“Lily? Lily, dear, wake up.” Lily stirred. She lifted her eyelids and was caught staring up at Professor McGonagall.
“Oh, professor, I’m so sorry…”
McGonagall held up her hand and reminded, “There is no need to be sorry, Miss Evans. I just came to inform you that you have Herbology at the greenhouses in twenty minutes. So, I suggest you get a move on… unless you are still feeling sick…”
“Oh, no, professor. I’m feeling perfectly fine, to tell you the truth.”
“So you can go to lessons?”
Lily nodded. She didn’t want to miss herbology, especially in her N.E.W.T. year.
“Good. You bag is right next to your table. And be sure to do your patrols at night. Potter is having a hard time patrolling the hallways on his own.” McGonagall gave Lily a rare smile. Then, she left the hospital wing.
Lily could hardly believe her ears. Potter… was… acting/being… mature…. Lily smiled. This year wasn’t going to be as hard as she thought.
She lifted her hand to wipe a stand of red hair from her face with she realized that she was clutching the lily Potter had given her the night before. She almost screamed and threw it out the window, but another part of her told her to keep it and stay quiet.
She scanned the wing to make sure no one was looking at her, and she dropped the lily in her bag. Then she picked up her bag and made for the greenhouses. Every time she tried to remember the Latin name for mandrake, her kind wandered to Potter’s lily.
~
“Hey, Prongs. Check it out.” Sirius nudged James’ shoulder.
“Ouch… what?” Sirius had nudged him where a bruise had formed. He had gotten the bruise from slipping on the ice in the train.
James had removed his bandage this morning, but he still had a half-healed scar on his forehead. Sirius had joked, “From now on, every Potter will receive a scar on their forehead and shall be famous for it!”
“Your little flower is heading to our greenhouse,” Sirius said in a false, squeaky voice.
James’s head shot up from behind twisting, deathly green vines and watched Lily walk out the castle, look both ways as if looking for someone, then broke into a run to the greenhouse where Professor Sprout was teaching how to properly plant the deadly Devil’s Snare.
When she finally arrived to the greenhouse, Professor Sprout’s arms popped out in surprise. “Miss Evans! So good to see you as healthy as ever!” All heads turned to face Evans and she turned a very light shade of pink.
“Thank you, Professor.”
“Now, we are learning how to plant the deadly Devil’s Snare…”
“Deadly?” Sirius wondered, tickling the vicious plant, “I think it looks kind of cute-OW!” The Snare had wrapped itself tightly around his finger. James ignored him. He moved a little bit away from Sirius so Professor Sprout would think that he didn’t have a partner. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
“So please pair up with Maya over there.”
~
“I foresaw you coming,” Maya said simply as Lily set down her bag and sat down next to Maya. “I tried to view your condition through my crystal ball bit I didn’t get anything.”
Good, Lily thought. She didn’t feel like anyone should know about the lily.
Amy and Alice leaned across the table so that they could join in the conversation.
“Well?” Amy asked, flipping her head so that her shiny, blonde curls would rest softly on her shoulders.
“Well what?” Lily inquired. She was copying Maya in trying to plant a tiny Devil’s Snare without its tendrils wrapping around her wrists.
“Are the rumors true?” Amy continued.
“We almost killed Maya asking her if they were,” Alice giggled.
“But I reckon they are true,” Maya said blankly, attempting to stuff a wriggling Snare in a pot.
“What rumor? Guys, I have been sleeping in the Hospital Wing this entire time.” Lily capped her pot so the Snare would not escape. She picked it up by the handles and began walking quickly to another table where all the other potted Snares were.
Maya, Amy, and Alice abandoned their work and followed her. Julianne, who had been paired with Remus, quickly capped her own Snare and jogged up to her friends.
“Just tell us,” Julianne sighed.
“Tell you what? I tell you, I have not the faintest idea of any rumor.” Lily turned her head while walking.
“Fine. Is it true that James rescued you from the dementor?”
Lily didn’t drop the pot, but she did trip on the hem of her robe. She fell hard on her stomach, making her head spin wildly. She placed the pot down and got up, swaying slightly and her face almost as red as her hair. She picked the pot back up and walked faster to the table.
She became aware of everyone, all the Gryffindors’ and Hufflepuffs’ eyes following her, waiting for an answer. Lily banged her pot down on the table and glared around at everyone as if to scream, “STOP LOOKING AT ME, MORONS!”
