CHAPTER 2 (LILY)
The blood was pounding in my ears as I made my way back to my compartment from the Prefect’s meeting. How in the world had Potter made Head Boy? And why was he being so… distant today? That last comment before he left made him seem like he was angry at me. The echo of his voice repeated in my head “ I have people to see, too. See you around, Evans.
I shook my head, trying to rid my thoughts concerning him; it didn’t matter what was going on with Potter. He was probably just trying to mess with head. And succeeding. Besides, I had much more important things to be focusing on, such as school, Head Girl duties, and Marlene and Alice, who were probably about to come search the train looking for me.
Marlene McKinnon and Alice Carter had been my best friends since I was eleven. We were like the three musketeers: you never saw one of us without another. Marlene was the outgoing one of our group; loud, wild, and fun, she was taller than me (though this didn’t say much, as most people were), and had straight black hair and deep blue eyes. Like me, she also had a quite nasty temper, and she was prone to jinxing people that annoyed her. If you didn’t know us, you would think that Alice was her opposite: Alice was even shorter than me, with shoulder lengthed hair that was neither blonde nor brown, coffee colored eyes, and a round face. She was remarkably kind, though she had a rather difficult time remembering things, and she was extremely shy. And as for me, I was the normal one, not really one extreme or the other. I was the studious member of our circle that kept Marlene and Alice from flunking out, and the kind of girl you went up to to ask what the homework had been.
“There you are!” Marlene cried out as I slid the door open. “Alice and I were afraid that the prefects didn’t want to give you back.”
“Well, you’re wrong about that,” I told her with a chuckle. “I think they were quite glad to be rid of me - I guess my meetings are rather boring.”
“I’m sure Remus didn’t think so,” Alice commented with an impish grin, and I blushed. Marlene and Alice were rather sure that Remus had liked me for quite some time. “How’s the Head Boy doing anyway?”
“Since when do you care how Potter’s doing?” I asked her, not really paying attention to her question.
“Potter?” Marlene bursted out. If this was a movie and she had a drink in her hand, this is when a spit shot would have come in. “Are you kidding me?”
I shook my head gravely. “James Potter is the Head Boy. I kid you not.”
Alice’s mouth was gaping open, not unlike mine when I found out. “How is it even possible that Remus isn’t Head Boy? I would have bet anything in the world that it would have been him.”
“Me too,” I told her sadly. “I’m disappointed that it isn’t him. I would have a much better time of it with Remus than with Potter.” This was quite true; I had always been close to Remus. He was probably my best male friend. However, I had never gotten along with Potter, and I didn’t really see it happening in the near future.
We spent the next fifteen minutes discussing our summers and what we thought would happen this year at school. A lot of that time was also spent trying to coax Alice into talking to Frank Longbottom, the popular boy in Hufflepuff that she had had a crush on since First Year.
“Come on, Alice,” Marlene sighed in a frustrated voice. “How can you ever expect him to ask you out if you don’t talk to the boy?”
“I know you’re right,” she said, her brown eyes defeated. “But every time I try to talk to him, I freeze up. I don’t know what to say to him.”
“Okay,” I told her with a gleam in my eyes. “Today you and Marlene make sure you get into his carriage somehow. Then ask him about his summer, and if all else fails, talk about Quidditch.”
Alice looked as if she was about to start hyperventilating at the thought of having a conversation with him. “Don’t be such a baby, Alice,” Marlene scolded, shaking her head. “I’ll be right there with you. Believe me, there won’t be any awkward silences.”
Alice nodded, but she still didn’t look completely relieved. Trying to change the subject, I said brightly, “Hey, who wants some candy?” This seemed to brighten Alice’s mood immensely, and before I knew it, I was being loaded down with sickles and instructions:
“Make sure you get the kind with peanuts, but no caramel.”
“If you bring me back anything that has even the slightest taste of cherry, I will hex you into oblivion.”
“Remember, I like chocolate and strawberry, but see if you can get the lady to pick out the vanilla ones.”
