Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling... if I was, would I be sitting here writing fanfics? No! I'd be sitting in a very comfortable chair somewhere in my mansion, finishing book 7...
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The next Monday afternoon, during their free period, the Marauders were sitting in their usual corner of the Gryffindor common room while planning their next prank. They suddenly heard screams, coming from the girls’ dormitories.
James listened closely. “That sounds like Lily!” he exclaimed, jumping up. “I wonder what she’s screaming about?”
Sirius muttered, “I wonder what situations he’s gotten himself into that informed him of what Evans’ screams sound like.” Peter snickered; Remus chuckled softly; James just glared and punched Sirius rather hard.
They both got their answers quickly, as Lily came storming down the stairs screaming, “JAMES POTTER, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU! I’M GOING TO DISMEMBER YOU, BURN YOUR ENTRAILS, THEN FEED THEM TO THE GIANT SQUID, THOUGH I DOUBT EVEN IT WILL WANT THEM, YOU DISGUSTING EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING!” She was white and shaking slightly.
“Oh, great, I wonder what I’ve supposedly done this time,” James muttered to his friends, then hurried forward, looking genuinely concerned. “Lily, my flower of delight, what’s wrong?” he asked, truly curious.
“Don’t even start,” snarled Lily. “You know what’s wrong. You planted gigantic spiders in my room. I can’t believe you! I knew that you were a cruel and thoughtless jerk, but I didn’t expect you to prey on people’s fears! You’ve been acting funny ever since the boggart, and now I know why! You, Potter, have crossed the line. You have played pranks on me before, and I’ve let you off easy. But this- this is no prank; it’s just plain cruelty.”
James looked taken aback. “Lily, I would never-”
“Oh, yes you would, Potter. You-”
“Now you hear me out, Lily,” interrupted James firmly but not unkindly. Lily, taken by surprise, fell silent. “I would never, ever pull a prank like that on anyone, much less you.”
Over in the corner, Sirius, understanding that James wanted to get out of this situation with all of his body parts intact, just muttered to Remus instead of yelling, “Except Snivelly.” Remus punched Sirius, lightly, but Sirius looked offended all the same.
“Also, I did not put spiders in your room, nor will I ever.” Lily opened her mouth to argue, but James held up his hand, silencing her. “And last, boys can’t get into the girls’ dormitories; the stairs will turn into one giant slide. And no, I did not find that out myself,” he added, correctly guessing what Lily was about to say. “It was my dear friend Sirius who found that out,” he continued as he gestured towards the corner in which Sirius, Remus, and Peter sat. Sirius waved. Several things happened at once among the female population of the common room: several girls giggled, another one immediately began to argue with her friends over which one of them he had waved to, and one girl even fainted.
Lily looked disgusted.
Then she turned back to James and said, “The windows were open. You could have flown in, carrying the spiders, and then used an Engorgement Charm on them.”
James stared at her, astonished, then shook his head in disbelief. “You really are intent to blame this on me, aren’t you? I would never play a prank like that on someone I love.”
Lily flared up at this. “You don’t really love me. You’re just saying that because it’s some sort of weird prank you’re pulling on me. Do you know what I think? I think that you’re scared of me dead because then you wouldn’t have anyone to tease. Well, I’m sick of it. I’m sick of you. I want this to stop- right here, right now.”
“Lily, this is not a prank, I promise. No, I swear. You have my word, this is not a prank.”
Lily snorted. “Your word means nothing to me.”
James looked crestfallen. “Is that true, Lily? Do you really not trust me?” he asked quietly. “I would trust you with my life. Lily, I love you, I truly do.”
She looked skeptical.
Remus spoke up. “It’s true, Lily. Do you remember those hate letters you sent him two years ago, in fourth year? He sleeps with them under his pillow. And do you remember all those disgusting presents you’ve given him? He’s kept them all, including the rotten orange (which now is truly disgusting) from second year, and he refuses to throw them out.”
Lily’s expression didn’t change. “Well, that just proves one thing.”
“What, that I really do love you?” James asked hopefully.
“No, just that you’re one hell of an actor,” Lily replied, stony-faced. Everyone went silent.
James’ face fell again; Remus and Sirius’ expressions darkened; Peter just looked confused. “Isn’t that a compliment?” he whispered. Everyone ignored him.
“So… you don’t like me?” James asked hesitantly.
“No, I don’t,” Lily spat. “I hate you.”
James’ face fell, if possible, even farther. “Are you sure?” he asked softly.
“Yes, I’m sure, may an Acromantula carry me off if I lie.” James froze; everyone else gasped. “Now leave me ALONE!” she said, her voice rising on every word.
James looked at her, his hazel eyes boring into her emerald ones. In them he saw hate: hate for him, for his arrogance, for his stupidity in thinking that she would ever love him. He turned away, trying to hide the hurt in his eyes.
“Leave me alone,” Lily repeated.
He turned back to her, not meeting her eyes while blinking back tears. He finally looked up at her, his face blank. “Alright,” he said tonelessly. “All right, Evans. I’ll leave you alone.” He tried to sound casual, like this was nothing to him; everyone but Sirius and Remus was fooled. They alone heard the pain in his voice; they alone saw the despair in his eyes. Lily saw it in his eyes too, but chose to ignore it, saying to herself, ‘He’s faking it. He’s just trying to make me feel bad.’ But another part of her said, ‘Either he must be one hell of an actor, or he’s truly hurt. Nobody else could have that much pain in their eyes.’ She quickly silenced that voice.
“Good,” she said. “I’m glad I got my point across.” She turned on her heel and walked away.
Several minutes later, as the room had filled with people’s voices again, as Sirius and Remus had led James back into their corner, and as she talked to her friends, she couldn’t keep that look he gave her out of her mind. He had looked genuinely hurt. ‘But he was just acting,’ she told herself. ‘I made the right choice, telling him to leave me alone. He doesn’t really care about me.’ But that other voice just couldn’t help replying, ‘Does he?"
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A/N: To answer the question that I posed last chapter, the one about Sirius, there are several ways.
1. He growls/ whimpers. [good job to California for getting this one right] :)
2. His boggart is a mutant fire hydrant (you know what dogs do to fire hydrants... imagine a fire hydrant that fights back!).
3. When the hydrant exploded he 'shook himself out like a dog'.
4. When the cat appeared, James and Remus had to restrain him.
5. When the cat shrunk, its yowls got increasingly higher- too high for human ears to hear (dog whistle, anyone?).
Told you they were subtle!
Gone Too Far by maraudermaniac42
Chapter Notes: This is where it gets interesting...