Lily Evans: A History

Lily Evans, A History
Chapter 44 - A picture perfect valentine
By: Bethany
Rated: PG
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"What do you think?"

"I think it looks good, myself."

"But?"

James scratched his chin, flipped the piece of parchment he and his four friends were hunched over so that it was right side up and stared at it. "Well, it will need to have a protection charm on it I think. In case anyone else gets their hands on it..."

"Right, I see what you mean," Sirius replied. He scrubbed his hands over his face roughly. "Can we work on it tomorrow? It's late and I have things to prepare for."

"Like what?" Remus asked, stretching out on his bed and examining the parchment carefully. Peter was looking over his shoulder, his eyes wide with excitement as they watched a minute sized figure pace back and forth in a room labelled "Dumbledore's office".

"Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day," Sirius said matter of factly. "I have a certain witch to woo."

James snorted. "Five sickles says she'll dump you before the day is up."

"Five galleons says that you won't even speak to Lily all day."

James rolled his eyes. "For your information, Padfoot, I have another witch I plan to be wooing."

"Since when?!" Peter exclaimed.

James noticed that all three of his friends was staring hard at him now. He swallowed. "Well, I, er--"

"James Harold Potter!" Sirius' raised voice caused James to jump. His best friend scrambled to his feet, pointing an accusing finger. "What about Lily? You can't tell me--"

"It's just not going to happen. And so, well, there was this Ravenclaw that asked me out yesterday and I said yes..."

"Who?" Sirius demanded, looking for all the world as if James was cheating on him because he gave up on Lily.

"Crystal Adams," replied James in a small voice.

Sirius sat hard on his bed, staring at James like the latter had lost his mind. For several seconds he opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Finally he sighed. "Ok, she's cute, I'll give you that."

"And smart," Peter inserted helpfully, pointing his wand at the parchment in thought. "Would a vanishing spell wor--"

"I'll take that," Remus said, yanking the parchment from Peter's hands. "I don't think any of us fancy starting over on this map tonight."

Undaunted, Peter put his wand down and shrugged. "Are we still calling it the Marauder’s Map?"

"Yes," James replied. He took the map from Remus, opened it and watched the small bubbles walking around the different areas of the school. His eyes wandered to the girl's dormitories where Lily, Kassie, Kathleen, Gabrielle and Madison were all at. "I wonder if Lily would know a charm to make the map appear and disappear? She's good at charms."

"You could go ask her," Peter suggested.

"And take a slide down the stairs the way Sirius does once a week? No thanks."

Sirius grumbled, snatching the map from James. "I'll find a way around that stupid spell if it kills me." His eyes wandered over the ink lines, admiring the work they had completed on the map so far. Since Kassie had given him the idea for a map, he and the other three Marauders had been working on the concept. So far they had a map of the school that showed where anyone in the school was at any given time. All of the secret passages they knew were outlined, as well. All in all, Sirius thought it was fairly brilliant of them to have gotten so far with it. But it was far from finished and there were definitely some kinks in the spell work. Sirius' eyes wondered to the fifth year girls dormitories and he blinked. "Where's Kassie?"

James looked over his shoulder. "Looks like she's coming this way," he said, pointing to where 'Kassandra Phillips' was moving up the boys’ staircase. "Maybe to get in bed with you again, mate."

"You're so funny, Prongs," Sirius bit out sarcastically. "Here, let me give you something to laugh about; Rictusempra!" James suddenly found himself on the floor, laughing uncontrollably. Sirius pocketed his wand, handed Remus the Marauder's map and walked over to the door just in time to open it for Kassie. "Good evening."

Kassie blinked, her hand still up where she was fixing to knock. A slightly confused expression on her face, she dropped her hand and smiled. "Good evening. Er," she looked beyond Sirius where James was laying on his back, laughing. "Do I want to know?"

