As I leave the shop, and head towards the pub, I bump into someone for the second time today. This time, it is Iola.
“I was just coming to find you,” she says, coolly.
Chapter 4: How to fish, if you want to end up wet
What?? Why?? James told her, didn’t he? Bloody hell, I’ll kill him. Oh, he’ll be sorry that he ever crossed paths with Lily Evans, mark my words! But how can I inflict juicy, juicy revenge? It needs to be painful ... Oh yes, it will be painful, I can tell you! And humiliating, and cruel. He’ll sob his little heart out, and in front of the whole school, too! I can hear him now ... “Oh, Evans, I’m so sorry, I should never have been such a brainless, arrogant fool! I will become your loyal man-slave, in the hope that I can at least make up for some of the terrible things I’ve done, O Great One!” He will cry, bowing down to my perfectly pedicured feet, which will be wrapped in the latest designer heels. And then I, who will also be looking fiendishly beautiful, will cackle evilly, and “
“What are you laughing at?” Iola asks. I almost exclaim an 'S' word that would have my mother sending me to my room, and crying over my forever lost innocence (Hint “ it’s not sugarplum), but I restrain myself. I should really learn to control my fantasies, and not act parts out loud without noticing, but right now, I am trying to think of an excuse as to why I might be randomly laughing at the statement “I was just coming to find you.”
“I ... Well ... I have no idea. I’m sorry. Why, uh ... What do you want with me?” Okay, that last part sounded weird. In fact, all of it did. Why don’t I just shoot myself, and save everybody a whole lot of confusion and misery?
“I spoke to James,” she says. Oh, I bet you did. Tell you all about how I stalked him for information on your home life, did he? Come to tell me to keep my “snub little nose” out too, have you?
I am too busy silently ranting to myself to think of something intelligent to say, so I stammer, “Y-You did? Uh ...”
“Yeah. I’m sorry he acted like that on my behalf. He gets a little protective of me, you see.” Yeesh. It’s not like they’re going out. Although, they would be perfect for each other, if they were. Apart from that whole, first-cousin thing. Why do I think these things, and succeed in creeping myself out? It’s a good job that I rarely say what I’m thinking, or I would have no friends at all “ unless they too, thought like a stupid person and decided to say the first thing that came into their heads, no matter how creepy and wrong that thought was.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter,” I shrug, doing it again and saying something completely different from what I’m thinking.
“No, it does,” she insists. We had been randomly standing in the street, and getting in the way off a lot of poor, innocent shoppers, who really didn’t need to have to walk all the way around two girls. So instead, we begin to walk. Iola carries on speaking. “I mean, you were just being nice, asking how I was, since I seemed upset yesterday, and then he goes and blows up in your face. I’m really sorry.”
Good grief. Clearly, James Potter has just told the biggest lie since I myself said, quite sweetly to Petunia, “Why yes, sister dearest, that salmon pink does compliment your delicate complexion!” And let me tell you, that was a big lie on so many levels. Just like the one James appears to have told his cousin.
“He said that?" I ask, shocked. "That I was only asking how you were?”
“Sure he did. Why, was he not telling the truth?” Oh, doom. Why don’t I just keep digging myself into this nice, comfy little hole of mine? Maybe I’ll end up in Australia sometime soon.
“Well, I ... I thought he might twist it, you know, to make me look bad or something,” I say. It’s a good job I can lie convincingly (If you need proof, Petunia bought the dress, because of my ‘little’ white lie, and I had great amounts of pleasure watching everybody’s faces as she paraded it up and down ... She even went so far as to make salmon pink her “signature colour”, something which really is hilarious).
“No, James isn’t like that,” Iola says, “I don’t remember him ever lying to me “ not a really big lie.” Ha! She is clearly deluded. I almost feel sorry for the poor girl. Imagine having that as a cousin and seemingly best friend? Although, I know that she does get on with the other three, but I guess she must have known James her whole life. The poor, poor thing. We reach the Shrieking Shack, and sit together for a while, looking up at it. It's exhilarating to be so close to the place that people swear is haunted. The silence isn't uncomfortable, either “ we’re both happy to sit and think in each other’s company.
I can’t work out why James would twist what would have been an excellent opportunity to try and tarnish my reputation? In fact, by telling Iola that I was only enquiring how she was, makes me look good, and him look like a lunatic who over reacts about nothing. He wasn’t doing it to protect me “ I think I just managed to ruin his perception of me forever (not that I care what he thinks of me. I stopped caring what any Marauder thought of me around the time they started asking us out). But Iola isn’t a Marauder, and whatever the reason is that James lied to her, I’m glad he did “ because now, she doesn’t hate me. Or think I’m a nosy, meddling cow.
Unless ... Well, what if he was doing it, not to protect me, but to protect her? What if something about her home, or her family, is so bad, that he doesn’t even want to bring it up, and make her think about it? I hadn’t thought of that ... But what could be so bad? I guess James would know, but I can't ask him, as we all know how well that turned out last time.
Thinking yourself round in circles won’t solve anything. Change the subject, Lily, think about something else. Think about Iola. Stupid commanding voices ... Why are they always right? Okay, let's think about Iola. I like her, I think. She doesn’t seem fake. And okay, we’ve had a total of two conversations, and they both ended in silence (although this is a lot less uncomfortable than the first), but everything starts somewhere, right? I can’t believe I’m even thinking these things. Iola has been the freak since those first few tender months of first year, where we in L.O.V.E tried to include her in things, and she was sarcastic about every little thing we did. And then one day Valerie said something nasty back, and there was this huge fight. What am I even doing here? I should be with my real friends, the ones I’ve had for the past six years, not with the girl we made our nemesis. Okay, this isn’t quite true “ we just have this thing, where we make bitter comments at each other every now and again.
