Lily: Nénuphar de Vie

It was obviously fall, for leaves of yellow, gold, brown, red and green covered the ground, damp from rain. The wind was blowing steadily, raging down leaves in clusters. Mud covered the ground, the green grass drowning beneath it.

The place was dark. This place was a forest, the trees tall and thick, constellated together. A woman laid face-down on the muddy ground, soaked in a mixture of mud and blood.

"You are the same on the inside," said a deep, depraved voice. "As you are on the outside, for now."

The man laughed vigorously. While he did so, a man cloaked in red snuck behind the woman, who now was unconscious, and threw a cloak over her body.

"She's gone," the man in red said. "Now you have me to kill, not her."

"Very well," the depraved voice said. "My plan has worked. Do you think I'd kill someone so closely related to myself?"

"Yes," the man in red replied. "You would, and you have."

With a loud bang the man in red disappeared. The sound of dragging could be heard, something was rustling in the leaves. The man with the depraved voice stepped forward. He cursed, and on a heel turned and left the forest.

"Are you feeling alright?" The man in red asked the woman as she regained consciousness.

"Yes," she said after a moment's thought.

The man helped her to her feet. Her body swayed a bit under her weight, but eventually she was able to stand upright. The man could now be seen vividly under the rising sun. His hair was black, his eyes hazel.

BANG

A loud crashing noise woke Lily Evans from slumber. Her vivant red hair was frizzed in a messy-looking ponytail behind her. She glanced at her silver wrist-watch and saw that she had slept late. Quickly, she dressed in her black robes and brushed her hair into a loop ponytail. She added a pair of ruby-studded earrings and a silver hair clip to her ensemble.

"Morning, Lily," Lily's best friend, Amelia said. She was sipping hot cocoa while reading Gone with the Stolen Broomsticks, a novel by Domenic Pourquoi. "Did you happen to hear Sirius and Peter trying to imitate an atomic explosion? Didn't work, obviously, instead they split a bomb."

"We've Potions first block, A-Mia," Lily said while adjusting her silver hair clip. Sirius Black and his friend Peter had tried to imitate an atomic explosion? That would have killed everyone for a square mile. Were they that careless?

"I know, we've still a half-hour, though. It's enough time to start and finish our homework for Potions and Charms and then walk to Potions twice!" Amelia said. "And Lily, your hair looks fine."

Lily blushed and stopped trying to make her hair look perfect and strode over to her book bag. She took out her half-finished Potions essay and sat down next to Amelia. "How many times must you stir a poison blocking potion?"

"Fourteen times clockwise, twelve counter," said a familiar and calm voice. Lily turned around and saw James Potter just inches away from her.

How Lily adored James, she'd fallen in love with him; she just couldn't bear to tell him. She didn't want to be attached to the pain that came with love. "Thank you oh so very much, James," she said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "But you do realize mudbloods like myself will have rule of Hogwarts before I trust you." James frowned and walked away. Lily figured that if she wanted James to notice her, she must play hard to get.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily noticed Amelia grin sheepishly and roll her eyes.

Lily and Amelia were walking to the Great Hall for breakfast later that morning. Amelia was eyeing Sirius Black intently. "It seems you've fallen for Black. Nice name, you'll have: Amelia Black," Lily smirked.

Amelia beamed at Lily and they burst into silent giggles. "And you, James," Amelia said when her giggle-fit was over. "Lily Potter....hmm....I think it has a nice ring to it, don't you?"

Lily frowned. "No," she said sternly.

Amelia clicked her tongue. "Yes," she said emphatically. "You'll see! You two are made for each other!" Amelia checked her wrist-watch. "C'mon, you know you love him!"

Lily sighed deeply. "It's only an inflammation of mine. Anyways, he'd never love me, nor will he ever have inflammations about me. Never, Amelia, never."

"Never say never," Amelia said. "You just might be surprised... You have a lot of... er--James might find lasciviousness in you, yet!"

They once again broke into silent giggles.

"I don't like Potions," Renee, one of Lily's other friends wined. "Professor Jesaistout is really a know-it-all."

"Yes, yes. We know this," Dessin, another one of Lily's friends said. "But we're currently studying the formations of water and how to make us invulnerable to temperatures."

Renee, Dessin, Amelia, and Lily walked into Potions together and took a seat in the back of the class.

"Class," said a vain voice from mystery. "You shall today learn how to correctly brew an invisibility potion, but," he said firmly. "You all shall demonstrate your projects on water first. Full credit to the best project, even if it didn't work....which I imagine with my wonderful teaching skills, one of the smarter pupils will get it correct. Oh... and your essays on Poison Blocking potions are due today as well."

Professor Jesaistout blabbed on for ten minutes, and then called up presentations. Renee was first.

"Uh....I made a...er... water sample of....I mean I took a water sample from the lake and froze it and dropped my experiment in and..." She demonstrated by putting a droplet of her potion on her fingertip. She put it onto the ice and her finger went through. "Viola!" She said. But as she took her finger out, it turned red. "Uh..."

"Go to the Hospital Wing, miss. You must have added too much Universal Trank Indicator." The professor sighed. "Next... James Potter."

James stood. He didn't look at all as happy as he usually was. As he walked to the front of the classroom Lily noticed him eye Lupin spitefully. He demonstrated and his project worked perfectly. The professor said to him "well done, James! Well done!" Though this was a highly rare compliment, James' eyes showed no happiness sparkling within them, only sadness.

"Next," Professor Jesaistout breathed. "Lily Evans."