"Probably not," Sirius replied.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," Sirius replied, going out the door and shutting it behind him. Kassie stood uneasy for a moment then suddenly wrapped her arms around Sirius' neck and kissed him. For a moment he was speechless, but it didn't last long. When at last Kassie pulled away, Sirius blinked several times, looking down at the witch in his arms. "Well, wow. What do I get that for?"

Kassie blushed, a smile creeping up on her face. "I just felt like it."

"Really?" Sirius' eyes seem to light up with an idea. He dipped his head down and kissed Kassie's neck gently. "How long have we been going out now?"

"Hmm, six months," Kassie muttered, eyes closed.

"Wow, a half a year. That's a record for me, you realise?"

Kassie raised an eyebrow. "I thought I was your first girlfriend?"

"I snogged Katrina Meeks a couple of times in third year. And Eileen Auel in fourth. But that was only to try to get you off my mind," Sirius replied, shrugging. "And I might have forgotten to tell you about that."

"I could see why."

"My point is," Sirius gently eased his hands up Kassie's waist, just under the bottom hem of her t-shirt, "maybe we've been together long enough for me to do this..." As Sirius' hands inched their way underneath Kassie's shirt, up her ribcage, her eyes grew wide.

"Sirius!" she hissed, half laughing, half exasperated.

"Or not," he replied mischievously, easing his hands behind her and pulling her closer.

"Not in the hall outside your room."

"Well, then, let's get out of here."

On the other side of the door Peter took his ear away from the door, looking shell shocked. "What did you hear?" James demanded, watching the map as 'Kassandra Phillips' and 'Sirius Black' headed up the staircase to an attic room. "Where are they going?"

"Kassie said something about not doing whatever he was doing in the hallway, so you can pretty much guess the rest."

"You're joking!?" James exclaimed. "HA! This is perfect blackmail! C'mon, we've got to get Lily's camera!"

Remus looked up over the rim of a book he was reading and shook his head. "I don't think that's such a great idea, Prongs. You know how Sirius is about his relationship with Kassie. We can prank him all day; but if we mess with--"

"Stop being a worry wart and get up," James insisted, taking Remus' book and tossing it aside. "How many times does an opportunity like this present itself?"

Watching the map carefully, James went out of the room and down the staircase to the common room. Since it was well past midnight the room was deserted, but just to be sure James watched the map. Peter had the invisibility cloak thrown over his arm and Remus was bringing up the back, against his better judgment. James turned and put one foot on the stairs, then seemed to think twice about it. Remus smirked. "Now what, oh great leader?"

"I'm getting there, don't get your knickers in a twist," James grumbled, pulling a sickle out of his pocket. "Just watch a genius at work. Excutiocussum Lily!" Remus furrowed his eyebrows together in thought and Peter's eyes grew wide. James, looking insufferably proud of himself, threw the sickle up the girls staircase and waited. Several seconds later the sound of a door opening reached their ears, followed shortly by a scream. James, Peter and Remus waited with held breath as footsteps on the staircase followed the scream and several seconds later Lily came stomping into the common room, her robe half on and her green eyes ablaze. "Who did it?"

Remus and Peter pointed at James. Lily huffed, spinning around. She drew her wand and James flinched, but instead of hexing him, she said, "Excutiocussum James!" The sickle in her hand flew straight through the air and started hitting James repeatedly on the forehead. "Now what did you want?"

"Ow..." James moaned, swatting at the sickle. "That hurts."

"Really?" Lily asked, sounding rather bored. "What do you three want in the middle of the night, anyway?"

James finally caught the sickle, took the spell off of it and crammed it in his pocket. "Can we borrow your camera?"

Lily didn't speak for a moment, then her eyes wandered to the fireplace mantel at the clock, to Peter who was holding the invisibility cloak and then back to James. "Why?"

"Do we have to tell you?"

"I'm coming with you."

"No," James replied instantly.

"Then you don't get my camera," Lily said, shrugging.

James had a rather queer look on his face and he rolled his eyes. "Is this payback, Lily? It sounds horribly like a conversation I had with you, oh, say, first year?"

Lily blinked. How did he even remember that? "Just tell me what you want it for."

