James grumbled the whole way back to the Common Room. He told Sirius what had happened in the library with Lily, but he just laughed. “I told you mate “ she’s not worth it!” Sirius turned sideways in his armchair, so his legs were dangling over the side “ in his signature laid-back style.
He glanced over at a group of 4th years sitting around one of the tables, and indicated them with his head to James. He grinned. “Come on James, Violet’s liked you for ages. Try her.” James muttered something inaudible, and turned away. Why was it that the only girl he ever really liked, didn’t like him? Sirius was right. Girls were too sticky a business to get into. He firmly told himself there and then that he wouldn’t trouble himself with females again.
At that moment, as if on cue, Lily appeared through the portrait-hole. James’s heart started beating faster. What should he say to her? As she climbed through, the massive pile of books she was carrying fell out of her arms. James, instinctively, rushed over to pick them up for her, knocking Alexander Pinn out of the way “ who was also bending down to pick the books up, as he did so. It was a well-known fact that Alexander liked Lily. James had noticed him staring at her in Charms - it was downright creepy.
As Lily straightened up, James handed the books to her. “Thanks-” she began to say as she reached for the books, not realising who the helper was. She slowly looked up at James, who was about 10 inches taller than her. Her eyes narrowed into the mother of foul looks. “Thankyou.” She said briskly, not making eye-contact with him, walking swiftly away. James caught her arm. “Lily “ I,”
“Excuse me, I have a lot of study and heaps of homework to do.”
“-Please, just let me talk to you-”
“-I have to write an owl to my parents-”
“-Lily “ come on, I didn’t mean it like that-”
“-I can’t talk, I’m really tired, and I want to go to bed-”
James stopped. “I thought you were going to study and write an owl to your parents?” he smirked. Lily looked up at him, flushing furiously, the anger rising in her face.
Her voice was quickly rising. “James “ look, I just “ don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to be anywhere near you and I DON’T WANT TO GO OUT WITH YOU!” These last few words of frustration rose above the loud chatter in the common room, and everyone turned to face them.
There was silence. James looked over at Sirius who was smirking. Next to him, Remus had looked up from his book, a look of commiseration on his face. James turned to Lily. She closed her eyes, humiliated. “I’m-” he began to say, but Lily took an angry breath, turned on her heel and crawled back out the portrait-hole.
As soon as the Fat Lady’s portrait closed, the laughter and nattering in the room rose again.
He walked back over to Sirius and Remus, infuriated with himself. Sitting back down in his armchair, he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. Sirius lent forward. He sighed dramatically. “James, James, James. When will you ever learn? I told you, didn’t I?” James looked up at him, trying to re-enact Lily’s killer death-stare, and failing miserably. “Yeah.” He muttered bitterly. “You told me.” Sirius just grinned his lop-sided grin.
The three of them didn’t say anything for a while, James just sitting there with his head in his hands, fuming, Remus trying to peacefully continue his book, failing due to the amount of noise in the common room, and Sirius, who was casually flicking his wand, so that Alexander Pinn’s books kept falling off the table.
When they did, Alexander would bend down; pick them up, only to have Sirius knock them over again. Alexander looked around aggravatingly every time, but never managed to find the culprit as Sirius would look away, innocently.
After a while, Sirius stood up, stretched and yawned loudly. “I’m going to bed fellas.” Remus looked up at him.
“Don’t you have Transfiguration homework?” he asked pointedly. Sirius smirked.
“Nah “ I’ve got a detention with McGonagall tomorrow anyway. Two missed lots of homework for the price of one is how I see it.” He grinned again. “Night.” And headed up the spiral staircase to their dorm room.
Remus glanced at his watch, and closed his book. “I think I’ll call it a day too. I’ll finish my homework in the morning.” He looked down at James, still angrily hitting his head. He gave a small smile. “Good night Prongs.”
James didn’t look up. “Night, Moony.”
As James continued to sit there, the common room slowly cleared. A seventh year, Arthur Weasley was the last to leave. He looked pityingly at James and punched him playfully on the shoulder. “Women.” He scoffed, grinning, before heading up to his room, too. James looked up, and grinned back at him, pretending not to care.
He sat there a while longer, lost in the fire’s flames, when he suddenly realised that he hadn’t heard Lily come back. It had been about 8.30 when he had arrived back at the common room, and she’d get into trouble if she was out after 9.00. He stood up. She couldn’t lose her Prefect badge; he knew how much it meant to her.
Instinctively, he ran up to his dorm room, and rummaged around in his trunk, searching for his cloak. His invisibility cloak. He tore down the stairs, and clambered out the portrait-hole. He didn’t need to think where to go, as he wrapped the cloak around him, making him completely and entirely opaque “ the Library. Where else would Lily be?
The cool November air nipped at him through the cloak as he made his way silently through the corridors. He moved quickly, but carefully “ he was especially cautious around corners. Once, he had run straight into Dippit, but luckily it had been dark so he had not been seen.
Why was he doing this? He found himself thinking. He and Lily had despised each other ever since their first day at Hogwarts. James and Sirius met on the train, and decided to scout around looking for female talent. Lily had been sitting with her friend Alice when they strutted into their compartment. He remembered the look of disgust on Lily’s face when he and Sirius walked in - she could see right through them. She had completely ignored his attempts to talk to her. He had become frustrated, and joked harshly about the state of her trunk and books “ her family was poorer than his. Lily had never forgiven him. James’s insides turned as he imagined the look on her face when he had said it. He hadn’t even meant to…he had thought she was so pretty, and trying so hard to impress her.
He reached the Library, and became extra quiet, just in case Madam Pince was still hovering around, obsessively straightening and cleaning her books. What if she found Lily? The hundreds and hundreds of bookshelves that carried thousands and thousands of books created tall, dark shadows across the floor. James had never been to the Library at this time of night. He and Sirius had never ‘wasted’ the beauty of the Invisibility Cloak in somewhere as unadventurous as the Library.
James looked around frantically, he couldn’t see Madam Pince. He barely breathed, listening for the shuffling of feet. He continued moving around the shelves and tables and chairs, but couldn’t find Lily. Suddenly, he focused on a small, red-headed figure hunched over a huge pile of books in the back corner.
He hurried over to her. She was asleep.
James gently shook her awake. She mumbled quietly, rubbing her eyes, then suddenly jerked awake. She looked around, but couldn’t see anyone. James realised he still had his cloak on and quickly pulled it off. It startled Lily, and she gave a scream. “No!” James covered her mouth with his hand, keeping absolutely silent, praying that no one had heard her.