Disclaimer: Je n'own pas Harry Potter! (Translation from Franglais to English: I don't own Harry Potter)
(A/N Here's your chapter guys ^_^ Hope your holiday was awesome! Enjoy ^_^)
Chapter 10: I Dare You
Lily rushed through the corridors and hurried down several staircases towards her potions class, Raven following right behind. She’d visited Timothy in the hospital wing, and as a consequence she was now going to be late for the last potions class of term. It’d been worth it though. Madam Pomfrey had informed her that Timothy was awake, and in all physical terms he was completely healthy. The dark mark had curiously faded from his forehead without leaving a single mark to show that it once shimmered there threateningly.
These were all wonderful signs of improvement, but not all was well. Timothy didn’t recognize anyone and often woke up screaming in the middle of the night. Darlene had been sent to Saint Mungos in London. She would not speak to anyone and her eyes were constantly unfocused as though staring at some far away object that no one else could see. Madam Pomfrey, despite her best efforts, could not help her anymore.
Lily jumped the last few stairs and stumbled before the classroom entrance. She and Raven attempted to compose themselves before stepping in.
“You are late, Miss Sheppard, Miss Evans,” Professor Morton greeted them coldly.
“Sorry Professor, there was an accident in the hall that we had to clear up,” Lily lied smoothly.
He raised his eyebrows disbelievingly. “Do you have another Professor’s word on that?”
Lily never let her eyes stray from his. “Professor, as Head Girl I had enough authority to solve the problem on my own, without assistance.”
“You may be Head Girl, but Miss Sheppard is not. Five poi“ ”
“I wasn’t permitted to leave her alone, Professor, given the current circumstances no one is to walk the corridors by themselves,” Raven interrupted, her voice one of pure innocence.
Professor Morton scowled at them, but he was so comic looking (big bushy grey eyebrows and a pudgy face to suit his pot-belly) that Lily and Raven had to fight very hard to keep from laughing.
“Take a seat then, before you disrupt my class any further!”
They did as they were told, taking their usual spot behind James and Sirius. How that had happened in the first place, neither of them knew. At first Lily had considered it a nuisance, but now she found she quite liked being around James.
The whole class was brewing a particularly difficult potion that they’d been working on for weeks. It was a kind of numbing solution that prevented nervous thoughts. Fears and worries would be wiped from the mind. As usual, one student’s potion would be test. Lily and Raven had a itching feeling that it would be theirs, considering their tardy appearance had left Morton in a bad mood against them.
“You just abused your position as Head Girl.”
Lily’s head snapped up to see James grinning at her. “I did not,” she retorted.
“You’re not that good of a liar, Lily. I recognized that purely innocent face. It was the same one you gave Filch,” his eyes were sparkling with held-back laughter and she felt an odd constriction forming in her chest.
She was about to continue to deny that she had lied, but with once glance at James’s smiling face she knew that he wouldn’t believe her. Throughout all their months of Head duties, James had gotten to know her very well.
“I wasn’t abusing it, really... I wanted to see how Timothy was and I lost track of time,” she explained.
He shook his head at her, still grinning. “Only you Lily, only you,” he said, leaving her in complete bewilderment. Only her, what? She would’ve asked for an explanation, but Professor Morton chose that exact moment to walk by and survey James and Sirius’s potion.
Lily was adding porcupine quills to her potion when Raven slid a piece of parchment to her. She glanced at it and saw a note was written it in Raven’s large print.
What are you waiting for? Ask him out!
Lily’s jaw dropped in shock upon seeing this. She looked over at Raven to see that she was determinedly crushing beatles wings and refused to look over. Lily grabbed her quill and dipped it in ink before scribbling furiously.
Ask him out? Are you mad!? I don’t like James Potter!
She slid the parchment back to Raven, only to receive it again two seconds later, with a fresh message on it.
How did you know I was talking about him? I could’ve meant Black!
But come on Lily, you know you like him and he’s liked you forever. He won’t say no.
Lily grumbled and glared at the parchment as she wrote her reply.
You did not mean Siruis, I know you too well. You’re always on my case about James for you to be talking about anyone else.
Even if I did like him, I wouldn’t ask him out. Imagine if it didn’t work out! It’d be extremely awkward!
Her ink hadn’t even dried on the paper when Raven’s response came sliding back to her.
I’m always on your case because he’s a great guy! You two would be perfect together! Don’t try and hex me, I’ve got my wand ready. Plus, you’d lose points for Gryffindor AND set a bad example as Head Girl!
I do recall you ‘hating’ him at the beginning of the year, and managing to get over it. Who’s to say it would end badly? He’s not Gary, Lily. He won’t completely lose his head and be horrible.
Lily calmly added some newts’ eyes to the potion, giving the appearance of someone who could care less. Inside, however, she was contemplation on how best to reply. When she had finally come up with some sort of response in her head, she slowly wrote it on the parchment, thinking about every word before writing it.
He knows he’s a great guy, Raven. He’s arrogant. We would not be perfect together.
After liking me for so long, do you really think he would take a separation lightly? I don’t.