"Oh, and hey, Prongs, you can ask her about the map!" Peter suddenly said. Remus groaned and slapped him on the back of the head.

"About what?" Lily seemed terribly interested. Her eyes wandered to the parchment that James was trying unsuccessfully to hide in his robes and she grabbed at it. "James, what is that?"

"Nothing," James growled, throwing a murderous look to Peter. "Way to go, Wormtail, you idiot. She's a prefect."

"So is Moony," Peter grumbled in his defence. Remus heaved a huge sigh and slapped the back of Peter's head again. "Owww... Stop doing that!"

"Then stop being so daft!" Remus retorted.

Lily stopped her attempts to get the map from James and blinked at them all. "What is it with these names? Prongs? Wormtail?"

"Nothing," James said quickly. Very quickly. He gave a huge yank on the map and got it out of Lily's grasp. The redhead glared at him. "Fine, then you can't use my camera."

For several seconds Lily and James stared at each other. It looked like a show down from the wild west to see who would draw first. James gritted his teeth, silently weighing his options. Lily crossed her arms. Finally she broke the silence. "Fine, since I'm the goody two shoes prefect. I'll just go and tell McGonagall that you have something dangerous..."

"Aw Lily, don't...." James pleaded.

"It's a map of the school."

James, Peter and Lily all turned to look at the person who had spoken like he had lost his mind. Remus shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. James' mouth fell open and in his distraction Lily grabbed the parchment from him. "It shows all of the secret passages in and out of the school, as well as where everyone in the school is at any given time," Remus explained.

Lily didn't look at the map. She was watching James and her expression seemed more hurt than anything. Silently she handed the map back to him. He took it, his face puzzled. "I wouldn't have told on you, James. I know a lot more about some of the things you do than you think, but have said nothing. I would have thought you knew me better than that. But I guess not."

Lily turned to walk away. James was standing in the middle of the common room, looking pale and dumbstruck. Remus motioned for him to give her the map, but James didn't understand. Finally Remus marched over to James, yanked the map out of his hands and grabbed Lily's arm. "Here, I'll make a deal with you. If you'll let us use your camera, we'll either tell you what the map is, or tell you what we need the camera for. Deal?"

"You already told me what the map is," Lily pointed out.

James hung his head, walked over to Lily and put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. Look, I appreciate you not saying anything to the Professors about what we do. I'm sorry that I accused you of being a prefect first, and then a friend. Forgive me?"

Lily felt a smile tugging at her lips, but fought it. James really did look sorry; but sorry because he wasn't getting his way, or sorry for what he did was another matter. Lily silently turned away, walked up the staircase, went in her room, got her camera and came back down stairs. She handed it to James, who took it without a word.

Deciding what he was going to do, James handed the map to Lily. She stared at him. "Go on, take it," he said, waving the parchment. "I wanted to ask you about a spell for it, anyway."

Unsure if she was doing the right thing (because if it was dangerous, she really would be torn over whether she should tell a Professor or not) Lily took the parchment from James, turned it over and looked at it.

At first it looked like nothing but a layout of the castle. As her eyes wandered over certain areas, they became larger and showed more details. But the most astounding thing was that in several areas there were minute sized figures with name bubbles above them. Lily squinted at one moving bubble and saw 'Mrs. Norris' was prowling along the third floor corridor, 'Argus Filch' was on the first floor and 'Albus Dumbledore' was coming out of the kitchens. Lily's mouth fell open. "This is brilliant!"

James felt himself swell with pride and blush all at the same time. Eager now to explain to her how it worked, James came over behind her and pointed to certain areas of the map. "It shows were anyone is at any time. That way we can get around the castle without being caught."

Lily raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. Her eyes searched over the parchment and into the Gryffindor common room where 'Lily Evans', 'Remus Lupin', 'Peter Pettigrew' and 'James Potter' were standing. Then up the staircases to the fifth year rooms where 'Kathleen Watkins', 'Gabrielle Watkins' and 'Madison Greene' were shown. Lily blinked, looking it over again. "Eh, James, where is Kassie?"

