”There were no more words. The stars were beginning to shine. How was it that their lips met? How is it that the birds sing, that the snow melts, that the rose opens, that May blooms, that the dawn whitens behind the black trees on the shivering summit of the hills?”
Lily Evans’ eyes closed after she took in the meaning, the truth of those words. She could feel the slight breeze of the wind flutter her eyelids open. Her hair even swayed with the motion of the wind, somehow giving her flaming auburn curls something even more magical to them.
She inhaled the perfumed aroma of sweet flowers, and sighed like a goddess perched on top of the most majestic cliff. The words of the author swirled around her along with the pink petals of dying roses.
How could someone write like that? Passionate romance that was tender and sweet was near impossible of reaching these days. It didn’t matter if this person was a muggle; wizards always didn’t have a special way with words.
Soon, she reached the other side of the lake. Across the distance, she could see Hogwarts castle, with its nobility and pride, perched on the cliff. Being away from the school gave you the feeling of being detached from actual life, but it was in a quiet, solitary way. Lily liked that.
Lily kept walked, not quickening or slowing her pace. She took a tattered ribbon she was holding, rested it on the page, and closed her book. Finally, she reached the cherry tree.
The day was a calm grey, just a tad bit depressing. But Lily was into that. This kind of weather reminded Lily of herself; it was sort of lonely, depressed, and trying to deceive all with its gentle wind. She leaned against a slightly crooked cherry tree with rosy pink blossoms. There was no better place to think than right here.
Lily wasn’t exactly sure where she was going. As a fifth-year witch who was at the top of all her classes, a lot was expected. Lily wasn’t sure if she could handle the pressure. All her life was spent deceiving her teachers, her peers, and even herself. What was she to do later in a world when she had no choice but to be herself?
Her thinking made her partially worried; Lily didn’t want to detach completely from the world. She could miss her opportunity, her chance if she spent too much time thinking about it coming.
“Don’t worry, Lily,” a female voice said. Lily quickly whipped out her wand and turned around. Who discovered her?
She met a pair of celestial, crystal-like blue eyes. They were penetrating and hypnotic, but they made Lily smile.
“Sammie!” she cried, throwing her arms around the girl. “How’d you find me?”
SamLin Andrea Anderson was Lily’s best friend. Besides enchanting eyes, she had slightly wavy, strawberry-blonde hair with honey-colored highlights. Lily was on the shorter side; SamLin had a good five inches on her. Lily also loved her friend’s white teeth, perfect doll’s lips, skinny waist, curvy limbs, and beautiful eyelashes. SamLin could always be depended upon for helping Lily through difficult times, lending her a shoulder to cry on, and lighting up a room with the warm aura she seemed to give off. Right now, she was giving Lily a small smile.
“I knew you would be here,” she said. Lily hugged her tighter yet. SamLin returned the gesture. “Come on. Alice, Emily, and Katie were wondering where you were. Hogsmeade’s in a couple of hours, too.”
With an arm around her shoulder, SamLin led Lily back to Hogwarts. Inside, their cheeks were slightly pink from being outside in the cold spring weather, but it didn’t matter. They both just ran up the stairs, smiling.
Finally, they reached Gryffindor tower. With a quick “Wattlebird,” they were admitted inside the common room. SamLin and Lily rushed up the stairs to the girls’ dormitories and were instantly greeted by three others.
“Okay, Lily?” Alice asked, just a little concerned. Lily smiled and nodded. She didn’t want to give Alice anything to worry about.
Alice Laurel Swith was just about Lily’s height, maybe even shorter. She had round cheeks, cute freckles, and a shy but fiery attitude. Maybe the fiery attitude came from her tomboy-like personality, being on the Quidditch team, and sticking up for her friends against knucklehead boys. Alice was skinny, but she was chubby enough to give the impression that she wasn’t starved. She had dirty-blonde hair that was always held back in some way, whether in a ponytail, braids, or a bun. Her eyes were a rich, dark chocolate brown that seemed to sparkle around her friends.
“Miss your friends?” Katie asked teasingly.
Katharine, or Katie, Sharon Carroll was on the taller side like SamLin, but just a couple of inches shorter. She had elegant, layered black hair and dark, dark blue eyes. Everybody said that Lily was intelligent, but in actual reality, Katie was a person who never studied and always got an ‘Exceeds Expectations’ or an ‘Outstanding.’ Katie was shy like Alice, but in a more mysterious way. Yet when she was around her friends, she was definitely the wildest.