“Step away from your cauldrons! You should be finished now. We’ll let it simmer for ten minutes and then I will choose one student’s potion to test,” Professor Morton’s nasal voice rang out.
Lily held her hands over the cauldron’s fire to keep them warm, and began talking quietly with Stephanie. Sadly, she would not be staying at Hogwarts over winter break with Lily and Raven.
Lily looked over to see Raven sliding the parchment to her. Her reply was shockingly short.
You’re afraid.
Lily looked at James, who was standing with his back turned to her, totally oblivious to the fact that he was the subject of a small argument. Did he scare her? Whenever she was around him, her emotions went crazy and she couldn’t understand it. It did make her a little nervous that she didn’t have total control. She though about it. She felt comfortable around him, and safe. He could make her laugh and he almost always knew her thoughts. It was startling how often they said things at the same time. Maybe she was afraid, a little, but not of him.
Me afraid of James Potter? Hah, that would be the day! She replied to Raven confidently.
In that case, I dare you to go out with him next time he asks you. Which will, without a doubt be today. It’s tradition after all.
Lily sighed, knowing very well what Raven meant. Every year on the last day of term before Christmas break, James would approach her at sometime, put mistletoe over her head and kiss her cheek. She hexed him for it every time, but Sirius would always be there to mutter the counter-curse.
No way was she going to accept the dare. It wasn’t fair to James to play him around that way. After one date she’d break-up with him and that would bring problems that she didn’t need. Did Raven think that one date would change Lily’s mind about him and they’d live in a fairy-tale ever after? Well, she was wrong. Sure, Lily may have odd feelings around James... nice feelings... but surely that didn’t mean anything!
She was about to respond to Raven when Professor Morton’s cold voice sounded right next to her, startling her out of her thoughts. She hadn’t heard him approach!
“Ah... I think that we shall try Miss Shappard’s potion on Miss Evans.”
Lily kept her expression indifferent as the whole class turned to stare at her and Raven. She glanced at her friend who didn’t look the least bit worried and felt reassured. The potion would work as it was supposed to, otherwise Raven would be giving her frantic nervous looks. Raven was very good at potions anyways, so it was rare that one of her potions would be poison.
The whole class watched at Professor Morton dipped a vial into Raven’s potion and handed it to Lily. He was grinning at her wickedly, but Lily remained unconcerned. If he really wanted to poison her, he’d have given her one of Peter’s potions. But he hadn’t made it into the NEWT level class so that fear was diminished after fifth year.
She smirked at Professor Morton as though to say ‘Bottoms up’ and poured the potion into her mouth. It tasted horrible, like a mixture of rotten vegetables and other rancid things, but other then her taste-buds, she was unharmed.
Professor Morton looked like he was suffering from some kind of internal battle as he said, “Good job, Sheppard, five points to Gryffindor.” He snapped at them all to pack up their things, but not before he assigned them an essay to do over the holidays.
~*~
“That old geezer! An essay! Over the holidays! I can’t believe him,” grumbled Raven as they made their way to Charms “ their final class before the holidays. “So, my dare. Do you accept?” she said, completely changing the topic.
Lily didn’t even hesitate before answering, “Yes.”
She frowned upon hearing her own answer, ignoring Raven’s whoop of joy. Hadn’t she had a lot of reasons not to accept earlier on? She pondered it all through out Professor Flitwick’s lesson. Half way through the class she got it. The potion. It wiped away any doubtful thoughts! It’s affects must have started to wear off because Lily was feeling more than a little apprehensive. She couldn’t ask out James!
She drummed her fingers nervously on the desk-top. Looking at Raven, she couldn’t stand the thought of being teased for backing out. Lily had too much pride to succumb to that kind of treatment willingly. There had to be another way...
Lily concentrated hard on her obstinate problem. Her appearance made Professor Flitwick think that she was absorbed in her work. He left her alone, which suited Lily perfectly.
Suddenly an idea popped into her head. Raven had dared her to ask him out only when he did the traditional mistletoe kiss! All she had to do was prevent that from happening!
James, in the past, had always pulled the mistletoe from his pocket before holding it over her head and kissing her. All she had to do was get the mistletoe without him noticing and then when he went to kiss her it wouldn’t be there! It wouldn’t happen and she wouldn’t have to ask him out!
Biting her lip nervously, she carefully took aim. “Accio Mistletoe,” she whispered, concentrating with all her might. It could backfire... the mistletoe could bring James with it! Her face tensed up in the brief moment when nothing seemed to be happening. She noticed a small rip form in James’s robes pocket and then a piece of greenery was flying into her hand. Grinning at her success, she stuffed the mistletoe into her pocket.
~*~
“Hey Lily, can I talk to you for a moment?”
Lily and her friends had been making their way to Gryffindor tower when James came up and grabbed Lily’s arm lightly to get her attention.
She turned to face him. “Yes, sure. What is it?” she asked him calmly, pretending she couldn’t see Raven’s wickedly grinning face.
