“So Saturday then?” a seventeen-year-old James Potter whispered conspiratorially with his friends that were all huddled together.
Lily Evans sat upright, trying not to listen to the conversation going on behind her as she tried to concentrate on the review session that Professor McGonagall was giving at the front of the class. Why did I pick this seat?
Lily dipped her quill into her pot of black ink and scribbled notes down without really knowing what she was writing.
“It’s all set then? Everything is in place?” Sirius Black whispered back.
Ignore them, Lily thought to herself, trying to concentrate on her quill scratching her piece of parchment. Lily glanced, annoyed, up at the large clock on the wall. Five more minutes and you can leave. Five more minutes and you won’t have to listen to them talking anymore.
“It’s going to be amazing! Greatest thing we have done yet!” James exclaimed while still whispering.
“Better than the rain in the Great Hall in fourth year?”
“Definitely.”
Four more minutes, Lily’s quill now went through her piece of parchment. She bent over to get another out of her bag. Three more minutes.
“More of a thrill than the famous Slytherin Robe change of ’75?”
“Child’s play,” James stated simply while leaning his chair back on two legs.
Lily dipped her quill in the ink. All Animagi must register with the Ministry after learning of their powers,
Two more minutes
“What about the greatest prank that never was finished?” Sirius said, a hint of spite in his voice.
One
Lily stiffened in her chair. No matter how much rivalry there was between Severus Snape and James Potter, she could not just sit there silently. She had to tell them off. If they were going to flounce about how they had almost gotten Severus killed, they had another thing coming. Who cared if they are Animagi? Does that make them gods or something? Does that give them the right to try and , however unintentionally it had been, kill someone and then gloat about it?
Hell, no.
Lily turned around.
“No,” James said sternly. “That, was a mistake.
The bell rang, leaving Lily with her mouth open, poised to tell of the arrogant James Potter and his sidekick, Sirius Black for being the prats that they were. She couldn’t move, she felt as though she were stuck to the chair.
James and Sirius grabbed their packed bags, like they had to take notes, and left the room, still deep in discussion.
What were they talking about? And since when did James think that was a mistake?
Lily tapped her foot impatiently, glaring daggers at the large clock hanging over the fireplace in the large Gryffindor Common Room.
8:23
Twenty-three minutes? Remus feels guilty if he’s three minutes late for patrolling! She looked again.
8:24
Lily, the impatient person that she had been since she was born, looked at the stairs to the boys’ dormitories, and without consciously making a decision, began to ascend the creaky wooden stairs. Once at the top of the stairs, the long hallway stretched out in front of her. For some reason, she felt as though she should be quiet and took care to walk gingerly down the crimson carpet hallway towards the door that had the plaque that was marked “Sixth Years” hanging crookedly.
“-right outside the Room of Requirement, right?” a familiar voice was muffled by the large wooden door.
Curiosity had the best of her, as Lily crept forward to place her ear against the door.
“Right, then we’ll meet downstairs,” said a voice that Lily recognized as the one and only James Potter.
“I still don’t understand why I have to be the one to take it. I mean, can’t we get Peter to do it? Or pay off a first year?”
“Take what?” Lily whispered to herself, pressing herself more against the door.
Suddenly it got very quiet and Lily pressed even more against the door, trying to hear if they were still talking, her original purpose for going up those stairs completely forgotten.
That’s when she stumbled forward, straight into something hard and stationary. Something hard and stationary that smelled amazingly good.
Lily threw up in her mouth a little bit at the thought.
Someone in a very high place obviously hated her.
“Wow Evans, you know, I’ve imagine this in a million different scenarios over the years, but this one, this one never came up!” James said mockingly as Lily pushed herself off of him, straightening her shirt over her skirt.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Potter. I just came up here to see what was taking Remus so long.”
“Moony? What do you want with him?” Sirius asked, seriously confused.
“Patrolling? It is Thursday you know,” Lily shot back in a patronizing way, her arms crossed across her chest, glaring at Sirius and then back to James.
“Patrolling is on Saturday’s now aren’t they? Either way he’s not here. It’s his um, “time of the month” tomorrow, so he decided to be especially precocious, you know after what happened,” James said, his voice suddenly not so cocky.
“Oh, I guess I forgot the date got switched. Well, I guess I’ll just go then,” Lily said, turning on her heel, but was stopped as James stepped in front of the doorway.
“Oh, not so fast, Evans. Why didn’t you just knock?” James asked smugly, staring down at Lily’s shocked face.
“How do you know that I hadn’t just got there? You know Potter, I have better things to do than stand outside your door.”
“What? Like falling through it?” James asked.
Lilly was seriously about to hit him. She lifted up her hand and….
She had waited to long. James’ handy sidekick had come and grabbed her hand.
“Sorry Evans, but I need his brain without Moony here.”
‘Fine, I was just about to leave anyway.”
“Hold it, Sirius, we could use her,” James said in a pleading sort of voice.
Lily stopped in her tracks.
“Use me? Use me? What makes you think that I would let you use me in anyway at all?” Lily replied savagely, tapping her foot impatiently while she waited for an explanation.
James pulled Sirius aside and whispered in his ear, “With Moony not available, we need someone he’ll trust because you know that he won’t trust either of us.”
“But James, its Evans. Once we tell her what we’re doing, she’ll just rat us out to Filch anyway!”
“How do you know that? I think I could get her to change her mind.”
“Prongs, sorry to break it to you, but you haven’t been able to persuade Lily Evans to do anything in the last six years, why do you think she’ll start listening now?”
“Just give me a shot, I won’t reveal the whole plan until she promises not to tell Filch on us, or anyone else for that matter,” James answered pleadingly.
“Fine Prongs, but you better be able to pull this off.”
James turned around to face the still impatient Lily, her foot still tapping the ground.
“So, Evans, are you doing anything Saturday night?” James started, his sly tone coming out easily.
“No,” Lily said as she turned around.
“Don’t flatter yourself Evans, I wasn’t asking for a date,” James replied matter-of-factly.
Now he had her attention.
“Then why-,”
“It’s a simple question Evans; what are you doing Saturday?”
“Well, I was planning on studying for McGonagall’s Transfiguration final.”
“You mean the one that is two weeks away?” Sirius interrupted, unable to stop himself.
“Yes, do you have a problem with that?”
“Really Evans? That’s your fun-packed Saturday night plans?”
“Some of us care about our grades, Potter.”
“And some of us don’t need to study,” James added slyly. “But does that mean your plans could change,” but when he saw Lily’s face he added, “if you wanted them to?”
Lily tried staring into James’ eyes, trying to see what he was getting at. She finally added somewhat defeated, “If I wanted them to, I suppose they could. Why?”
“We were wondering if you would be interested in taking dear old Moony’s place in a certain, shall we say event on Saturday night,” James replied, carefully dancing around any terms that would give away exactly what they were doing.
“What? For you little cult?”
“I like to think of it as super secret society, but whatever floats your boat,” Sirius added.
“You could say that.”
“A prank I’m assuming then,“ Lily said as she turned around, yet again to leave.
“It’s your decision,” James said. “I just thought that you might want to get back at a certain Bellatrix Lestrange, but you know I guess I was wrong.”
Lily stopped dead in her tracks. Bellatrix Lestrange Lily thought menacingly. I can’t believe that Potter would even know about that! I guess this confirms that he is in fact a stalker. And working with Potter? Could I honestly do that? But I would love to get back at her…
Lily slowly turned around.
“Okay, Potter, what do you have in mind?”
Learning To Live by MarauderWannabe
Chapter Notes: All JKR's. Except the occasional orginal character. Otherwise all the credit goes to her.