James sniggered, pointing to a different area of Gryffindor tower that Lily hadn't even known existed. As the area grew larger, James explained, "This is what we wanted the camera for. Look."

'Kassandra Phillips' and 'Sirius Black' were still in the attic room of Gryffindor tower. Lily's eyes grew huge. "What are they doing?"

"It's the middle of the night, in a room that no one besides us and maybe the Professors know exists, what do you think they're doing? Playing exploding snap?" James told her, a bit sarcastically.

Lily felt her jaw go slack and she closed it quickly. "But we can't go up there. They would kill us!"

James didn't look phased in the least. "Nah, it's perfect." He took the invisibility cloak from Peter and the camera. "You coming?"

Lily looked like she was thinking hard about what to do. James wasn't sparing the time, he started up the boys’ staircase. Lily bit her lip, started to go back to her room and then sighed deeply. "Wait for me!" she hissed, running to catch up with them.

The four of them climbed the stairs quietly and once at the top James stopped, throwing the invisibility cloak over himself. "Wait here," he mouthed, took the camera and went inside. Before the door shut, however, Lily had grabbed the end of the cloak and darted underneath it. James stopped dead, turned his head to look at her and swallowed audibly. This close to her he couldn't seem to remember what he was doing. Lily poked him in the back to get him moving and he nearly tripped over the hem of the cloak.

Silently, and awkwardly, the two of them went into the room while Remus and Peter watched from the door. But if they thought they were going to find Kassie and Sirius in a hot and heated snogging session, or worse, they were wrong. In the far corner of the room Sirius (or Kassie) had transfigured a cot and the couple was laying in it, wrapped in each others arms; asleep.

James bit back a curse. "That's all they were up here doing?" he hissed to Lily, who had her hand over her mouth. James raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"It's so sweet," she muttered, a huge smile on her face. "Let them be, James."

"I did not go through all of that to not get a picture," James retorted. He turned around, pulled the camera up and clicked the shutter. There was a flash of light, but thankfully the two on the cot didn't move. Lily let out a breath of relief and yanked on James' arm to make him back out of the room.

The foursome were back at the bottom of the stairs again before any of them spoke. James handed the camera back to Lily, wadded his invisibility cloak up and started back to his room. Remus yanked on his arm. "Well?"

"Asleep," James muttered. He looked for all the world as if it was the biggest let down of his life. "They are asleep! How boring are they?"

Peter sniggered and Remus just smiled. "Did you get a picture?"

"Yes, I got a picture of them asleep," James spat the last word.

"I'm going back to bed, I suggest you three do the same," Lily said, hurrying up the girls staircase. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, good night," James grumbled sourly. Lily laughed at him.

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If either Sirius or Kassie knew that they had been spied on the night before, they didn't show it the next morning at breakfast. Granted, Kassie had other things on her mind. Like the small cupid that had appeared beside her bed that morning and had been following her around throwing rose petals and quoting sonnets. Kassie looked ready to murder Sirius when she came into the Great Hall, but her boyfriend was nowhere to be found. Muttering under her breath, she sat down at the table and started dishing out food. "Morning Kassie," Remus said cheerfully, dutifully ignoring the cupid hovering above her shoulder.

"What's so good about it?" Kassie snapped.

"Crikey, someone’s in a bad mood today," James noted, glancing up.

"You would be too if you had a cupid hovering over your shoulder, throwing rose petals every step you took. They clogged up the shower drain this morning and nearly tripped me when I was jumping the trick step."

"I think it's sweet," Gabrielle giggled. "Where is Sirius, anyway?"

"Probably hiding," Kassie told her. She picked up a handful of rose petals off her plate and threw them to the ground. "Could you throw those the other way?" she snapped at the cupid. Its response was to start quoting from Romeo and Juliet. Kassie rolled her eyes.

Owl post came and still Sirius hadn't showed up. However there were at least a dozen owls that bombarded the fifth year Gryffindors. Kassie received a dozen white roses that made her very happy and at least for a little while she found the cupid endearing again, much to everyone's relief.

