It was one of those autumn days in which the wet sleet was falling in ever-increasing amounts, tearing the still yellow leaves off of slick, black branches and plastering them to the muddy, slightly slushy ground.
I, being the stupid cow that I am, had assumed that I had at least a couple of free hours outside before the storm hit. Like always, I was wrong. Okay, maybe I’m not always wrong. In fact, Remus would say I’m always right, just to be sweet, that’s the way he is. Sirius would gasp dramatically and pretend to faint if I was ever wrong; he always loved to tease me if I’d miscalculated something. Peter would go along with either Remus or Sirius; he didn’t often have an opinion of his own, but you couldn’t help loving him anyway. And James would say it doesn’t matter if I’m right or wrong, I’m perfect just the way I am.
That’s the Marauders for you. Though they’re all the best of friends, along with me of course, sometimes they can be as different as cats and dogs. Or should I say rats and dogs and wolves and stags. I frowned as I thought of their illegal animagus forms, for although we had all been best friends since third year, I was still put out that they hadn’t let me become animagus too. Even thinking about it then made me angry, and, moving quickly and carelessly in my annoyance, I unknowingly stomped myself into an overly large, overly muddy, mud puddle. Go figure. I let out a small but frustrated scream of rage. I probably could have done something about it, getting my feet unstuck I mean, but I was simply too tired and too cold and too wet to do anything about it, so I plopped my arse down in the muck to join my feet and prepared to wait.
And it was like that five long, miserable minutes later that James found me.
I heaved a sigh of relief through my chattering teeth as I saw him saunter out of the castle. I knew he had seen me, for he waved. I waved back and, as he started toward me in an infuriatingly slow and ambling pace (which I knew he did only to tease me), examined him with narrow eyes. He was rather tall, and although he was lean, he had strong, wiry muscles that could only be gained through years of Quidditch.
I laughed as he shivered through his thin cloak; he was even more stupid than me sometimes. Imagine, coming out in that kind of weather, dressed like that. At least I had brought a scarf. Honestly.
Anyway, by now he was almost at my little mud hole, and he was absolutely soaking. As he got within five meters of where I was seated, I struggled vainly to stand up, but it seemed that after five minutes of sitting in the nasty muck, my arse was stuck as well as my feet, so I gave up and glared up at James, now right in front of me and shaking with barely concealed laughter. I knew him too well by now, so I knew that he was trying not to laugh so as not to hurt my feelings. Obviously he didn’t know me that well, for I wouldn’t have been offended if he had burst out laughing. Ah well. Just another perfect opportunity to tease him!
“James Potter,” I said in an icy cold voice, “what the hell are you laughing about?”
He vainly tried to cover up his laughter. It was quite funny to watch, actually. He would snort every now and then and his face would break into this huge smile, and then he’d try to become solemn again. In fact I think it was harder for me to keep from laughing at him that it was for him to keep from laughing at me, but, unlike his face, mine stayed cold and angry.
“I’m-I’m not…” (here he laughed again) “laughing at-at-at-you, I’m…BUAAAAUUUGH!!!!!!” (here he finally collapsed in the mud, laughing like a madman.) “You look so funny!”
Here my mouth twitched as I struggled to suppress a grin, but I strengthened my death-glare and asked in a dangerous voice, “What on Earth are you talking about?”
He looked up from where he was now lying in the mud and noticed my death glare. He gulped visibly. “Now, Lily,” he said cautiously, “you have to admit that it’d be funny if you found me sitting in the mud with my face streaked brown with dirt and rain and”well, you get the picture. You’d be laughing, wouldn’t you?”
“You’re like that now and I don’t find myself laughing,” I replied coolly. Although I really want to laugh! I added to myself, inwardly grinning wickedly at James’ discomfort.
“Well, er”” James began, but I cut him off with some exasperation.
“James, will you ever know when I’m using sarcasm?” I asked, finally softening my expression and smiling at him in false pity.
He looked up at me with a puzzled expression, and I sighed inwardly. Honestly, he can be so thick sometimes. “I-was-being-sarcastic!” I said slowly so as to make sure he understood what I was saying.
At this his mouth dropped open and he seemed to be working out in his brain what had just happened. I waited patiently until he still hadn’t said anything for like a minute, then I cleared my throat meaningfully. He looked up at me with a huge beam on his face and broke out laughing. I raised my right eyebrow in silent question, and he understood exactly what I meant.