Feeling slightly dazed with the numerous commands I had just received, I made my way out of the compartment and started toward the front of the train, where the trolley lady should just be starting to make her rounds.
Quite a few people stopped me to say hello to the new Head Girl. Dorcas Meadowes chatted my ear off for about ten minutes before I politely told her that my friends would murder me if I didn’t bring them some form of sugar soon. The train had never felt so long to me before. It seemed to be taking me forever to get up front.
My heart almost jumped out of my chest as a tall boy with short sandy hair was pushed out of a compartment a few feet in front of me, laughing with his friends inside. My pulse quickened as his name passed through my thoughts. Amos Diggory. I had always had a bit of a crush on him, as I had patrolled with him a few times when I was still a Prefect.
“Hey Lily,” he greeted me cheerfully when he looked up. His eyes were a luminous blue-green, and seemed to sparkle in the sunlight.
“Hey Amo ““ I started, but tripped over my own feet, landing face-first on the hard floor. Luckily he didn’t see my graceful move, because he was already back in his compartment. That boy moved fast, thank God.
Irritated with myself, I rubbed the sore hand that I had stuck out to try to stop the fall. I could see the trolley lady now, about twenty feet ahead, but there was a crowd of Third Years around her and I could not be bothered to get up. So, I sat, and waited for her to come to me. I realized how ridiculous I must have looked, but on the whole, I didn’t much care. I had been in worse situations before.
She must have been an extremely slow mover, because it seemed to take five minutes for the woman to budge an inch. I had been sitting in the same spot for what seemed to be an eternity when I heard footsteps behind me. Of course, the way I was positioned I was taking up most of the walking space, but I would be damned if I was going to move now. I had been here awhile, waiting for the slow trolley lady, bored out of my mind, and now to top things off, my butt was asleep. Plus, I was Head Girl now. If someone was going to be rude, they were going to get written up. I wasn’t going to move.
“Excusez-moi,” said a silky voice behind me.
I leaned my head back to see who it was, and my breath caught in my throat. Standing behind me was obviously what had to be a Greek god, or the closest thing to it in existence. Amos Diggory had nothing on this boy. Though not extremely tall, he would dwarf my 5’4”. He had glossy dark-brown hair, and eyes that reminded me of the blue sky of a sunny summer day. There was a casual elegance to the way he stood, and any male model in the world would gladly exchange their soul for his perfectly featured face.
“Yes?” I asked in a rebellious tone. Just because he was the most gorgeous creature on the planet didn’t mean I was going to move my sore butt for him.
“Do… do you need some ‘elp there?” he asked, staring down at me with an amused grin.
“No, actually,” I replied, keeping my voice light. “I’m waiting for the trolley lady to get here, but she seems to be taking her sweet time.”
“I see,” he laughed in his thick French accent. “So, you need no ‘elp een getting up, then?”
“I see no reason to until the candy gets here,” I replied airily. “Why? Am I in your way?” I wasn’t sure why I was purposely being so annoying. I guess I was just determined to take my frustrations out on the next attractive boy to walk by. However, he didn’t seem annoyed by me “ he seemed entertained.
“Not particularly,” he said, shrugging. “I ‘ave no where to go anyway.” And without further ado, he sank down next to me and extended his hand. “May I ask your name?”
My heart thumped against my chest as I placed my hand in his. It was quite warm, and I was tongue-tied for a moment. “Lily Evans,” I finally managed to spit out.
“Nice to meet you, Lilee,” he said with a dazzling smile. “My name is Pierre.”
I was smiling so hard it hurt, and his voice was so soothing that it didn’t even bother me how he pronounced my name. All that mattered to me at the moment was that Pierre was sitting next to me.
“So, what brings you to Hogwarts?” I asked him pleasantly. “I mean, obviously you’re not from around here.”
“I came with my seesters. I suppose you say we are een an exchange program.”
“Are you a Seventh Year?”
