The Trouble With Lily

The Trouble With Lily

Chapter Two

James woke up abruptly that morning from the bad feeling he had in his stomach. Whether it was from the feast or not, he didn't know, but it gave him a queasy feeling nevertheless. He rubbed his eyes to get the sleep out and then reached for his glasses. After putting them on, he blinked a few times before truly seeing his surroundings. All the other inhabitants of the dorm were still sleeping soundly, so James decided to be "considerate" to them and quietly got out of bed.

He gently closed the door behind him as he got inside the bathroom and headed for the sink. Turning on the faucet, he waited for a big amount of water to come into his cupped hands before washing his face with it. Then he proceeded in drying his face with his towel. As he reached for his towel, however, he saw a shape right behind him in the mirror.

"Myrtle!" he cried, turning around. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

Moaning Myrtle gave him a shy look before answering. "I was wandering around," she said.

James gave her a disgusted look along with a raised eyebrow. "And you ended up in my bathroom?" He heard a shuffling of noises from outside and a moment later, his friends entered the bathroom. "Doesn't anyone bother to knock?" he asked impatiently.

"You were making such noises," said Peter sleepily, "that we thought you were 'drowning your sorrows' again."

"What're you doing in there with Myrtle?" asked Frank curiously.

"Nothing," insisted James as his friends continued to stare at him in a strange way. "She was wandering around and somehow," he cast Myrtle a dark look as he said this, "landed in our bathroom."

"Did she see anything?" asked Sirius, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"I am not listening to this," said Remus, putting fingers into his ears and walked back to bed. "Next time, wake me up for a better show."

James rolled his eyes at the ceiling. "Been reading again, Sirius?" he asked.

Sirius smirked. "At least reading didn't land me in the bathroom with Moaning Myrtle."

"I'm still here, you know!" shouted Moaning Myrtle angrily. She had previously placed herself on top of the toilet, but now moved to be face-to-face with Sirius. Tears were once again dripping down her eyes. "I liked you for liking me," she said tearfully, "but I'm not forgetting this!" And with that, she disappeared through the wall.

"That was certainly entertaining," said Peter, clapping his hands enthusiastically.

"Right," said Sirius, pushing everybody out the door. "But I have some business to attend to so go away." And then he slammed the door.

"Since we're up and at it," said Frank cheerfully, "let's just get dressed for class."

"I don't understand how a person can be so positive in the morning," grumbled James as he started fixing his bed.

"Since when have you started making your bed?" asked Peter, staring at James wonderingly.

"Ha ha," said James and threw a pillow at Remus. "Wake up!"

Remus stirred a little, rolled onto his stomach, placed a pillow over his head, and made a loud snoring sound to state that he was still sleeping.

"I don't think anyone bought that," said Peter truthfully as he unloaded his trunk and pulling out a few textbooks.

Remus groaned. "I have a headache," he said.

"Well deal with it," said James and pulled on his robes.

The bathroom door opened and Sirius came out with a towel wrapped around his hair. He was dragging his feet over to his bed and when he got there, slipped under the covers and pulled it over his head.

"When did you grab a towel?" asked Peter who was already finished dressing.

"There's a little thing called magic, Peter," came Sirius's muffled voice. "If you haven't learned that in the last six years, I suggest you ask for a transfer."

Peter opened his mouth to argue, but Frank interrupted by saying, "He's kidding, Peter."

Peter huffed and made his way to the bathroom, slamming the door in the process.

"WAKE UP, REMUS!" yelled James again.

Not only did Remus bolted up, but also Sirius. "What the-?" asked Sirius in bewilderment. "What was that?"

"Get up," said James.

"Try asking nicely next time, Jamesie," said Sirius, getting out of bed. "It'll do you wonders."

"Gentlemanly etiquettes?" asked James sarcastically.

Sirius scoffed. "Gentlemanly etiquettes are yesterdays' news."

"You only mentioned it yesterday, Sirius," reminded Remus.

Sirius shrugged nonchalantly. "So?"

"He's only saying that," said Peter, submerging from the bathroom, "because Andrea Mathews slapped him yesterday for trying to sneak into the girls' dorm."

"Hey, I only wanted to see if they had better furniture than us."

"When did this happen?" asked Frank, staring at Sirius.

"When the sun didn't shine," said Sirius.

His roommates gave him a blank look. "We never could've guessed," said Frank sardonically.

Remus rolled his eyes and grabbed his robes. "Anyone going?" he asked.

"I'll go afterwards," said Frank. "I have to question him until he cracks." Frank then turned to Sirius's direction and stared at him intently.