“Of course I’ll help you up, just as soon as I get up myself,” he replied to my unspoken query, his hazel eyes sparkling behind his muddy glasses. He fought to free himself from the thick muck, and it was only a matter of seconds before I was unstuck as well.
“Thanks, for that,” I said gratefully, wiping my muddy hands on my robes before I realized that it was no use; they were both equally muddy. James noticed and, as we started back towards the castle through the growing sleet, he proffered his own robes, which weren’t quite as muddy as my own.
We continued up to Hogwarts in a comfortable silence until we got to the Whomping Willow and I realized that the full moon was tomorrow night.
James must have been thinking the same thing, for he said grimly, “I hope this weather clears up before tomorrow.”
I nodded quietly, not really wanting to think about it.
“I hate Greyback,” James growled, his face tight with anger.
I nodded once again; Fenrir Greyback was the werewolf who had bitten Remus and it was because of him that Remus had to endure pure torture every month. But it didn’t just affect him once a month. He did his best to hide it, but Remus was always exhausted and sickly during the few days before and after his transformation, and he was quieter now than he had been before; quiet and, because of his fear of putting others in danger, unwilling to make many friends.
James must have noticed my obvious discomfort with the subject, because he put his arm around my shoulders and steered me once again towards the great castle of Hogwarts.
“’S’alright, Evans, he’ll be fine,” he said softly.
“I know,” I replied quietly, and then I fell silent once again, my teeth chattering.
“How long were you out there, anyway, Lily? You look half frozen!” James asked, glancing at me a bit worriedly from the corner of his eye.
“A couple of hours, but this rain only started up about forty five minutes ago.”
“Forty five minutes in the cold sleet!” James exclaimed. “C’mon, Lils, we’d better get you up to the Common Room before you get pneumonia.
“Alright, Mum,” I joked, shivering nonetheless.
We reached the main door of Hogwarts after what seemed like an eternity, and by then I really was half frozen. We pushed open the heavy wooden doors and they creaked to admit us into the warm building. I was exhausted and freezing so I just leaned on James and he led me up to the Gryffindor Common Room just as I was beginning to fall asleep on his (quite comfy) shoulder.
The red, overstuffed chairs and couches were occupied by the other three Marauders, and Jackie Williams, my other best friend, was sitting in front of the fire in her Rolling Stones pajamas reading a book. We were the only Gryffindors still at Hogwarts during the Christmas break, along with a couple of snooty girls who were, sadly, in Jackie’s and my dorm.
Anyway, as soon as James and I got in the Common Room they all looked up from what they were doing. Jackie gasped and ran over to me.
“Lily, dear, whatever happened to you?” she asked in a dramatic English accent; Jackie lived in America during the holidays, but she loved pretending to have British accents just to make fun of me.
“I found her outside, just sitting in the mud,” James replied for me, “though why she was out there I have no idea.”
Jackie glared sternly at me with her sparkling black eyes. “Now, Lily,” she started, picking up her normal accent again, “what have I told you about having tea parties in the mud? Now I suppose I’ll have to clean you up and get you all warm and do all the other things a good mother is supposed to do when she finds her baby’s been out in the rain.”
Sirius Black raised an eyebrow while Remus, Peter, and James sniggered.
Playing along, I stuck out my lower lip and said, “But mommy, it’s so fun to have tea parties in the mud!”
“Yes, I know, dear, but my little Lily-poo might catch a cold, and we wouldn’t want that, would we?” Jackie was a very talented actress, and for a second I almost believed she was my mother.
“Yes, mommy,” I replied, sighing with false reluctance. By now the Marauders were cracking up at our performance, rolling on the floor with helpless laughter, and both Jackie and I turned and took a bow for them.
As I bowed down for the second time I couldn’t help but laugh as well, and suddenly I was coughing, a dry and hollow cough, and a cough that promised a good cold tomorrow. Jackie pounded me on the back until I stopped coughing, seconds later, and I looked up with watery eyes to see Remus and James looking at me with concern. Sirius and Peter were still on the floor, hopelessly tickled.
“Er, Lily, d’you want me to get some medicine from Madame Pomfrey or something, cause it’ll just take me a second to-.”
“No thanks, James,” I interrupted him quickly; I didn’t feel terrible yet and the cold would probably be gone in no time, whereas the taste of Madame Pomfrey’s disgusting (albeit helpful) brews stayed in your mouth forever. I smiled feebly and insisted, “I’ll be fine by tomorrow; you’ll see. I think I’ll just go upstairs and rest awhile.”
