES, HE DOES!’ screamed Candace and Sammy.
‘All right, all right,’ she said, backing away from her best friends.
‘C’mon, let’s just go to bed, and forget about it for a while, ok?’ said Sammy.
THE NEXT DAY
When morning came, it seemed that everyone had forgotten about the day before, or were just pretending to, and were all acting like they usually would, laughing and joking with each other, pretending that nothing had ever happened.
But Sirius hadn’t forgotten. Just as the bell rang to go to lunch, Sirius pulled Candace aside, and said, ‘C’mon, we’ve got to talk.’
Without any explanation whatsoever, he grabbed Candace’s arm and dragged her on a whirlwind ride through Hogwarts, her loving every minute of it- and where did they end up? Their favorite meeting place of course. The Room of Requirement.
Once they reached the room, Candace sat down on one of the cushy couches, still grinning a little from the three second adventure she had just been on.
‘Now, what is it, Black? What’s so important that I have to miss lunch?’ Candace asked, pretending to be annoyed, although not actually caring all that much.
‘Look Candace, this is me “ Sirius “ do you think I would be dragging you here during lunch if it wasn’t important?’ said Sirius, looking at Candace as if she was a three year old just starting kindergarten.
‘Oh yeah,’ she said, feeling a little dumb. ‘Well what’s this all about then?’
‘James and Lily. I think it’s all getting a little out of hand. I mean James likes Lily and Lily likes James, right? Am I right?’
‘Well, yeah, I’m pretty sure she does, I mean I think she does, I mean...’
‘Ok, I’ll take that as a yes. Anyway, I think that we should play matchmaker,’ said Sirius getting straight to the point and not wasting any time. It was lunch they were missing, after all.
‘What exactly did you have in mind?’ asked Candace eagerly.
‘Well, I don’t exactly know,’ he admitted. ‘But,’ he said seeing the look on her face, ‘We can call in reinforcements!’
‘Yeah, Sammy and Remus!’ she exclaimed, smiling again, knowing that being the two brains of the group, between the two they could probably come up with something.
‘And Peter,’ added Sirius as an afterthought.
But Candace wasn’t even listening anymore; she had a dreamy look on her face, horrible and yet wonderful ideas already forming in her mind.