“No,” he answered with a grimace. “I am only sixteen. Tell me, does age difference make you far superior to me at ‘Ogwarts?”
“Not quite,” I said quietly. It was almost comical “ as if there was any way I could ever be superior to Pierre.
We sat like that for a few minutes while the trolley lady slowly dragged herself towards us, asking and answering questions about each other’s lives. He told me about his parents and how much he loved his sisters, and I told him about my mother, stepfather, and sister from hell.
“What about your father?” Pierre asked curiously. “You ‘aven’t mentioned ‘im.”
Even though that wound was long healed over, I still felt a stab of pain from the words. “He…he died a long time ago…” I said quietly, staring at my hands. I had been hoping to avoid this topic with him “ most everyone at school already knew better than to bring it up.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, and I could see the sincerity reflecting in his eyes. I nodded, and we sat in silence.
“Excuse me, dearies,” said a voice from over my head, “But would you like anything off of the trolley?”
My face lit up excitedly “ the trolley lady was finally here! I quickly got up, pulling my money out at once. “I need two packets of Drooble’s, four Pumpkin Pasties, two Licorice Wands, five Ice Mice, seven Chocolate Frogs, three boxes of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans…” The list went on and on seemingly forever. By the end of it, both Pierre and the trolley lady were staring at me, wide-eyed. “What?” I asked. “My friends are hungry…”
“Are you going to be sharing some of zat?” Pierre asked me playfully, watching me struggle with my armful of candy. He reached out his hand to grab a chocolate frog, but I quickly turned the other way, trying to defend the sweets. It soon turned into a struggle, with me trying to deflect his snatches at the candy. Thanks to my usual smoothness, I ended up tripping over my feet trying to walk around him, taking him down with me. Then we both sat on the floor, him finally getting his chocolate frog, the two of us laughing as though we had always been friends.
XXX
When we finally made it back to the compartment, Alice and Marlene quickly jumped up in excitement.
“Jeez, Lils, where you been?” Marlene joked, pulling a bag of Bertie Botts’ out of my arms.
“Yeah, we were starting to think you got lost -” Alice started. Pierre had just walked into the compartment, and Alice’s brown eyes widened.
“-or something…” Marlene finished for her, with a wicked glint in her eyes as she took in the new arrival. “Why, hello there.”
“Bon jour,” he said, nodding his head in greeting, since his hands were full from trying to help me carry the candy. “From what Lilee ‘as told me, I am presuming that you would be Marlene.”
“Yes, and bon jour to you,” Marlene replied, after regaining her composure. She was now openly gaping at him. Not that I could blame her - I mean, he was completely gorgeous.
“And you must be Alice,” Pierre said, turning to face the shorter of my friends. She giggled and blushed, and I wanted to bury my face in my hands.
“This is Pierre, guys,” I told them, hoping that they would soon stop drooling. “I met him when I went to get your candy, and he was bored so I told him he could sit with us.”
“That’s fine with me,” Marlene sighed, reaching blindly for a chocolate frog. “But Lils, I must say that that was the longest candy trip dear Alice and I have had to sit through. May I inquire as to what took you and Pierre so long to get back?” She smiled devilishly, and Alice raised an eyebrow.
Pierre laughed, and said, “Well, Lilee refused to actually go up to the candy lady, so we ‘ad to sit and wait for ‘er to come to us. Eet took quite a while…”
“Mmhmm,” Marlene nodded. “I’m sure that’s exactly what happened.” Her cerulean eyes were still full of amused suspicion, and she gave me a look that told me that she would have some questions for me later.
Luckily, as we all sat chatting and devouring the ridiculously large pile of candy, the awkwardness that Marlene and Alice created faded away, and soon we were all laughing.
The rest of the train ride passed extremely quickly “ a little too quickly for me, since I was enjoying myself so much. I was in a compartment with a (now almost gone) pile of candy, my two best friends in the entire world, and a boy who was perhaps one of the nicest people I had ever met. But before I knew it, the sun had completely slipped under the horizon, and the stars were twinkling overhead. Irritated that I had to leave, I stood up. I had to go get James bloody Potter, and then we had to help the Prefects with the First Years.