James shut his mouth, and then opened it again, looking a lot more cheerful, though I knew it was an act. Really, the boy couldn’t be bothered to stop”well, stop bothering you.
“Well, then,” he said brightly (apparently too brightly, for Sirius and Peter, who had now been kind enough to grace us with their attention, both glanced at each other and fell into hopelessly-girlish giggles, while Remus just looked on blandly), “G’night!”
I yawned widely, my jaw cracking. I truly was getting more exhausted by the minute.
Jackie looked at him oddly and then nodded her head. “Yes, well, same to y’all,” she said equally brightly in an utterly southern accent, beaming around at all of them.
“Night,” I muttered, stifling a yawn with my hand. I hadn’t realized I was so tired, and I had suddenly acquired a pounding headache.
“What time is it?” I murmured quietly to Jackie as I trudged up the stairs to the girls’ dorm.
“Seven,” she answered lightly, a wicked smiling playing about her lips.
Normally I would have been appalled at the idea of going to bed at seven at night; that night, however, it seemed perfectly reasonable. Of course, I probably wouldn’t get to sleep until around eight, because Jackie was a bit on the talkative side (okay, she was one of the most talkative people I knew, but not in a selfish or ditzy way, in a nice, keeping-the-conversation-flowing kind of way).
Sure enough, as soon as we walked into the empty dorm (Rachel and Lindsay, the two snobbish girls who were in Jackie’s and my dorm, had insisted on moving into one of the other girls’ dorms, as apparently, they ‘couldn’t stand us”) Jackie pounced on the first bed she saw and, when I remained standing at the door, she pointed to the bed opposite hers and said, “Sit.” I complied and as soon as I was seated she leaned forward, her chin-length black hair shining in the soft light of the room, and examined me with narrow eyes as if searching for something. I was used to her searching look, her “unnerving” look, so I only yawned, closed my eyes and murmured, “Wake me up when you’ve finished your assessment of my character.” I could practically feel her grin.
“It’s already done,” she said, and I opened my eyes reluctantly to look at her expectantly. Her grin faded and she bit her bottom lip as if she didn’t know where to begin.
“What’s going on with you and James?” she asked finally, her gaze probing my face softly for any stray thoughts that might show my feelings, but I was an expert at hiding my feelings. This time though, I was truly surprised by her question, and she saw it.
“Me and James?” I repeated dumbly, feeling completely lost.
“Yes,” she continued warily, as if approaching a wild animal. “I mean your--you know, relationship.” She moved her hands about vaguely, as if to explain it better.
“I still have no idea what you mean,” I answered bluntly.
“I mean, it looks like there’s something between you two,” she persisted, her eyes locked on mine.
“Well of course, we’ve been friends for four years now!” I said, though now I knew what she was really talking about. “And if you’re implying that we like each other as more than friends, I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.” And I honestly didn’t. There was absolutely nothing except friendship between James and me, absolutely nothing!
“Of course,” Jackie said distractedly, her look still searching. “But Lily, he seemed awfully concerned about you when you started coughing down there just now. And you should see some of the looks he gives you during class. Are you sure he doesn’t fancy you?”
“Absolutely,” I stated firmly. “You’re imagining things. James is my friend and I’m his. That’s all.”
“if you insist,” Jackie said uncertainly, and she suddenly smiled, a bit too wickedly for my liking; whenever she smiles like that I know she’s up to something.
“What are you up to, Jackie?” I asked warily, narrowing my eyes, though the whole “suspicious” effect was somewhat ruined by a huge yawn that practically split my head in two.
Jackie’s cinnamon colored face immediately took up a innocent look and she merely said, rather loudly, “Good night, dear.”
I made a face; I hated being called “dear” by somebody in a condescending way, and Jackie knew the exact way to sound condescending. Her ploy to distract me from our conversation was successful. I scowled and said in a sweet voice, “Good night to you, too, Honey Bunchino,” which just so happens to be a phrase that Jackie cannot stand. That night however, I heard Jackie smirk, which I knew to mean, “Is that all you can come up with? Puh-lease.”
I smiled to myself in the darkness, thinking, Wow, we know each other way too well.
And it was like this that I fell asleep, without a thought for poor, lovesick James Potter.