Twisted Love

Chapter 5: Green With Envy

If Lily had the greatest knowledge in literature, she still wouldn't be able to find the words to express the feelings - the feelings that rushed through her body and left her body limp and made her weakly sag against the wall. All she could think of was the surprising warmth of the boy's lips that were pressed so softly against her own. She still felt trapped, yes - but it wasn't quite the same as a while ago, when she was facing James' cold hazel eyes. Now, as he leaned closer still, she felt enveloped in the warm, breathtaking aura that could only be explained as love. Not hers, but his...

Her mind slowly drifting away, she began to part her lips without knowing it. It felt so natural, so right... Wait, what did I just say?

It was at that moment that her eyes flew open. As they immediately took in James' face, she realized in sudden alarm that it was very close to hers. Her brain pointed out another fact that was even more alarming: Hello? You've been kissing the guy for nearly a minute here - of course you can examine his pores and everything!

Oh, bloody hell! she screamed back to her annoying brain. I'M KISSING JAMES POTTER!!!

Time for action. Lily abruptly pushed James away, her green eyes slightly bulging. She still couldn't believe she let him kiss her. What was she thinking? Apparently, James was thinking along the same lines. He looked totally baffled as he stumbled back. His mouth had dropped open and he was touching his lips absentmindedly, staring at Lily the whole time. Lily noticed that his lips were redder than ever. She blushed and winced, knowing her lips would be identical to his. Which brought her back to The Unexpected Kiss.

James grinned nervously. "Um," he managed to say.

Lily's mind flashed back to how she responded to his kiss. Did she immediately push him away? Nooo, she had to wait the next thousand years to do so, being the stupid, mindless girl she was... She was so embarrassed, she actually moaned out loud. "Remind me to never speak to you again," she quickly muttered and ran past him, her cheeks flaming.

*

Lily raced into her room and shut the door with a relieved sigh. She caught sight of her two best friends sitting on their beds and looking at her expectantly. Apparently, they've been waiting for her.

"Spill," Crystal said simply and nodded her head in the direction of Lily's bed. Lily obediently went over and sat cross-legged on her bed. Two pairs of eyes, one dark brown and the other blue, zoomed into her accusingly. She gulped. There was no way she could tell them about the kiss. Not in a million years. It would be a secret she'd take with her to the grave. But then, she had always known James had a big mouth... She didn't know how big, but she hoped he wouldn't blab it to the whole school. She groaned and hung her head.

Her two friends gasped. Crystal was almost in tears. "Please, Lily," she begged.

"What?" Lily snapped her head up and stared confusedly across the room.

"Please don't tell us you've...fallen in love," finished Crystal with a shudder. Lily shrank back, her eyes wide. How can they know about this already? The size of his mouth? As big as Canada, she decided grimly. She opened her mouth to defend herself, but Olivia, who had kept quiet until then, suddenly rushed to her side and hugged a bewildered Lily tightly.

"Don't worry, we're right behind you," Olivia murmured soothingly.

"We are?" Crystal inquired. Olivia shot her a deadly look. Meanwhile, Lily's mouth had dropped open. She wriggled out her friend's tight grasp and managed to choke out, "What are you talking about?"

Crystal wagged her finger and shook her head disapprovingly. "Let's just skip the denial stage and go straight to the part where you tell us the juicy details." Though horrified, she couldn't help sounding eager. She loved gossip. "I especially want to hear how you managed to get over Snape's greasiness," she added with a grimace.

"WHAT?" shrieked Lily.

Crystal and Olivia both jumped.

Lily ran her mind over all the events that happened that morning. Of course! The incident at breakfast! She had left her friends before rushing to the library to meet Snape. They must have wondered what in the world she was doing with the unpopular Slytherin. And they must have decided the only reason she could have defended him was...love. She snorted. Severus Snape? As if. But at least this meant that they didn't know about the kiss...yet.

"Nice try, but no, I'm not in love with Snape," she said rather snappishly. "How could you even think that?" She stared accusingly at both her friends, hands on hips.

"But we thought - well, you - " Olivia stuttered. She shot a glance at Crystal that clearly stated "help me out!" But Crystal was busy beaming at Lily, a relieved look on her freckled face.

"Oh, Lily," Crystal gushed as she rushed over to give the redhead a hug. "I'm so glad you're...you know...normal again. I knew it wasn't true." She stared at Olivia, her eyebrows raised.

Olivia widened her eyes. "You were the one who insisted - "

"Well, anyway, we have lots of other things to talk about," Crystal interrupted hurriedly. "The Hogsmeade weekend is only days away, you know. We have to start planning our outfits!"