Alice rested her hand on Lily’s shoulder and Amy bent down so her eyes met Lily’s. Julianne rested her pot next to Lily’s, and Maya just stood by the corner, running her hands through her hair.
Luckily, the bell rang and everyone made a hustle to get out. Lily grabbed her bag and began to run out of the greenhouse.
“For homework, everyone,” Professor Spout called out to the leaving students, “I want you to read and summarize Chapters 1-5 in your books!” Lily got out her notepad and scribbled down the assignment.
“What do we have next?” she asked Amy.
Amy flipped her hair again and she withdrew her schedule from her bag. “Transfiguration with Slytherins.” She made a retching sound. “Then we have Defense against the Dark Arts with Ravenclaws. After that, Charms with Hufflepuffs again.”
Lily memorized the schedule. Then, she and Julianne went to Professor McGonagall’s classroom while Amy and Maya went to get their books from their dormitory.
~
“Come on, Padfoot!” James shouted back at Sirius. Remus waited a few feet behind James and Peter had just wandered off to the dormitory, without even realizing that his pals had stopped.
James was thinking of Lily as he waited for Sirius. Why was she hiding from him? Did she still hate him? Did she get the flower? James swallowed. He hoped she did, while, at the same time, he wished he never gave it to her in the first place.
Then he wondered if Diggory had managed to remove his fluffy bunny tail…
“So, Prongs,” Remus asked, “What are you going to do?”
“About what?” James asked, barely turning his head. If Remus asked about Lily, he would smack him so hard in the face that he would see little full moons revolving around his head.
“Are you going to the common room or straight to class?”
“I’m going to the common room…”
“Alright, see you at class!” Then Remus turned around and ran to the castle. James smiled to himself.
He’s probably off to see Julianne.
Remus had liked Julianne ever since they reached for the same book at the same time in the library. The book had been about duels and when Remus had seen the look on her face that another person wanted the book, he thought she was going to compete for the book. Instead, she let him take the book and she borrowed Lily’s.
That had been in their fourth year and he still had not asked her to Hogsmeade. James wished that he could find out if Julianne liked Moony, but he hadn’t figured out a way to get that information without rousing suspicion.
So he just watched Remus suffer.
Sirius was not coming out of the greenhouse. He’d probably got in trouble again.
Soon, James abandoned his friend and headed for his separate room in the Gryffindor Tower.
~
Lily and Julianne were the only ones in the Transfiguration classroom, and Professor McGonagall was outside scolding two fourth-year Slytherins for picking on a second year Hufflepuff. Lily had tried to handle it, but then it had reached the “Wand-Stage” and spells were flying everywhere. A green jet of light had almost hit Lily before the teacher had stepped in, brandishing her wand.
“You should get some rest, Miss Evans,” McGonagall had said, “I’ll handle this.”
Now, Lily and Julianne were making soft pillows fly in the air, waving between chandeliers, and bumping into each other.
Lily looked over at Julianne and saw that she had a distant look on her face.
“What’s up, Julianne?” Lily wondered. Julianne blinked and came back to the present.
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking.” Julianne blushed slightly, and stopped her pillow from colliding with the chalkboard.
“Thinking about what?”
“Nothing! Just forget it.” Julianne turned a deeper shade of pink. She covered her face with her hands and held her breath, trying to subdue the blushing. Her pillow fell from the sky and landed in a raven’s cage. The raven squawked furiously before accepting the pillow and resting on it.
“Come on! Tell me,” Lily persisted. “I won’t tell a soul.”
“Promise?” Julianne peeked through her fingers until she saw Lily nod. Then, she removed her hands and mouthed a name. Once she was sure that Lily had got the message, she raised her volume. “He hasn’t asked me out yet. Does he even like me? I mean, I dream about his almost every day! Wouldn’t that mean something?”
“Why don’t you ask him out?”
“Because! I don’t know if he likes me. But I like him so asking him to Hogsmeade would be the sensible thing to do. But what if he doesn’t know that I exist? I mean, what would you do if some random person came up to you and asked you out?”
“He does NOT think you are random person. All last year, I saw him staring at you.” Lily supported her head with her hand.
“But I like him SO MUCH, Lily. I don’t think if I’ll be able to stand another minute!”
As if on cue, Remus Lupin walked in and sat at the desk behind the two girls, flopping his book open and began reading the third chapter. Julianne turned her head to face the chalkboard and the turned a brilliant red.