“Excited for Hogsmeade?” asked Emily dully. She was already heading towards the bathroom.
Lily sighed. Emily Rose Bennett was so opposite of all of them. Sure, they were all individuals who were different in a good way from each other, but Emily was always bored with them unless they were talking about her prime interests: makeup, clothes, hair, and boys. Lily couldn’t exactly blame her, though. Emily had hair with a rich, milk chocolate color to it with red and caramel colored highlights. Her eyes were such a light jade green they looked almost grey. She had perfect kissing lips, a face just right for huge amounts of makeup, and a very thin figure with tons of curves; what other material did a flirt need? But even if Emily was one of the most popular of the female species of Hogwarts and her life seemed excellent, Lily, SamLin, Katie, and Alice all knew she was rotting inside. Her popularity went to a point where there was no turning back. Nearly every night she came back from another late night, her pride, body, and soul bruised by some guy. Her grey-green eyes were scared. That’s what she needed her friends for: comfort and security and consistency. Other girls would simply ditch her and leave her grasping for something better. Lily, SamLin, Katie, and Alice were there to help her through the tough times and defend her against her demons.
Lily shook the depressing thoughts from her head. She smiled at her friends, a little mechanically, and asked, “Who’s got dates?”
“Me!” Emily called from the bathroom. She seemed more excited now. “I’m with Amos!”
“Diggory?!” SamLin squealed with astonishment. “Merlin, you’re so lucky!”
“And you Sammie-poo?” Alice asked.
“Nobody,” she replied, a bit sad. “Is there something wrong with me? There are no good boys!”
“Hey, there’s still Peter Pettigrew,” Katie suggested mischeiviously. The four of them always teased SamLin for crushing somewhat on Peter in first year. Peter was a boy even shorter than Alice with watery, plain brown eyes and sort of greasy brown hair. He reminded the five friends of a rat.
SamLin rolled her eyes. “Come on. That was one year! And our first! Believe me, I regret it ever happening. Well, what about you guys? Alice? Lily? Katie?”
“You guys know that A) I hate boys and B) that no sane guy would ever ask me out,” Katie said, not seeming the least bit upset. “You saw Diggory’s shin, Potter’s eye, Black’s arm, and-”
“Yeah, we know, Katie,” Alice cut in. Even though Alice could do serious damage to stupid guys, Katie’s temper always came unleashed whenever a poor guy opened his mouth. “They weren’t exactly pretty pictures. Oh, and no, I’m not going with anybody. Though Longbottom’s been asking me about a million times, as usual.” She sighed and rolled her eyes. The others in the room nodded sympathetically; Frank Longbottom had long been infatuated by Alice, but she wasn’t giving up her tomboy ways for him.
“Boohoo, Allie.” Emily’s voice came from the bathroom. “Merlin, you so need help when it comes to guys. You do realize that Longbottom is a good catch?”
“I do not need help!” Alice protested, snorting.
Emily opened the bathroom door and emerged with full makeup. “I’m not going to say anything, ‘cause you girls know what I’m talking about.” She immediately started undressing in front of everyone and slipped on a nice pink tank top and a see-through sweater and some jean capris. Just because they were witches didn’t mean they had to wear unfashionable clothing. In classes, they were forced to wear the school uniform. But on other days, it was hello to nice muggle clothing.
“And Lils?” Katie asked.
“What?” Lily asked irritably, scratching the back of her neck.
“Date! Duh?”
“Oh!” Lily thought Katie needed to be more specific. “Nobody.”
Katie shrugged and slipped into some jeans and a white polo with dark blue stripes going across it. The other girls followed suit: Lily pulled on some khakis and a green blouse. SamLin looked nice in a lacy lavender spaghetti-strap dress and white sweater. Alice just simply threw on her black sweatshirt and faded jeans.
All of them flounced down the stairs giggling and whispering. Passing teachers looked disapprovingly at their clothes, but they didn’t care. They rushed past everybody, smiling.
They all settled into specific types. There was kind and compassionate SamLin, the tomboyish hidden beauty Alice, wild and rebellious Katie, Emily the popular flirt, and Lily the intellectual. But in the end, it didn’t matter. They were still there for each other. Lily wanted it to be like that always.
Always. No man was going to barge into her almost perfect life.
At least, that’s how she perceived it.
Is it Pride or Prejudice? by Stormbringer
Chapter Notes: The excerpt I used is from the abridged version of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. This story is based on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Hope you enjoy.