James watched, his eyes wide, as four different owls gathered around him, each trying to deliver their package first. Remus laughed. "Looks like you have some admirers Prongs."

"Who would have thought it?" James took each of the cards and started opening them.

Lily watched, more than a little jealous when suddenly an owl landed in front of her. She blinked, looking at the name on the package. It was definitely addressed to her, but with no sender information. Bewildered, she took the package and the owl left. Kassie moved closer, a curious expression on her face. "Who is it from?"

"I don't know, there isn't a name," Lily said. She opened the package, glancing over it at James in hopes that maybe he had sent it. But he looked just as curious as everyone else.

The package contained a lot of different coloured tissue paper; under it was a stuffed lion that really roared holding a heart. Lily sat it down on the table. "How cute!" Kassie took the lion to examine while Lily continued to look through the package. Under the lion was a card. She read the card, re-read the card and looked around the Great Hall. "It says it's from a Secret Admirer." Lily looked over the card at James who hastily started stuffing his own cards back in their envelopes. He still didn't look guilty. Lily sighed, wondering who it could possibly be from.

"Let me see that," Kassie said, taking the card from Lily. "Roses are red, violets are blue, Lily you are as sweet as the morning dew." She rolled her eyes. "That's nearly as corny as this thing," she jerked her thumb towards the cupid. In response it threw some rose petals in her plate.

"Good Merlin, what is that thing?"

Lily snapped her head up from where she had been admiring her stuffed lion to see the back of Severus Snape's head as he gambled past the table. She rolled her eyes and started to say something when suddenly a blonde haired girl came running up to their table and put her arms around the back of James' neck. "Oh James, I love them! Thank you!"

Lily raised an eyebrow and glanced at Kassie as the girl - a Ravenclaw fifth year called Crystal Adams - turned James' face around and kissed him right on the lips. James had the decency to blush, though it was easy to tell he was pleased with the attention. "I take it you liked the flowers?"

Lily rolled her eyes as the Ravenclaw squeezed in between James and Peter, linking her arm with James'. "I love them. How did you know I love Casablanca lilies? I didn't think I had told you that."

Lily felt her ears turn red as she watched the two shamelessly flirt in front of everyone at the table. Her grip on the stuffed lion was nearing that of a death grip, but she didn't realise it until Kassie was yanking it from her. "Don't take it out on the lion, Lily," she hissed under her breath. Lily threw her a dirty look. "Come on, let's go see if we can put a tracking charm on this thing and find out who it's from."

Soundlessly Lily rose and followed Kassie out of the Great Hall, images of James and Crystal kissing stuck in her head. Ahead of her Kassie was grabbing at the cupid, but Sirius had put a rather impressive evasive charm on it because she was having little success.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,--"

Kassie glared straight ahead, nearly inhaling a mouth full of rose petals. "I'm going to kill Sirius."

Despite the horrible outlook Lily was suddenly having on this day, she couldn't help but laugh. They made their way back up to Gryffindor tower where Kassie was met by another dozen roses; these yellow with red tips. She looked around the common room for several moments, but Sirius was nowhere to be found. Grinning to herself, she took the yellow roses, as well as the white ones she was already holding, up to her room. "I should just put these in a vase. I'll probably need to ask Professor Sprout later if there is anything I can put on them to make them last lon--oh!"

Lily had been behind Kassie, but when the black haired girl was suddenly rendered speechless, she hurried up the remaining stairs and into the doorway of their room. Surrounding Kassie's bed was at least six dozen roses, all of them long stemmed and red. Kassie stood dumbstruck at the door. The cupid over her shoulder stared around, then proclaimed, "That's a lot of roses. What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.."

"Oh shut up," Kassie muttered very unconvincingly and walked further in the room, her mouth still open humorously.

