“It’s tomorrow night?” Lily rolled over on her bed so she was laying flat on her stomach.
“That’s the message,” Emily replied, her jade-like eyes glowing in the dark.
It was only the first day back and already the Marauders were planning a common room party. So far, based on Emily’s information, there was going to be lots of decorations, butterbeer, fire whiskey, mead, and sweets. Lily had loudly objected when she heard about the alcohol, but Emily and surprisingly Alice had ruled her out. The five had decided to go.
“I am not drinking, though,” Lily said again, running a hand through her hair. “And Katie?”
“What?” Katie asked icily. Her face was covered by a book titled Oliver Twist. Lily really should’ve known better: Katie hated to be disturbed while she was in the middle of a novel.
“You better not drink either,” Lily warned. “After all, you’re a prefect.”
“Merlin, no. ‘Course I wouldn’t, Lily.” Katie licked her finger and turned the page. Lily could tell by her face that she was probably at the part where Bill Sikes was hanged.
“Katie, what are you reading?” Alice inquired loudly. It was lucky it was only the five of them in the dorm.
Katie put her book down and glared at Alice.
“I don’t even know how you can read,” Emily remarked, braiding her hair.
Katie looked at Emily as if she was ludicrous. “I look at the word. In this case, it’s ‘chimney.’” She pointed at the word in the sentence she was obviously in the middle of reading. “Then I think about what exactly ‘chimney’ means. Okay. Then I move onto the next word, which is ‘then.’ And then “ No, I’m not talking about the word, Emily “ I finish the sentence. ‘Sikes quickly tied the rope around the chimney, then began to tie the other end around himself, ready to lower himself to the ground behind the house.’ I figure out what it means “ Oh my! “ and repeat the process. Simple, no?” Katie looked at Emily, challenging her green-grey eyes with her own dark blue ones. Emily rolled her own eyes.
“She probably meant with SamLin snoring in the background, right?” Lily asked quickly, hoping that a fight did not break out between the two. Katie and Emily were not getting along since the Back-to-School Feast.
SamLin snorted in her sleep, as if to prove Lily right.
“She’s not as bad as Katie, though,” Emily said, talking as if her friend wasn’t in the room. “I once heard her talking in her sleep, speaking gibberish and falling over onto the floor.” Emily laughed, but Lily and Alice just stared at her. Katie looked livid.
That did it. Katie threw the covers off of her and ran down and out the dorm. She only took her book with her.
“Emily.” Lily stared levelly at her. Emily and Katie never got along that well from the start, but this was a little much. “Why’d you have to go and do that?”
Emily stared at her, eyes wide. “What?”
Alice growled. “Don’t play stupid, Bennett. Why are you being mean to Katie?”
Emily’s face changed to indignation. “Oh, so you’re siding with her?”
“Emily,” Lily said, “there’s no sides.”
“That’s what they all say,” Emily muttered. “You know what?” Her eyes flashed. “I don’t need you guys! I’m going to take a walk.” And with that, she stalked out the dormitory, leaving an annoyed Alice, a confused Lily, and a snoring SamLin.
*
Emily walked down the hallway. It was so silent and dark and cold. She shivered. Emily desperately wished she had brought a sweater or a blanket or something.
But she couldn’t go back. Her friends didn’t care about her. Her eyes squinted, thinking about it. Once her life was perfect. Emily’s friends would never let her down. They kept her sane, and from going too out-of-control.
And now they wouldn’t listen to her feelings! Why? Katie was a nerd; she deserved to be kicked out of their little group. Katie deserved to have no friends. Yet deep down in Emily’s heart, she knew that wasn’t true. She sighed, stopping abruptly.
Emily just didn’t like Katie anymore. Truth be told, she never really did. And she was entitled to her opinion! But what did her friends do? They abandoned her. They finally abandoned her, after all these years. Emily couldn’t imagine what she would be without them, and here she was, deserted, alone.
She bit her lip. Emily knew she always needed support. She was popular, but empty. Her friends didn’t make her as empty. They showed her what really everything was about. And they made everything happy.
She had come crashing down. It was like her friends were holding her up, helping her trying to reach something, but when they left, all she did was fall down to the floor. And Emily knew she couldn’t reach that something by herself.
Emily thought. What she really needed was a pick-me-up. Something to help her rebuild without starting over completely. That was her: start out the game with the cheats in hand.
And then it hit her. Professor Slughorn, a portly and stupid man in her opinion, had shown them of the upcoming potions they would by studying in sixth year. One of them was like liquid gold. The Potions Master told them it made things lucky for the drinker.
Felix Felicis...
Of course! And she remembered the stupid git of a Potions professor had stored the cauldron in a cupboard somewhere in the classroom. She wouldn’t even have to make it. All she had to do was steal it.
She smiled. Emily knew it was one that her friends would recognize as not trying to get the attention of a certain guy, but one of malicious evil. She knew what to do. Emily would keep her friends and apologize (ugh) to Katie, until she found the right moment to abandon them and make them suffer.