James smiled at her as he put his hand in his pocket. Lily had to bite the inside of her lip from laughing when his face suddenly fell. He frantically started searching all of his pockets, a delicate frown creasing his forehead as he found them empty.
“Did you want to show me something?” Lily asked politely, her face a mask of pure innocence.
“Ye.. Well, No,” he gave his pockets one last fruitless search. “Sorry, er, nevermind,” he said and turned to go. The look he had given Lily “ hazel eyes pleading and a disappointed frown tugging at his lips “ made her heart melt and she felt a surge of something she couldn’t described.
“Hey, James,” she called, reaching into her pocket. He turned and she pulled out the mistletoe. Her body and mind seemed to be acting of it’s own accord, as though it knew what was meant to be.
She walked right up to him, her eyes on his. Everything else seemed to dissolve away as she put the green plant over his head and whispered, “Mistletoe.” She pressed her lips to his and an unexpected warmth flushed into her body upon contact. She felt his tense surprise, and then he relaxed, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her closer to him.
They broke the kiss simultaneously, but he didn’t let go of her, and she didn’t make an effort to free herself. A blush had crept up into her cheeks. She was shocked by her own boldness and almost terrified of what would happen next.
He smiled down at her and said in a gentle whisper, “Hey Evans, will you go out with me?”
She grinned at the line she’d heard thousands of times from him, but never put thought into.
“You know, Potter, I think I will.”
They leaned in for another kiss.
“OI! I’m happy you’re together and all but there’s only so much mushiness one man can stand!” Lily hadn’t even noticed that Sirius was there, but in that moment he made his presence plain. She and James stepped slowly away from each other, feeling slightly awkward now the moment was over.
“Black! You bloody git!” Raven yelled. “You ruined the most perfect romantic moment!”
Sirius scowled at her. “You wouldn’t know romance if it bit you on the nose, Madam Hippo!”
Lily and James laughed as Sirius dodged a curse sent at him by a seething Raven. Sirius started running off in the direction of Gryffindor tower, teasing and taunting Raven the whole way. Lily and James followed, slightly behind.
“So what happened? The giant squid wasn’t quite the gentleman you thought him to be?” James asked in a light teasing way that made Lily smile.
“He was a bit too fishy for my taste. Where’s Remus and Peter?” she asked, noticing they weren’t there.
“Peter needed to buy something for his family in the gift shop before he goes home and Remus decided to help him,” he explained, and then with a sly grin he added, “I had other things to take care of.”
“Woman! Would you leave me alone? I take the hippo thing back!” Sirius bellowed at Raven. She had cornered him in a small little niche, her wand was raised threateningly.
Lily laughed as her friend grinned in a triumphant way. She suspected she’d still curse Sirius, just to further emphasize the fact that he shouldn’t mess with her. But Raven surprised her by muttering, “You aren’t worth the energy anyways.”
She stuck her nose in the air proudly as she walked to the portrait of the Fat Lady and gave the password. The rest of them followed her in, Sirius looking curiously thoughtful. Raven stomped up the girls’ stairs without a backwards glance.
Lily frowned at her friend’s odd behavior. “I’ll see you at dinner,” she told James and Sirius. Sirius gave her a playful salute. James smiled at her and nodded slightly. She felt her heart skip a beat, but ignored it and went up the stairs to her friend.
Raven had thrown her book-bag onto the floor and was lying on her bed with the curtains drawn.
“What’s wrong, Raven?” Lily asked kindly, drawing back a curtain and sitting on the edge of Raven’s bed.
“Stupid bloody Black,” she muttered angrily. “‘Look at me, I’m good-looking so I think I rule the world!’” she imitated him and Lily had to fight a laugh. Raven was very good at imitations.
“I feel bad for Stephanie,” was all Lily said.
“Bad for Stephanie?” Raven spluttered. “You should be feeling bad for me!”
“I think, dear friend, that our other friend has realized something and it may be one of the reasons she is not spending the holidays with us,” Lily was being mysterious, and she knew it bugged Raven. But she also knew that if she said what she was thinking it would make matters worth. Sirius fancied Raven, and Stephanie must have seen it. That would explain her indifference during the quidditch match.
“What did she realize? She isn’t staying for Christmas because she wants to see her family,” Raven said.
Lily shrugged. “I think you should start listening to your own advice. Let’s go to dinner, I’m hungry.” She got up off of Raven’s bed, pulling her friend with her.
Raven seemed to have become her usual self again, because she grinned wickedly and said, “You just want to see your lover!”
Lily rolled her eyes, and exited the dorm, Raven beside her making kissing-faces the whole way.
(A/N So yes, I just wanted to comment on the total madness, my first chapter has 500 reads!! 500!!!!! I'm sorry, but I just find that so exciting! I hope you guys enjoyed the romance between L/J ^_^ And you didn't have to wait until their holiday break because it was the day BEFORE ehehehe ^_^ (it can be argued that classes were over so the break had kind of started... but let's not go into that) And yeah, hopefully there will be another chapter for you guys soon! And now, I will wish you an early Happy New Year!!!!)