“Where are you going?” Alice asked curiously.
“I have to go get Potter, and then I have to help those twitchy little First Years get to the boats,” I answered, pulling my black cloak over my uniform. I honestly didn’t mind First Years “ they were cute the way they got lost about the school “ but I was annoyed that they were the reason I had to leave Pierre. You mean Alice and Marlene, I quickly corrected myself.
“James Potter?” Pierre asked. I was surprised that Pierre knew who he was, and I was even more surprised of the resentful tone in which he spoke his name.
“Yes, the very one. Do you know the toerag?” I inquired.
“You could say that we ‘ave known each other our ‘ole lives,” he answered in that same bitter tone.
“Lily, you should really be nicer to him,” Marlene rebuked me. “Just because he’s a Marauder doesn’t mean you should treat him like dirt.”
I shot her a look of complete disbelief. “Marlene, that is the most hypocritical statement I believe I have ever heard,” I retorted. “You have been nothing but cruel to Sirius Black since the day you met him.”
“Well… that’s different, that is…” she said, trying in vain to defend herself. “He flirts with me constantly just because he knows it annoys me, he’s always playing pranks on me, and he’s just a git!”
“Wow,” I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. “And that doesn’t sound familiar at all.”
“Yeah well, James actually cares about you, Lils. Black just enjoys annoying the hell out of me.”
“If you say so, Marlene,” I said, walking toward the door. “I’m going now - Bye, Pierre.” I flashed him a bright smile.
“You are going to Potter’s compartment, no?” he asked. I nodded. “Well that ees also my compartment. I will go with you.”
Alice and Marlene shared another knowing glance, and Alice said, “Have fun, Lily,” in the most meaningful way she could manage. My face was burning as I stepped outside the compartment, Pierre close behind me. When he stood next to me, I glanced up at his face to see that he was smiling, almost laughing, at Marlene and Alice’s reactions to him. My face turned to an even deeper shade of crimson, and he pretended not to notice.
“Well, your friends are certainly… interesting,” he commented with a pleased smile.
“That’s one way to put it,” I answered dryly. “But Pierre, how exactly do you know Potter?”
He grimaced at the mention of his name, but answered, “Our parents are… business associates, I suppose you could say. We ‘ave been dragged to their meetings together since we were leettle.”
“Oh,” I said, dropping the subject. I didn’t want to keep discussing it, since it seemed to darken his generally happy mood, although it was refreshing to be able to talk to someone who apparently disliked Potter as much as I did. That didn’t occur very often in my world.
We were silent for a moment, and then Pierre cast me a curious look. “You don’t like Potter.” It wasn’t a question.
“No, I don’t.”
He tilted his head. “Why?”
I took a deep breath. I wanted to explain this to him as calmly as possible, but just thinking about him usually got me riled up. In general, I was a nice person, friendly to everyone, and I always tried to give people second chances. Potter had used up way more than his two chances, and I was done trying to be friendly towards him. Although, I had to admit he had grown up quote a bit since the years before, and last year he hadn’t asked me out quite as frequently as before. Maybe I should give him one more chance… I thought to myself. After all, he is the Head Boy, and I am the Head Girl. I might as well attempt to get along with him.
“Lilee? Are you going to tell me?”
I smiled sheepishly, caught off guard. I had a tendency to get wrapped up in my thoughts, and forget what was going on around me. “Well Pierre,” I started. “When we first started Hogwarts, he was never anything other than utterly rude to me, although I expect that’s quite normal of an eleven year old boy.” Pierre smiled. “But that’s not why I dislike him. As we got older, he started being, well, friendlier to me, if you know what I mean, and I really wasn’t interested in dating an arrogant git like him. I don’t like him because he never bloody leaves me alone, and he acts like I fancy him and I don’t.”