With great vigor, her legs once again resumed walking, right down toward the Dungeons.
*
“Where do you think she went?” asked Lily nervously, hovering over a sleeping Emily Bennett.
Alice shrugged and her eyes narrowed just looking at Emily. “Who knows or cares?”
“Well,” SamLin said, looking at Emily, too. “Aren’t you a little concerned about her?” she offered gently.
Alice scowled. “After what she’s been saying about Katie? No.”
Last night, Lily and Alice had stayed up, worrying about their two friends. Finally, Alice had checked and Katie was down in the common room, snuggled on one of the couches sleeping with Oliver Twist in her lap. But Emily was nowhere to be seen.
Eventually, the two had fallen asleep at about three o’clock. It must have been from then until seven in the morning (when the both woke up abruptly, screaming from weird dreams and causing SamLin to grab Alice’s Beater bat) when Emily had returned, sprawled on her bed in the oddest position.
“You know,” Lily said thoughtfully, “that day on the train when Emily kicked Katie out?”
“Yeah,” SamLin said. “When she started to say she was in love...”
“Was she talking about Diggory?” Lily whispered. Even though her friend was asleep, she didn’t want to be caught gossiping about her if she awoke. “Or somebody else?”
“Never heard anything about that git over the summer,” Alice said.
“Funny,” SamLin remarked. “Knowing Emily, she would’ve definitely told us right after you argument if she was in love with him, but she let it go.”
“Wonder why,” Alice mused.
Lily yawned. “Let’s go down to breakfast. That’s where Katie probably is.”
Alice nodded. “But what are we going to do about her?” She pointed at Emily.
SamLin considered. “Leave her here. I don’t think she would appreciate us waking her up at seven.” She yawned, too. “Come to think of it, I’m not even too happy about you waking me up at seven. And I needed my sleep before the party.”
Pause.
Lily smacked herself on the forehead. “Oh! The party!”
“Stop worrying, Silly Lily,” Alice said. “Let’s just go down to breakfast. I’m starving.”
*
Lily leaned into the squishy sofa, trying to relax. She sighed. She stuck a finger in her ear, trying to make the music in the common room quieter to her poor brain. Yet as she stared at the walls magicked to show colorful drawings, Lily certainly felt dizzy.
She was really bored. The entire party had been a bore, except for the walls. Half of the Marauders weren’t even here yet. Lily didn’t really see a point of throwing a party (which they shouldn’t even be having in the first place) if you didn’t even show up.
Lily seemed to be the only one grouchy about the whole thing. SamLin was somewhere off to the side, dancing with Sirius. He looked so madly in love, it was a pity SamLin didn’t look the same. Alice, who actually did have some cups of fire whiskey, was on the other side of the common room fighting with some tall and burly seventh year. Emily had attended and was acting important in front of a group of girls, which meant she was obviously sharing gossip. Katie was smart and had gone up to the dormitory, a new book which looked like it was called David Copperfield in her arm.
Lily sighed again. All she wanted to do was get out of here.
“Hey.”
She looked up, expecting some drunken nightmare or one of her friends. But as she looked up, she met a pair of eyes. Dreamy eyes with splashes of dark green and bright blue mixed together.
“Willard!” Lily sat up. She hadn’t seen him since the Netherfield Ball. After that night, he had seemed to disappear. “Where’ve you been?”
Willard smiled, but it was obvious he didn’t want to talk about it and ignored her question. “Mind if I join you?” He gestured toward the sofa she was sitting on.
“Not at all,” Lily responded, smiling.
“So,” he started, looking at her. She thought she was going to melt. “How’ve you been?”
*
“And I ran away!”
“Really?”
“Truly.”
Several hours and seven drinks later, Lily was still on the sofa with Willard by her side. They had had a pleasant conversation, before Willard had offered to get her a drink. Lily was apprehensive about answering. She had made a vow to herself to not drink, yet the way Willard smiled made her forget everything else. She had agreed, and Willard had offered to make it less painful by mixing the fire whiskey with the butterbeer.
After that, it was kind of a blur. Lily could remember babbling incessantly to Willard about several things, and then saying something about socks. Willard would always listen patiently, and then whisper in her ear if she wanted another drink. She loved when he did that so much.
Finally, he had gotten her a real fire whiskey, which Lily immediately started drinking out of the bottle. They had been on the topic of her runaway, but the alcohol and boldness stirred inside Lily made her venture a question.
“Willard, I have a question,” Lily loudly. It was lucky the music was blaring and there were so many people talking, because otherwise, somebody would’ve heard her.
Willard smiled at her sweetly and put his right arm around her shoulders. Lily felt safe and secure, but still couldn’t shake that feeling of something was wrong with the picture. “Anything.”
“Though it may seem rude, I must ask this: What is your reason for disliking Potter?” Lily asked loudly and in a slurred voice. For some weird reason, she still always used proper English, even drunk. Lily couldn’t help but notice as she was saying this how the lights in the common room illuminated his face and made him look like a beautiful, innocent angel. Or maybe it was all the fire whiskey.