*

"So, how did it go?" Remus inquired innocently the minute James walked into their room. Sirius snorted and continued to study his reflection intently. He was obviously trying hard not to pay any attention.

James shrugged. "Well, I tried to apologize but uh...something got in the way," he finished quietly.

"How surprising," laughed Remus. "Usually it's your own temper, isn't it? Honestly, Prongs, you've got to control your temper." Peter nodded his fat head in agreement.

"Thanks," James said absently and fell onto his bed, face down.

His three friends exchanged baffled looks.

"Uh, Prongs? You missed your cue," Sirius told him seriously. "You were supposed to attack Moony in half-crazed anger."

"OK," James agreed absently, his voice muffled by the pillow. He didn't move a muscle.

Sirius shrugged and went back to his mirror. "At least I know who I'm going to ask," he said, deciding to changing the subject. "Olivia Moon."

"What?" Remus' face looked strangely troubled. "But - but I thought you thought girls were unworthy - "

"I changed my mind," Sirius replied. "And anyway, I said girls who use dirty tricks are unworthy. I have nothing against normal ones," he added hastily.

Peter scratched his head. "Who's Olivia Moon?"

"Lily's friend, the one with the dark hair," Remus said automatically, his voice slightly strangled. He was clearly upset, but thankfully, no one seemed to notice.

"She's beautiful," Peter said wistfully. He had a sad look on his round little face. "I wish I could ask someone out, too. Maybe the blonde one? What do you think?" He pictured Crystal and looked around with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Forget it," Sirius advised. "I heard she likes Prongs." He glanced at his friend, who was still lying face down in his bed.

James' head suddenly shot up. "You mean that girl with the blue eyes - what's her name, Crystal?" His eyes were narrowed.

"Don't even think about it," Remus warned. But it was too late. James' eyes were already showing signs of hatching a plan.

Peter moaned. "Great, Prongs is going to have a date, too. What about you, Remus?" He turned to Remus wearing a fearful look.

"Don't worry, Wormtail," Remus said absentmindedly. "I'll stick with you." He kept staring at Sirius with a hint of disappointment in his brown eyes.

Meanwhile, James was busy thinking of a plan. "Now all I need is..." he murmured. He snapped his fingers and turned to Peter. "I guess it's safe to assume that you took it. Naughty, naughty. Better give it to me, Wormtail." He held out a hand.

"Hmm?" Peter put on an angelic face.

"The jar full of cookies," James said exasperatedly. "The one you secretly picked up and stashed it somewhere so you can use it on someone." He pointedly stared at Peter's side of the room, which was a complete mess as usual.

Peter rummaged through his tumble of clothes, managed to unearth the little glass jar, and gave it to James with a sheepish look. "I thought it would be good for a practical joke," he muttered.

"Excellent," James said briskly, ignoring him. He had a wry grin on his face, as if he couldn't believe what he was planning to do. The plan he had thought up was so sneaky, it was a bit disturbing. Oh well, he thought with a shrug. Anything for Lily. He blushed and stroked his lips at the thought of her. They were still burning from the kiss.

"So Moony," James continued, clearing his throat, "tell me more about these things." His long, white fingers were grasping the delicate glass jar.

"Well, for one thing, they're unique because unlike other products, the receiver automatically falls in love with the giver...no eye contact needed..."

*

"You look beautiful!" Lily beamed at her friend. Olivia was wearing an ivory sweater that matched her creamy skin and a black skirt under a new ebony dress robe.

Olivia smiled tentatively. "Do you really mean it?" she checked worriedly. She was obviously nervous for her date with Sirius. Lily nodded enthusiastically.

"You're the only one in our group who has a date, and you look it," Lily assured her. Happy for her friend, she hugged Olivia, careful not to ruin her hair. Crystal, who was busy trying out various make-up spells, sighed enviously. "Just remember not to abandon us," said Crystal grudgingly. Then something struck her. "Wait a minute...Sirius will be with his friends, they're never apart, which means...I'll get to see James all day!" The blonde girl brightened immediately.

"What makes you so sure he won't have a date?" Olivia teased.

"He won't," Lily said firmly. Her friends stared at her, surprised at her blunt interruption. Lily grinned nervously and said quickly, "Well, a jerk like that wouldn't be able to find anyone, that's for sure."

Crystal crossed her arms. "Whoa, for a moment there you sounded really...confident," she accused. Her blue eyes filled with tears. "But you know what, Lily? You're not the only girl in our school."

"Yes, yes, of course," Lily agreed hastily. "I was just saying how he deserves no one - "

"Stop it!" Crystal shrieked. "You know I like him and still you insult him like - like I deserve even less for liking him - " The sentence was broken by her uncontrollable sobbing.