Pierre just nodded his head. “That makes sense,” he agreed. “Back in Paris, I ‘ad a few girls chasing me around like that. You are right. Eet ees very annoying.”
I started laughing as one particular memory came back to me, from Fifth Year, and I told him about how I screamed at him that I would rather date the giant squid than go out with him. It hadn’t really been funny at the time, since that was the day I stopped talking to Severus for good, but it got both of us laughing. In fact, we were still laughing about it as Pierre slid open the door to his compartment.
We both froze as our eyes settled on the scene in front of us. A girl with long, silky blonde hair was seated on James’ lap, their hands interlocked, and she was slowly lowering her face down to his. I could feel Pierre tense up next to me when he saw this, and I wondered vaguely why he cared. I knew my mouth was probably hanging open, but that was probably because I had just stumbled into one of the awkward moments of my life.
It didn’t take long before Pierre reacted to the situation. He quickly entered the small compartment, and yanked the blonde right off of Potter. She shrieked indignantly, and began angrily spouting off in French, “Oh mon dieu! Je ne suis pas enfant!” Luckily, I had taken French in Primary School, and I understood every word: Oh my God! I am not a child!
“You are not an adult, either,” Pierre shot back, placing her back on the ground gently. So far, their argument sounded like a father talking to his child, and I got the feeling that this blonde girl was his sister.
“Il est le mien! Je peux faire comme je s'il vous plait, Pierre!” she practically shouted, wrenching her hand out of Pierre’s grasp.
My pulse quickened as I translated what she said.
“In English, please,” said a voice from the corner. I looked over to realize that it was Sirius, who was half-asleep against the window.
Trying to steady my voice, I practically whispered, “She said, ‘He’s mine. I can do as I please, Pierre.’” Everyone’s eyes were now on me, and I could feel my face heating up. Again.
I looked at the ground as I let the girl’s words sink in. So. Potter had a girlfriend. Pierre’s sister, to be exact. I should have felt relieved. I should have been reveling in the fact that Potter couldn’t chase me around anymore, because now he had his little French blonde to follow. But I didn’t feel relieved. Why didn’t I feel relieved?! This was what I had been hoping would happen for quite awhile now, so that James would leave me alone and another boy might actually work up the courage to ask me out. Now that was possible, and for some reason, instead of me being happy about it, the room was spinning.
Everyone was completely silent. At this point, no one really knew what to say. Realizing that I was going to have to be the one to break the silence, I turned my attention to James. “Potter, I came to get you because we have to go help the Prefects with the First Years. We’re almost to school.”
He nodded, the hazel eyes behind his glasses confused, but got up anyway. As soon as he started to walk forward, however, the blonde girl glided over to him and pressed her pink lips to his cheek, whispering quite loudly, “Vous voir bientôt, mon amour.”
My stomach clenched as I heard the words, but I didn’t comment. I should have seen this coming. A lot of things can happen over summer break; and, although I hated to admit it, James was a very attractive guy, and I shouldn’t have been shocked that someone besides me had finally managed to catch his eye. I stalked out of the compartment, and I could hear Potter close behind me.
It was a long walk to the front of the train, and we seemed to be stuck in an atmosphere of uncomfortable silence. I had no idea what to say after what I had just witnessed, and apparently neither did he.
However, once we had nearly reached the front, he finally said to me, “So, Miss Translator, what did Arabelle say? I don’t speak much French.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Knowing her name just made it worse. Arabelle. A pretty name for a pretty girl, I supposed.
Answering his question, I turned and said, “Arabelle said, ‘See you soon, my love.’”
Fighting by Marauder_Princess
Chapter Notes: First of all guys, I am SO SORRY about how long it's taken me to get this next chapter up here. I've submitted about 6 times and for some reason it never goes through. I'm already working on chapter 4 though, so if it keeps letting me post I should have another update for you soon! Thanks a bunch to all of my reviewers - I love you guys. You always brighten my day. Sorry about the delay, and here's chapter 2!
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