"We are not in Divination, Frank," said Sirius calmly. "And for your information, it happened late last night."

"Thanks for clearing that, Captain Obvious," said Frank just as Remus came out. "That was fast."

"Isn't it always," said Peter. "You know, you could've just asked me when he did it instead of pestering him like that."

Sirius gave Peter a look. "Peter," he said calmly, "There will come a time in your life when you learn to keep quiet. But until then, I guess I'll just have to strangle you to keep you silent."

Peter gave a weak smile.

"It's more fun pestering him, Peter," answered James.

Frank rolled his eyes and grabbed his robes, but before entering the bathroom, said, "You guys can go on ahead. I'm meeting Alice later so you don't have to wait for me."

Sirius clapped his hands together and pretended to talk like an excited schoolgirl. "Like oh my gawd, aren't the lovebirds, like, cute?" he asked in a high pitched voice. "I, like, must go tell everybody!" And he ended his act by skipping over to James with his hands swinging madly by his sides.

Frank stared at him. "James, remember to keep an eye on him. He's been kept away from humanity for so long, he has summer syndrome again."

"Have fun with your little girlfriend, Longbottom," said Sirius as he grabbed his knapsack and headed for the door. Remus, James, and Peter followed suit and gave a wave before leaving. Frank waved back.

"Some people are just born for others to poke fun at," said Sirius, sighing dramatically as they descended down the stairs. His friends laughed.

"That's your philosophy of life?" asked Remus.

"And a mighty one at that, mate," said Sirius contentedly.

-

Their first class that morning was Transfiguration with the other Sixth Year Gryffindors. Their teacher, Professor McGonagall, was in a particularly bad mood that morning (for reasons unknown) and it displeased her very much to find that James and Sirius had not done their summer homework. "You two," she told them, "how do you expect to pass this class if you refuse to do work?"

James had shrugged at her. "I don't plan to do work, Professor. My talent will get me along fine."

Professor McGonagall didn't think that was a very good answer for some reason, and had taken points off. After taking off points, she turned to Sirius and scolded him. "Black, I had expected you to do better. Your father was an excellent student during his time here."

"Is that why he's so messed up now, Professor?" asked Sirius of her darkly.

She gave him a stern glare, but her eyes showed a sympathetic look. "Black," she started, but he cut her off.

"No, never mind," he muttered. She shook her head at him and went to the next desk to give more lectures.

After her evaluation of the classroom, Professor McGonagall went to the front and began her yearly speech. "N.E.W.T. Transfiguration is one of the hardest courses you will ever take during your stay at Hogwarts. It requires patience, determination, and absolute focus. Many students from the past have been driven mad by this course and many have found it fit to drop it. I tell you now - if you are not prepared to do my requirements here, expect to get a Troll by the end of this term. Any of you who is not ready for a commitment may leave now and head down to the Headmaster's office, where he will give you a schedule change."

Everyone stayed in their seats. Professor McGonagall felt a hint of pride inside her; it was just what she expected of her House.

"Moving on, I will give you a taste of N.E.W.T. Transfiguration right now so you know what to expect throughout this year. Ms. Evans," she said to Lily, who was sitting in front of her. "Please pass this around." She handed Lily a stack of parchments, which Lily accepted and passed around.

When Lily came to James's desk, he smiled charmingly at her. She gave him a very deadly glare, something he didn't expect, before moving along.

"What did I do?" he whispered to Sirius. "She's usually not like this at the beginning of the school year."

Sirius shrugged at him, but turned away to hide a little smirk. James gave him a suspicious look but said nothing.

The parchment Professor McGonagall gave them was an outline of the year. It was basically an organized lesson plan. After Lily returned to her seat, the lesson started. It moved along very fast and before they all knew it, break came. "You will go outside for twenty minutes," informed Professor McGonagall. "Use the time wisely; go to the bathroom, get some air. Lunch won't be for another two hours. You will return here after your break and we will continue on with the lesson."

As soon as James got out of the classroom, he stretched. "How long did we sit inside there?" he asked.

Remus shrugged. "I think two hours. Classes started at eight and it's around ten now."

"Double classes suck," commented Sirius. "My butt hurts from sitting for so long." He patted his bottom to prove his point.

Remus and Peter gave a laugh, but James didn't for he was looking at Lily. "Hold on," he muttered, heading towards her. Lily was standing with Deidre and the other Gryffindor girls, chatting. When James came over, they all stopped talking. Marylin Lucky gave a snort, but Maggie Bennett giggled. Lily gave a glare. "Go away, Potter," she said coldly.