As soon as I think this, I begin to stand up, with the full intention of heading back to the Three Broomsticks with L.O.V.E. But as I stand, Iola joins me.
“Good idea. It was getting a little boring sitting there. Hey, you know what I’ve never done before?”
I might as well humour her, and hope I can get away quick enough. “What?”
“I’ve never been fishing in the lake,” she says. Is this her, hinting that we should do just that? Good grief, that’s completely mental. “Don’t look at me like that!” she laughs, “It will be fun!”
Fun? Fishing in the lake? She’s insane! She’s crazy! She’s absolutely, positively, demented. She’s also a freaking genius. “Well, what are we waiting for?” I grin, proving that I too, am all of those things I just mentioned. So we leave Hogsmeade to sit by the lake.
“Do you have any idea how to fish?” I ask, hopefully. She laughs, and I take it as a no. A promising start.
“I guess we need a couple of fishing rods, to begin with,” she says.
“Where do we get those from?” I ask. She looks as if I’m insane, and flicks her wand. Two fishing rods appear, ready and waiting for us to use. I guess that was pretty obvious, and now I feel stupid. Trying to sound like I might be of some use in this little endeavour, I say, “So, do we need bait? And then, to sort of, cast them or something?”
She nods, thoughtfully. “Well, I know where we can get bait from.” With that, she leaves me standing like the gormless idiot I am, as she heads off towards the forest.
“Um, Iola, the last time I went in there, I saw some centaurs and nearly had a heart attack. Now, you may be perfectly happy with ignoring the word “Forbidden” in the term “Forbidden Forest”, but really “”
She stops, and turns to look at me incredulously. “I’m going to get some flobberworms from Hagrid.”
“Oh.” Why do I have the ability to be able to turn perfectly normal situations, into a scenario where I say something stupid, and everyone looks at me like I’m retarded? I may be smart academically, but really, when it comes to every day life, I’m a blabbering idiot. Stupid mouth. Why can’t it just stay closed?
She comes back a minute later with a box full of flobberworms. We begin to try and hook them onto the fishing rod, somewhat unsuccessfully. A thought occurs to me.
“Hey Iola, didn’t Hagrid want to know what you wanted some flobberworms for?” I ask her. I notice that already, she seems to be doing a lot better at me at this whole fishing business.
“Nope. He stopped asking questions as to why I need stuff off of him a long time ago. I think it’s in case he gets in trouble. Like the time I asked for a niffler, and then the next day the Slytherin Common Room was utterly rampaged, and all the shiny things mysteriously turned up in the Marauders’ trunks.” She smiles as she recalls this memory. “Anyway, his thinking is, if he doesn’t ask what I need something for, he can answer truthfully, when he is asked if he knew anything about whatever we may have done involving the thing he gave me, a day or two before.”
I try and follow this. She certainly has a way of speaking. “Why doesn’t he just refuse to give it to you, if you normally always end up causing mischief with it?”
“Well, life would be a lot less interesting if he did, wouldn’t it?” she laughs. As we have been talking, she has secured the bait on her own rod, and mine too, since I had given up. Those flobberworms are slimy. And also, really nauseating. She didn’t seem too fazed, though. “Do you know how to cast?” she asks me.
I think back to my Grandad, and when he took me fishing, aged eight. All I remember is sitting on the supply box, breathing in his smell of cigars, wearing a flat cap identical to his own, and him feeding me sweets as he talked a load of jargon that I didn’t understand. Think, Lily, think! What was he saying?
“Lily, if there was one thing I learned in my time as a soldier - apart from how to kill a man with only a yard of string - it’s that you should never trust a Jerry. Soon as you see one, throw a grenade and run. That’s all there is to it. You remember that, my girl, and you won’t go wrong.”
Dammit! He was talking about being in the war! Honestly, he could have had some consideration for my future self, and told me how to cast a fishing rod.
“No,” I sigh. “I haven’t got a clue.”
“Well, I guess we can make it up then, can’t we?” she says. She pulls the rod back, flicks it forward, and it lands perfectly.
I try and mimic her. But when I flick it forward, the wind blows it back again. I am so surprised, I fall over, getting more and more tangled as I try and get up again. After three more tries, I manage it, and settle down next to Iola.
Five minutes have gone by, and nothing has happened. But wait ... is my rod quivering? Yes! Lily Evans is Queen of the world! I’m so happy, that I loosen my grip, and the rod begins to be pulled into the water. I try and pull it back, but only succeed in being dragged with it. Into the water. I scream, letting go and trying to swim towards the ground. Iola is laughing, damn her, when suddenly, a furry grey blur jumps on top of her head. She falls in next to me, just as I am dragging myself out. I laugh too, when I realise that the blur was Missy.
Once she has dragged herself from the lake “ which is freezing cold, I might add, for such nice weather “ Iola looks around to see what her attacker was. She sees me, rolling around with Missy.
“Your cat is flipping mental!” she grumbles, but she’s smiling.
“Well, I don’t know why I ever agreed to go fishing in a lake that just so happens to contain a Giant Squid!” I grumble back, for I assume that is what got my line “ what else would have the strength to pull me into the lake, like I was made of ... jelly, or something?
We lie down, to dry off in the sun, with Missy purring her way to sleep on my belly. As we lie in contented silence, I know that from this moment on, however much I tell myself that Iola isn’t my friend, that I should stay with L.O.V.E, I will always ignore the voice in my head. Which I do anyway, but this time, it definitely won’t win me over. We’re friends now. From now on, I will follow my heart, and not my brain.
Things are going to change.
Oh yes, things will change now.
AN: Ah, the beginning of a beautiful friendship ... Tell me what you think, and please leave a review!