The next few minutes were chaotic - after Lily and Olivia finally calmed their friend down, they had to frantically redo her face all over again, since the tears had ruined all the careful make-up Crystal had put on.

"Do I really look OK?" Crystal sniffed when they were done. They assured her that she looked fantastic as always, which seemed to cheer her up. Together, the three friends left the room and went down the stairs. Olivia had agreed to meet Sirius at one in the common room.

As Olivia shyly went up to greet Sirius, who looked stunning in a shiny light gray robe, Lily inspected her outfit. She had kept herself busy all morning helping Olivia and Crystal look pretty as possible. But she hadn't really paid much attention to herself. She smoothed out her pale green robe and hoped she wouldn't embarrass herself by looking ugly in comparison.

When she finally raised her eyes, she saw that James was staring right at her. Immediately, she shot him the dirtiest look possible, and hoped that he would get the message. But no such luck - he was making his way towards her. Lily, furious that her cheeks were flaming, turned her head. But...something wasn't right. When James said "Hi," it was Crystal who shyly returned the greeting! Lily stared at the two. She couldn't believe her ears. Was...was James Potter asking her best friend out?

Crystal looked as if someone had given her a sack full of glittering galleons. "Of course I will, James," she breathed. Lily felt slightly sick. But it was only because she was disgusted that her friend could be so happy to be with someone as low as Potter. Not because I'm jealous, she assured herself. I'm not. I'm not.

Still, she couldn't help but admit he looked pretty good. His black hair was less wild than usual, his robe amazingly matched the color of his eyes, and he wore a casual grin that showed off his dimple. With a start, Lily realized he was offering something to her. In his hand was a cookie. The same cookie Crystal was happily munching on.

Crystal was gazing at James, deep adoration glistening in her blue eyes. "This is so sweet of you," she said in that same breathless voice. She turned to Lily and nodded encouragingly at the cookie held in Lily's hand. "He put a Cheering Charm when he made that batch. You should try it. I feel cheerful already." She gave James a warm glance, and he smiled. It had taken him a few days to figure out how to make the cookies taste edible, but it was worth it. It wouldn't make a good impression if Crystal spat it out in disgust, would it? He looked hopefully at Lily, silently ordering her to eat it.

Lily glanced first at the cookie, at Crystal, then finally at James. She didn't know why it bothered her so much that James had taken the time to bake cookies for her friend. After all, didn't he kiss her a few days ago? She thought that she had felt his passionate love coursing through her. And it hadn't been such a bad feeling... But if James had gotten over her so quickly, than it only meant one thing: His kiss was purely out of lust. She blinked back tears; never had she felt so humiliated.

Crystal, obviously in her own dream world, failed to notice how bad her friend was feeling. To make things worse, she stuffed the cookies wrapped in tissue paper inside Lily's pocket. "You can have the whole batch if you want to!" said Crystal happily. "Looks as if you'll be needing it," she joked, and smiled dreamily at her date. Lily stared at Olivia, then at Crystal. So she was the only one without a date. Did Crystal have to point that out in front of everyone? Was she that insensitive?

"Have a good time," she told her friend curtly. Before walking away, she turned to a horrified James, whose face was losing color every second, and calmly handed back the cookie she was holding. She didn't need to say anything to him - she hoped that the look filled with the deepest loathing said enough.

*

OK, before you are ready to release those razor-sharp...er...razors at me, I have to get this off my chest: The past few weeks have been HELL. You know how the first month of school always is. So to cut a long story short (I can go on for pages about the horrors of adjusting to my new school), I'm awfully sorry I've neglected my duties as a third-class writer. You may already be bored with my pathetic little "sorry-for-the-delay" speech already, so I'll just promise nothing like this will happen again and skip to the part where I respond to my reviewers, who, I'm sure, are all angels. Thank you for reviewing!!

_Alissa Lynn_

'Head-over-heels' may be a bit strong, but at least now Lily hates James for reasons other than him being obnoxious. I call that a real progress! I loved your comment: Make James suffer... I see you share the same perspective. *rubs hands together and cackles* Don't worry, I have no intentions to get them together easily.

_Diva Girl_

A littler short, but I appreciated your comment about my story all the same. :)

_aaawannabefirst_

Hmm, maybe I'm weird, but I've had boy cousins who pounded me with pillows every chance they got. So I guess I naturally assumed boys have pillow fights too...only theirs is more aggressive, of course. I don't know. I didn't really put much thought to it. If it disturbed you, I apologize. But I can't say that I'm unfriendly with slash...in fact, we've had our first bit of slash right in this chapter. Tee hee. By the way, what movie was it?