He looked at her dead on. “Why do you not like James?”
“I “” Why didn’t she like him? She closed her mouth. Answer!
“Too many reasons, right?” Willard asked, laughing. It sounded out of tune and distant in Lily’s ears. Lily tried laughing along, but the laugh got caught in her throat.
“Well, I hate “ yes, hate, Lily “ James for one reason: messing up my life. A life he had no reason to barge into.” It was weird how his words were not as slurred, Lily noticed.
Well, she could sympathize with that. James Potter had barged, shoved, and jumped into her perfect life, too. Lily nodded her head to show she understood.
Willard ran a hand through his light brown hair. “I’d make this long story short, but I might as well get it over with. So. Anyway. I lived with the Potters at their mansion located in Pemberly. His parents and his grandfather “ yes, we used to have a grandfather “ doted on both of us. James and I would always run around playing and just plain laughing.”
Lily already predicted how this story was going. Her insides suddenly knotted tight, making her want to puke. Yet she couldn’t figure out whether it was this story or, once again, the alcohol.
“Then, when we were around eleven, anticipating going to Hogwarts, our grandfather died. He was a noble man. He loved us. His death was one we took particularly hard.” Lily cocked her head to one side, feeling a pang of sorrow.
“In our grandfather’s last will and testament, he left a large sum of Galleons to both of us. I had no use for the money, but I took it anyway. James, however, was definitely interested in the money. He demanded for my share, which I only give him a little of. Now I wish I didn’t give him anything.
“James placed bets, spent, and went around gloating about his fortune. Even at the age of eleven, he had a tendency to be very mischievous. He formed his Marauder gang, and from then on they spend the money for all sorts of cruel pranks.”
Well, that would explain where they got all the Filibuster Fireworks.
“He ordered for so much more money, that I eventually had to refuse to give it. With the popularity he gained, James started the rumors. In them, I was blamed for having trying to steal his Galleons. When I denied it, all the kids rejected me. They sent jinxes and curses my way for about a month. No one respected me. I lost my dignity.
“So now, unlike you, Lily, I had “ and still have “ nowhere to go.” His eyes looked so pained. Those eyes with a sea of blue and green floating in them. They were beautiful.
“How cruel!” Lily said in an astonished voice. She then turned apologetic. “I’m sorry I brought up the subject.” She wondered if she sounded serious, with the slurred words and all.
“Don’t be, Lily,” Willard said. She loved how he said that, so soft and sincere. “You were curious. Plus, I needed to get it out.” He smiled at her. Lily felt her heart stir a little. She could feel recklessness and feelings that threw her into a passionate frenzy.
Slowly but surely, he moved his left hand from its original position on the sofa and quickly entangled it into Lily’s. His eyes looked her hers, digging endless passages into her brain. “I’ve never told anyone that,” he said softly, almost like it was just another breath.
The smell of alcohol entered through her nostrils and intoxicated her brain. She inhaled and then exhaled deeply. In a way, Lily knew this wasn’t how it should be, but the thoughts were immediately dismissed from her confused brain. Lily could just barely sense Willard’s head moving in, so close that their noses rubbed against one another. The noises that surrounded them suddenly faded, and it seemed like it was only them in the room.
Willard pressed his mouth against hers. The kiss was so full of desire and passion, but for Lily, it was lacking that...something. But still, she leaned in for more, not wanting to pull away from her first-ever kiss.
“Come to my room,” he whispered, his hand sliding its way under her skirt.
Lily realized as Willard ran his hands up and down, it was just a façade. He had pretended to be sweet to her so he could win her over and get...this. It was all in the kiss. She could feel his desire “ desire to obviously get more out of her than just a kiss. Lily could also smell and taste the alcohol, and knew he had obviously gotten her drunk for this purpose.
Angrily, she pushed him off of her. Willard fell onto the ground, hitting his head on the coffee table. He looked at Lily to see what was wrong, and he could tell from the look on her face that she knew what was going on. Lily was afraid he was going to hit her, but instead she felt Willard’s mouth against her ear, whispering, “Filthy Mudblood.” She gasped at his word use as he walked away.
Once he was gone, Lily brought her knees up to her body and hugged them, as if trying to somehow make herself smaller. Less noticeable. Luckily, nobody was staring or pointing or laughing at the foolish girl who was just kissing Willard...who? She didn’t even know his last name. Her indignation increased.
She felt used and betrayed. Lily had wanted the first kiss for all the right reasons, but he didn’t. And yet he still stole it from her. That frustrated Lily more than anything.
She wanted to be the brave, Gryffindor Lily in that moment, but all she could do was cry.
Is it Pride or Prejudice? by Stormbringer
Chapter Notes: Okay, the book Katie is quoting and reading is the abridged version Chinese-American version of Oliver Twist (I have the real one, but I think I lost it), page 216, paragraph three, sentence 3. Lily is seduced by someone, and her friends start to turn on one another because of that person.