"Wow, Sirius is putting his new fortune to good use, it looks like," Lily said. She was trying her best not to sound envious. After all, she was very happy for Kassie. She would just be a lot happier without the knowledge that somewhere on the first floor of the castle James was most likely snogging Crystal Adams. Lily made a mental note to trip that girl up the next time they crossed paths.

After Kassie regained her ability to speak, Lily helped her put the roses in vases. Then they set to work putting a tracking charm on the lion. But to no avail; whoever had sent it had put a spell on both the lion and the card so that it couldn't be tracked. Lily ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "Well, there went that idea."

"What would you do if you found out who it was?" Kassie asked interestedly, fingering one of the rose petals that the cupid was still throwing at her.

Lily shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it depends on who it is, after all. But if he asks me out, I might as well say yes."

"Why?"

Lily glared over the top of the card that she was re-reading. "Don't play dumb. You can't tell me you didn't see James all over that stupid Ravenclaw at breakfast?"

"I thought you didn't like James."

Kassie's cheek was rewarded by Lily throwing a book at her. The black haired girl ducked and flinched when the book smashed into her night table, nearly tipping over a vase of flowers. "Oops," Lily mumbled.

For a moment there was silence and then Lily sighed and threw the card aside. "Who do you suppose it is?"

"I don't know. Maybe a Gryffindor," Kassie said thoughtfully. "Or a Ravenclaw, since he thought to put a spell on the lion so it couldn't be tracked. Ravenclaws are smart."

Lily glared at her best friend and was about to say that she didn't want it to be a Ravenclaw when an owl pecking at the window interrupted her train of thought. Perplexed, Lily got up and threw the window open. A small school owl came barrelling into the room and fell straight into Lily's outstretched hand. Tied to it's leg was a letter addressed to Lily with no return name. As the owl went back out the window it had came in, Lily sat down on the bed beside Kassie and ripped the envelope open and read it.

Dearest Lily,

Did you like the lion? I saw you open it and you seemed to. Perhaps you could meet me tonight by the lake? I would like to wish you a happy valentine's day in person. If you aren't interested, just don't come and I'll know. If not, see you at seven.

Lily flipped the parchment over, but it was blank. She and Kassie's gazes met and Lily frowned. "Well."

"Indeed." Kassie giggled, crossing her arms and hugging a stuffed animal to her stomach as she surveyed Lily as if she was checking to see if she was rabid or not. "Are you going, then?" she asked eagerly.

"What would you do?"

"I'd go," Kassie replied without hesitation. "Of course, I may go with you if my own boyfriend doesn't show up at some point today." The cupid above her shoulder threw another handful of rose petals in her hair. "Then again, he probably has his reasons for staying away." Lily quite agreed.

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Without anything else to do, or anyone else to do it with, Lily and Kassie wandered out by the lake. It was unusually warm for February, though the shadows across the grounds still held patches of snow. Hagrid was working outside, pulling weeds from the garden in preparation for spring, his dog trailing along beside him, and several students were playing Quidditch on the pitch. They walked around the lake a few times before Kassie remembered she was going to ask Professor Sprout about a potion or spell that would preserve her roses.

As the two made their way towards the greenhouses, the side door of the castle burst open and James came out, his broomstick over one shoulder and his other arm around Crystal Adams. Kassie threw a slightly sympathetic look at Lily, but the redhead didn't notice. She was looking straight forward, her face carefully neutral. Lily tried to squash her jealous feelings, but was having little luck. It was one thing to tell yourself day in and day out that you was only friends with someone; but quite another to see that person all over someone else. And where did this Crystal girl come from, anyway? They certainly hadn't been hanging all over each other yesterday.

So lost in her train of thoughts, Lily nearly ran straight into Will Roberts, a sixth year Gryffindor. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Will," Lily apologized. Beside her Kassie laughed.

"It's ok Lily," Will replied, smiling down at the red head. He put his hands out to steady her. "Is everything ok? You seemed a little dazed."