_Lucky Shamrock_

Yes, yes, yes! Just what I wanted to hear! I really, really hoped that my story would be different from other J/L fics. Mainly because I'm basing it on the fifth book, which tells us a lot...OK, quite a bit about the Marauder's time. I hate sweet, kind James - I like him much better short-tempered, arrogant, and with a major ego. I know my Lily isn't your typical Lily either. As far as I'm concerned, I'm happy with that! Yay!

_Madelynn_

Well, James isn't a bad character, really, although he has some flaws...but no one is perfect right? You should trust him. He wouldn't do anything awful...much. *grins*

_LorieOreo_

Er. I guess you're one of those who's more than eager to throw me razors, or worse, tomatoes. *whimper* I'm sorry it took me so long...I just couldn't find the time, what with the HoNS (a.k.a. horrors of new school-year). But I know you're tired of excuses. So am I.

_cutesingleberry_

I was so worried about the ending - I thought it was too obvious! But I'm glad you like it...now I like it too... :D

_Faile_

I love you! You're always reviewing my chapters! Thanks...I know how hard it is to will yourself to review a fic as sloppy as mine...

_Adree_

Ooh, great idea! I never thought of that... But I didn't want to bring up Snape, which would have made AF (a.k.a after kiss) even more awkward. And I didn't want James to lose his temper...again. Don't worry, he'll be ready to rip poor Severus apart after a couple of chapters or so? Ahem.

_alenchic_

Aaaahhh!!!! I can't believe you said that about Sirius, my favorite character... *sob sob* I guess he seems mean because I like him haughty and arrogant. I don't know why I like arrogant characters (possibly because of a certain blonde-haired Slytherin), but really, it just seems so natural, you know? Sirius being self-centered, I mean. After all, he has everything - looks, brains, and an incredible sex appeal... Girls pine for him, so it's no wonder he's full of himself. Please don't say he's stupid...I am now writhing in agony and tearing my hair out...

_dropsofsapphire_

Aha! I knew someone would say something about the 'Say that again and I'll kill you' part! Well, first you have to undthat James Potter has a MAJOR EGO the size of Canada. Which is where I live, by the way. Anyway, no one has ever told the little tick to shut up or other equally rude things. In OotP, Remus said that "everyone thought they were the height of cool." They meaning Sirius and James. James is, like, the king of everything he looks at or whatever. So he isn't used to someone standing up at him - and if that someone isn't Lily, I can assure you there'll be highly disturbing consequences... And did you really think that James is low enough to "kill" someone, least of all the only girl he ever liked? He's just saying that because his pride was hurt...and anyway, we know that he does some pretty stupid things now and then. Of course he doesn't really hate Lily! It's just that he can't control his big mouth. Already he's said things to her that he regretted, like, a second after he opened his mouth. We can see that he's very mature. *sarcastic laugh* You know how boys are at 15. But I'm willing to give him a chance to grow out of it. I hope you are too.

_LaminaCourt_

My rant about James is right up there, so I guess I don't have to repeat it. :) But seriously, James isn't a killer, just an "arrogant little berk," as our dear Sirius puts it. Curse oor writing skills if you thought he was actually threatening to kill Lily - like I said, his brain isn't attached to his mouth, so he hardly knows what he's saying. Plus, he's frustrated with not being able to win Lily's heart, a strange and disturbing experience to someone as popular as he is. But despite his flaws, I believe he basically has a good heart. If only he can control his temper - and his big mouth.

_Adree_

Second review. Er. I see you were ready to strangle me. As I don't want to die - I'm only 17! - I promise I'll update once a week. Wait a second, what did I just blurt out??

_Secret Keeper_

I love the word you used: intense. That's the greatest compliment I can hope for, because I really hoped I was making the story, you know, intense. I hate any kind of mush. I would never, ever allow it in any of my fics. *delicate shudder*

_Nymphadora51_

Ugh, "love sick puppy" is right up there with "mush." I love darkness though! It's so cool of you to have thought that one of my characters is "dark." *does a little dance*

_Rema_

Really? It was unexpected? I thought it was plain obvious...I mean, it's obvious he's not going to "kill" her, right? Yeah, James was ticked off, but seems like he can't resist Lily's charms. Tee hee.

*

Sneak preview of Chapter 6: Lily decides to roam Hogsmeade alone, not knowing she totally ruined James plan. If you read Chapter 5 carefully, you'll find that she forgot about the cookies Crystal stuffed into her pocket...due to her fury. So. James is having a miserable time with Crystal and Lily, with the love potioned (I made up a new verb!) cookies, runs into...who else? Severus Snape.