Chapter 4
A Duel and a "Date"
It had been two days since the gang had met up at Diagon Alley. The girls had all tried to get Lily to talk about what happened between her and James, but it seemed that she was permanently spaced out. It was now the morning of September first and they were all making last preparations to go to Kings Cross. They were all very excited to go back to school, but all for different reasons...
"C'mon, boys! The train isn't going to wait all day for you!" James' mom yelled back at the three sleep-deprived boys. They were all walking very slowly and they basically had to lean on each other to stand upright. They had stayed up all night planning their beginning-of-the-year prank. It, of course, involved the Slytherins and they all believed it would be their best one yet. Peter wasn't there to help plan it, but they figured it was just as well. He tended to slow down the process.
"Geez, Prongs. Has it always been this early when we get on the train?" Sirius asked, stifling a large yawn. However, James had not answered and when Sirius looked around, he saw why. Apparently, James had seen a flash of red hair and that always left him fully incapacitated for at least 5 minutes. Sirius figured he'd play around with James' head a little, just for fun.
"Well, James, I figured something out last night. I realized I'm not really attracted to girls all that much anymore. But guess what? I've found a replacement. Did anyone tell you that you have beautiful brown eyes?" Sirius hoped James wouldn't come out of his little trance while he was talking, but he was disappointed. Apparently, at the shock of hearing Sirius saying that to him, James snapped out of it right away.
James shot Sirius a disgusted look and took a few steps away. "What did you just say?" Meanwhile, Remus was sniggering in the background.
"I was just messing around with you, Prongs. I figured I'd mess with you since you were currently incapable of speaking," Sirius said, looking in the direction of Lily and back to James and winked at him.
"Shut up, Padfoot," James said while hitting him around the head but with a huge grin on his face. They all bade goodbye to Mrs. Potter and then filed on the train. James then apologized to Sirius and Remus and walked towards the Heads Compartment. He really wasn't sorry at all, however, seeing as he got to spend this morning with Lily. Although the other boys were sleepy, after seeing Lily he was wide awake. So, he joyfully made his way to the compartment, overjoyed to be seeing Lily for the second time in three days.
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Lily and her friends had just clambered through the barrier for Platform nine-and-three-quarters, when Leah said, "Hey, Lily. Look who it is...James," she said slyly with a knowing glint in her eye.
Lily looked over in the direction that Leah was glancing and saw the familiar black messy hair. He was currently staring at her and she could see his miraculous brown eyes...Stop, Lily! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you like him. Lily then shook herself and said, "So?" in a unconvincing impassive voice.
Leah wanted to tell her how unconvincing she sounded but decided against it. She didn't want Lily to start the morning off in a bad mood, especially since she was supposed to meet James on the train. So, she just said, "C'mon girls, let's go get on the train."
All five girls stepped on the train. Then Lily said goodbye to them all a little too eagerly and practically ran off.
"This is extremely weird," Alice said but laughing all the while.
Lily ran into the Heads compartment to find that James had not arrived yet. She was secretly relieved that he wasn't there because she didn't want him to think that she was too eager to see him. But it isn't because you are...is it? She hastily pushed that thought aside. She knew she would be happy to see James again but to think that she was actually eager was scary to her. Then, she heard the compartment door slide open. She looked up hesitantly but instead of seeing James, she saw...
"Severus?" Lily asked, a little frightened.
"There's no need to be scared of me, Mudblood. I'm not going to hurt you," he said without a trace of gentleness. She shivered as he sat down next to her and attempted to put his arm around her but some kind of invisible barrier had been set around her. But by who?
"Snivellus, how unpleasant it is to see you again."
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James had walked on to the train, eager to see Lily so started right towards the Head compartment. However, when he got there, he witnessed a sight that made his blood boil. Snape was trying to touch his Lily. Your Lily? Not even close, bud. James pushed that thought away as he channeled his anger into a shielding spell. Snape hit an invisible wall with his arm and then looked up angrily at the compartment door to spot James. James also noticed Lily looked up and had grinned thankfully at him. James tried not to look her because he knew his anger at Snape would then fade away. Snape saw the exchange between the two and was about to say something when James cut him off.
"Snivellus, if you know what's good for you, you'll leave this compartment right now," James spat vehemently.
Snape looked like he was about to say something obnoxious but he couldn't deny he wasn't a little afraid of James.
"Alright, you win this time, Potter. Just remember, Evans, your Potter won't be here to protect you forever," he spat back just as vehemently.
As he made to walk out, James stepped in front of him and said, "You're wrong there, Snape. As long as I'm alive, Lily will be protected," James said angrily. He could hear Lily gasp slightly in the background at his declaration but she had obviously decided against commenting on it.
When Snape had left, all the Prefects filed in to get their instructions leaving James and Lily no time to disuss anything. James looked over at Lily and winked. Lily blushed a little but smiled all the same.
After meeting with the Prefects, James and Lily walked back to find their friends. They were having a great time just joking and laughing that they didn't even discuss the encounter with Snape. They were currently discussing how excited they were when they had received their Heads badges.
"Well, everyone knows I would be top of the class if it weren't for you, so I guess the Heads badge wasn't as big a shock for me," James said.
"Not trying to sound conceited but I kind of expected to get it,"Lily said, a little hesitantly.
"I know you're not conceited, Lily," James said, looking at her. She could not deny that she loved the way he said her name. She could also not deny that he was handsome. His messy black hair was very endearing and his brown eyes were so deep that you could get lost in them. He had acquired a lot of muscle from playing Quidditch for such a long time and it definitely showed.
"You're definitely smart, Lil, but we all know I'm better than you at Defense Against the Dark Arts," James said, knowing this would set her off.
"Oh, really?" Lily replied, with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Do you want to place a bet on that?"
"Sure," James countered just as mischievously. "Let's have a duel right here, right now. If I win, you have to go on date with me."
"Okay," Lily said. James was astounded that she had agreed to that but he hid his astonishment. "If I win, you have to be my slave for a week."
James smiled and agreed because either way he would get to spend time with Lily.
"Alright, we have to perform the niceities." So they bowed and then started their duel. At first, it was repetitive because they were so equal in talent, they either blocked everything or jumped out of the way. They did not notice that in the midst of the duel, more and more students were coming out and watching, including their friends.
Their friends were laughing because they all knew that it was the beginning of a very wonderful friendship. They could tell Lily no longer "hated" James because she was laughing and smiling the whole time.
"Tarantallegra!" Lily shouted at James. He did not step out of the way in time and proceeded to dance like an idiot.
They both realized that Lily could easily disarm James at this very moment and Lily would have been joyous if James didn't look so crestfallen. He realized that he would not get the date that he always hoped for. Lily noticed this and muttered the countercurse. He stopped dancing, looking astonished and Lily made a show of falling for no apparent reason and dropping her wand. When she grabbed it, James saw his chance and disarmed her.
"It looks like I get my date, Lily," James pronounced triumphantly and began to dance around like a monkey.
Lily tried to look defeated but she could not help but smile.
Not Another Teen Love Story by 365 letters_ryan gosling 20
Chapter Notes: I had a little case of writer's block, but I like it...I think it's my best chapter yet. Feedback is extremely appreciated. Thanks!