Lily blushed scarlet and looked down at her toes in an effort not to let it show. "I'm ok, just thinking and wasn't paying attention." Kassie covered her mouth with her hand and Lily glared at her. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I'll keep a better eye out for you next time." Will's face turned a little red, though it was hard to tell because he was wearing a scarf. "See you," he muttered and walked off quickly.

Lily raised an eyebrow at Kassie, who now had both hands clapped over her mouth. "Thanks for your help there, best friend of mine."

Kassie shrugged, finally regaining control of herself and walking on. Suddenly she said, "He's very cute."

Lily thought about the tall Gryffindor for a second. He had blonde hair, hazel eyes and a quiet, perhaps handsome quality to him. Lily shrugged. "I suppose so."

Kassie nodded, as if confirming something she had already thought. "I think he likes you."

"Will?" Lily asked, looking up, her eyebrows crinkled together. "You're mad."

Kassie might have had a sarcastic reply, but Lily wouldn't know. The black haired witch had entered the greenhouse. "Professor Sprout! Are you here?"

A short witch with a green hat stuck her head out of a back room. "In here, dear!" Professor Sprout's voice rang across the greenhouse. Kassie pulled her scarf off as they entered because it was much warmer inside than out. In the process she accidentally (or it may have been on purpose) slapped the cupid over her shoulder with her scarf and in retaliation it dumped a huge amount of rose petals on her head. "Dratted, stupid--Hi Professor."

Lily laughed to herself, following Kassie in a room where Professor Sprout was feeding mandrakes. Lily had had her fill with these plants in third year and wasn't keen on getting near them again. Professor Sprout handed each of them a pair of ear muffs which they quickly put on.

As Kassie helped Professor Sprout feed the last row of Mandrakes, Lily wandered around the greenhouse looking at other plants. There was a healthy growth of bouncing bulbs that Lily made sure to stay clear of and she was heading towards a Devil's Snare when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to find Kassie had taken her earmuffs off. Lily did the same. "Did you get what you needed?"

"Yes," Kassie replied, holding up a small vial of clear liquid. They started back in the castle and went straight to Gryffindor tower so Kassie could treat the water in the rose vases with the potion. After doing that they came back down in the common room to find Sirius leaning against the wall next to the stairs, his arms crossed. At first Kassie hadn't seen him, but it didn't take her long to realise he was there, especially when he ran up behind her and hugged her, picking her up off the ground as he did. Kassie screamed in response.

"Owww," Sirius grumbled, putting her down and rubbing his ears. "Isn't there a law against having a scream that high pitched?"

"Where have you been all day?" Kassie demanded at once.

Sirius' face split into a grin. "Did you miss me?"

"No, you left something behind to remind me of how much I wanted to kill you all day," Kassie replied, pointing her finger at the cupid above her shoulder. "Did you know this thing has an attitude? I tried to curse it, catch it and kill it, but apparently it has an evasive charm on it."

Sirius' eyes twinkled. "Aww, he just likes you."

"I don't have room for three shadows, so you're saying I should ditch you and keep it?"

Sirius' grin grew wider, if possible. The cupid started dumping rose petals on Kassie again and her face was growing red. She looked like any second she would strangle someone. Then, to a huge surprise to everyone in the room, Kassie flipped her wand backwards and cried, "Finite Incantatem!" With a look of expectance on her face she turned to find a plastic cupid doll laying on the floor behind her. "Yes! Finally!"

Sirius' jaw dropped as Kassie turned back around, putting her wand back in her belt and clapping her hands together as if ridding them of dirt. "What?" she inquired innocently.

"Marry me?" Sirius croaked.

Kassie rolled her eyes and shook her head. Lily laughed. "I'll just leave you two, shall I?"

"Where have you been all day?" Kassie asked Sirius again.

"Why don't I just show you?" He grabbed Kassie's hand and dragged her out of the room. Lily picked up the cupid doll and took it with her upstairs, laying it on Kassie's bed. Despite all the fuss about it, she knew Kassie would want to keep it.