He gave her a frown and crossed his arms. "What's with you today, Evans?" he asked. "You're usually not this grumpy."

Lily scoffed. "I can't believe this," she said to Deidre.

Deidre didn't give a reply.

"What the hell did I do?" demanded James, his temper rising at being blamed.

"What did you do?" asked Lily. "What did you do? I'll tell you what you did, you inconsiderate moron." She jabbed at his chest. "You carved stupid things into my bed posts, soiled my sheets with God-knows-what, rummaged through my belongings, oh, and here's a reason you would like: you're existing!" With that, she stormed off.

James's mouth gaped open and he sputtered indignantly. "But-but I didn't do those things!" he yelled after her.

Marylin gave him a look. "Potter, if you do something wrong, at least apologize and face it like a man." She headed after Lily.

"Don't listen to them," said Maggie. "I know you didn't do those things."

James was about to give her a smile for her comment, but the thing she said next wiped it off his face: "I know you're too much of a gentleman to do those things. Besides, you never had guts like Sirius to do something like that." She, too, hurried off.

James's mouth was now opened even wider. "W-what?" he yelled after her. "What the hell was that supposed to mean?"

Deidre gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Calm yourself, James; clear minds always work better. Oh, and you're pathetic." She gave him a curt nod before walking away.

Out of the corner of his eyes, James could see his friends approaching. "What's the matter?" Sirius was asking as he drew nearer. "What did she say?"

James slowly turned around. "Sirius," he said leisurely. "I am going to kill you."

"Oh! So you found out about my little prank," said Sirius calmly, brushing through his hair. "Funny, eh?"

"I'll show you funny!" shouted James as he charged at Sirius. Sirius gave a big grin before dashing off.

Remus shook his head. "They need to get their priorities straight," he said.

Peter gave a nod of agreement.

-

When dinner time came around, James was still slightly upset at Sirius and didn't speak to him. Sirius was getting rather annoyed at James's stupidity. He had pulled this stunt many times in the past but had no memory of James being this offended. What's the difference this year? He wondered as he bit into a slice of chicken. Then he came to a conclusion: Lily had somehow brainwashed his best friend into a monster during summer and got him thinking pranks were bad.

"No, Sirius," said Remus as if reading his thoughts.

Sirius looked at him. "No what?"

"Lily did not brainwash James during summer, Sirius," said Peter.

Sirius turned to him. "How would you know I was thinking that?" he demanded. "You can't even tell the difference between a potato and a gnome!"

"You were mumbling," replied Peter.

Sirius snorted and returned to his food. "Whatever," he said. "So what's up with you, Prongs?" he asked of James.

James didn't respond.

"You never used to be like this."

Again, James didn't answer.

"Kneazle got your tongue?"

"Stop interfering, Padfoot," said James suddenly.

"What do you mean interfering?"

"Don't ruin things with Evans for me, Sirius."

"Oh, so now you're interested in her? After five years of taunting, discriminating and so forth, you choose now to become interested?"

James glared at Sirius. "You were well aware of this years ago," he snarled.

Sirius scoffed and crossed his arms. "James. I have never told you off for anything you've done, but getting with Evans is a bad deal."

"Why is it a bad deal?" inquired James.

"Well, she's got red hair for one thing. It'll blind your poor little eyes and cause you to walk into walls, poles, Quidditch stands, strange Fourth Years, giggling-"

"That's not a very good reason, is it, Sirius?" asked James.

"I can name many others out of the top of my head."

"Where was all this when we took Divination, Padfoot?"

"I'm not kidding, James."

"I have to agree with James on this one, Sirius," said Remus, cutting in. "He is entitled to whoever he wants to date. We can't stop that."

James nodded. "Remus has spoken. We shall obey."

Sirius huffed. "Well, fine. Just don't come crawling back when anything goes wrong."

"I don't have a problem with walking, Sirius," said James, grinning somewhat.

Sirius reached over and ruffled James's hair. "Aww, I could never stay mad at you."

"Let's not go there," warned Remus lightheartedly.

Peter snickered.

Sirius laughed.

"I think those pranks were a little bit too far, though," said James suddenly. "Don't pull something like that on her again."

"Is Prongs sticking up for his little girlfriend now?"

James's cheeks turned slightly pink. "I am not," he said defensively.

Sirius snorted, Remus gave a small chuckle, and Peter continued eating his food. Afterwards, the conversation turned over to a fierce Quidditch argument that Remus, not surprisingly, ended.

And just like that, everything went back to normal.

Or so they thought.