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Seven o'clock came much faster than Lily really wanted it to. She had been so nervous that she had just picked at her dinner and without anyone to distract her, she felt sick to her stomach with nerves. Gabrielle and Kathleen were both with their respective boyfriends, Madison was with one of her Hufflepuff friends and Kassie and Sirius hadn't been seen since they had left the common room together earlier in the day. Lily sat across from Remus and Peter at the table, but hadn't really spoken to either of them. Remus looked slightly depressed. Lily thought he was most likely thinking of Alexis, and Peter looked annoyed with the entire day in general. Lily had retired to Gryffindor tower after dinner to await the seven o'clock hour and it was closing up on her fast.

At ten minutes to the hour she put her cloak and scarf on and set off downstairs. The common room was full of students from every year, studying, playing cards or talking. No one paid her any attention as she passed through the room, and she didn't see James anywhere. Probably off snogging his new girlfriend, a slightly bitter voice in her head said. Lily pushed it aside, again wondering who the secret admirer was and how she would feel about saying yes if he asked her out. She didn't want to say yes to someone else just because she was hurt over James, but then she didn't want to say no because of that same reason and miss out on a good relationship. Her nerves grew more as she came to the first floor and headed towards the exit.

Just as she rounded the corner to go towards the doors she ran into someone. She squeaked, but the person caught her before she knocked into the suite of armour next to her. Lily looked up and felt herself blush. "I'm so sorry! You must think I'm the clumsiest person that you've ever known."

Will Roberts chuckled deeply as he helped Lily upright again. "No, I don't. I think perhaps you have a lot on your mind."

"I do," Lily admitted, unsure why she was telling him. She pulled her cloak around and snapped a button closed that had came undone. "I'm very sorry about knocking into you again, though."

"It really is ok," Will assured her. He pushed the door open. "Are you going outside?"

"Yes," Lily replied. "Thank you." She walked on outside and he followed. For several seconds she wasn't sure what to say; but since she had run into him twice in one day and he was being so gracious about it, she thought she had better make some small talk. "It's getting cold again."

"I reckon it will snow once more before spring," Will commented. "My grandad always said it gets warm right before a good snow."

Lily looked out towards the lake, but the failing sunlight cast many shadows and she couldn't tell if someone was there or not. She took a nervous breath. Will stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at her. "So, did you have a good valentine's day?"

Lily shrugged. "It was ok, as far as valentine's days goes. I, eh, seem to have a secret admirer. He sent me a stuffed lion and a card. I'm very curious about who it is."

"Really?" Will muttered, looking forward. They approached the lake and again Lily was struck by how odd it was to be talking to Will. Still nervous, though, she hadn't noticed Will's gaze on her until they arrived at the lake side. "Are you supposed to meet him here?" he asked.

Lily looked out over the lake. Except for her and Will there was no one else outside. She opened her mouth to answer when it occurred to her that someone was outside by the lake. Her mouth formed a small 'o' and she looked at Will searchingly. He shrugged, smiling. "Eh, I hope you aren't disappointed?"

Even though somewhere in the back of her mind she had figured out that it was Will, Lily still felt her eyes grow the tiniest bit wider as she meet his gaze. For several seconds she said nothing, then seemed to notice he was waiting for an answer. "Oh, no! I'm sorry, I'm just surprised that’s all. I didn't even think you knew I existed."

Will took this as encouragement, even though small. His smile became more pronounced and Lily thought Kassie had definitely been right; he was cute. "Yeah, it's hard not to notice someone as beautiful as you." His face turned red as he said this and Lily felt herself smile shyly at him in return. He nodded his head towards the lake. "You want to walk for a bit?"

"Sure," Lily replied. As the sun finally set completely over the forest trees, Will reached out and took Lily's gloved hand in his own. And for the first time all day she found that she wasn't worried about James and his new girlfriend. Maybe, just maybe, this day wasn't going to end as badly as it had started. Maybe she had been right all along, she and James were just good friends. But judging by the way Will was squeezing her hand in his as they walked around the lake, she doubted she would be just friends with him. And the thought made her feel warm inside, despite the cold air around her.

--End chapter 44.