Lily sighed and levitated her samples over to the front of the room. As she herself walked to join her project, she heard Dessin whisper to her "sloth!" Lily had to put her fist in her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"My project has different types of water, all depending on their pH. I have seven water samples. Three are on the acidic side, three on the basic side, and one a seven point zero pH, perfect!" She quickly added her potion to her left pinky finger, and dipped it through ice and water. She nodded her head respectfully as her classmates clapped to humor their teacher.

"Good, Lily, wonderful," Professor Jesaistout sighed. "Your project is good, as always." He rolled his eyes. "Bouesang," he whispered under his breath. "Ressortir."

Lily gasped. As she went back to her seat she tipped her wand behind her shoulder and whispered "paresse-étable." Then she noticed James fiddling with his wand, it, too, pointing at the professor.

Lily sat down, back into her seat. She noticed the professor was now scratching his stomach like a chimpanzee; he tried to reach for his wand which had fallen on the floor, but could not get it. "Did you do that to him?" Amelia asked.

"Yes, I did, A-mia," Lily replied.

"You gave him a Mohawk?" Dessin asked.

"What? No! I used the Sloth-Sty combination on him!" Lily said. Where'd you get that--?"

Lily looked at his head. He had a large, hot-pink Mohawk on his head.

"If you didn't do it," said Renee, "then, who did?" They all looked nervously around the room.

"A-mia," Lily said. "You sure do grin a lot more than you used to."

That night in the Gryffindor Common Room everyone was laughing about the new hair style of the school. People who witnessed it told the story first-hand. Lily sat at one of the tables and sighed. She didn't feel too good. The professor criticizing her in French, she didn't even know he knew French, her terrible nightmares, and she needed to know how to stop feeling love for James. It was ruining her life.

"'Lo, Lil'," said a voice. Lily turned abruptly. It was James. "Are you alright? You aren't out socializing like the rest of the world. Is it because of what Know-It-All said today? He's such a hypocrite, I mean, his name means--"

"James," she said. "I'm fine, really."

"Je savoir vous êtes pas bien, Lily. Parfois je demander si vous êtes sensibilité bon. Bonne nuit." And he left.

"Je voudrais ton amour, James," she whispered as he walked away. She held back tears and went to her dormitory for the night.

She slept through the night, nightmares haunting her in her sleep.

She was swimming in water. Tranquility was the best aspect of this lake. She pulled her head underwater and saw lights. They were beautiful lights. She surfaced for air and saw beautiful nymphaeacaea flowers floating with the small current. She reached to pick one, but as her arms outstretched, she awoke.

It was still fairly dark outside. The wind was howling, Lily felt goose bumps on her arms and shivered slightly. She saw Amelia was not in the dormitory, so Lily took her restless self downstairs to the common room.

"Mia?" She asked, uncertain as she reached the common room.

"Hey, Lil'," Amelia said, staring at the ceiling. "Were you not able to sleep?"

"Basically," Lily said, "it's really cold tonight."

"Yeah," Amelia said. "Fall's here."

They talked about nothing in particular for quite a while.

"Well, I should get some sleep. Are you coming?" Amelia asked.

"No, I doubt I'll be able to sleep tonight."

"Well, à demain." And Amelia left.

Lily was left alone in the common room. Thoughts were completely erased from her head. She sat huddled up on the edge of the sofa, her mind off somewhere else, probably daydreaming nightmares.

She came back to reality, realizing it was four in the morning. She quietly went to her dorm room and dressed.

When she returned to the common room sunlight was pouring in through the windows, slightly illuminating the tapestries hanging from the ceiling. She heaved a sigh and sat on the sofa. She began daydreaming nightmares once again.

After probably an hour she heard footsteps, but she was still thinking terrible thoughts. Her head was resting heavily in her palms, her eyes staring at the carpet.

"Lily," said a distant voice, whispering.

Lily once again came back into reality, looking around. No one was there.

Then someone rested their hand on Lily's shoulder. She turned her head, but once again, no one there.

"Lily," the voice said. "You'll be alright. But for now, I must be gone."

Lily stood up. The voice sounded familiar. She sat back down, and once again entered daydreams of nightmares.

That day ended up better than Lily thought it would be. Her restless night proved useful in History of Magic. Dessin kept nudging Lily's arm, trying to keep her awake. But it was no use.

"Let her sleep," Amelia said. "She had a terrible night last night."

As Amelia said this, Remus Lupin walked by. "Ah, Lily havin' bad dreams?"

"What are you going to name your kid? Luna?" Amelia asked mockingly.

"Whoa! No need to get personal, there!" Sirius Black had joined in on the conversation.

"What's in it for you, Black?" Renee asked rudely.

"Would you all just shut up?" Lily and James said at the same time.

Everyone looked at the restless Lily, her face buried in her arms. Then they looked to James, annoyance on his face. All of them quieted down.

During free period Amelia, Dessin, Renee, and Lily went to their favorite hiding spot, on top of the West Tower.

"Oh, Lily," Amelia said. "You look miserable."

"Nah," Lily said. "Just," she pretended to yawn "tired."

Dessin accidentally knocked over a pile of books. "Désolé," she mumbled while restacking the fallen books.

"Wait," Lily said as her eye caught the title of one of the books. "Whose book is this?"

On the cover, the title was written in red ink, it very much resembled blood.

"'Mort est Pas Angisse, Il est Merveilleux,' Oh my, that is a disgusting title!" Amelia gasped.

Lily snatched the book from Dessin's quivering hands and opened to the first page. "'To live and love is the same as to die early in life. To kill a soul is to lose love. Die now and forever have your happiness to seek a soul without anger is to'--," Lily read the sentences.

"Just scan through it, Lil'," Renee interrupted.

Lily read the first few pages, her friends waiting for her response with baited breath. "Well," Lily said tentatively. "It doesn't exactly make sense. It sounds like the author is trying to scare someone into committing suicide, or not to be afraid of death, just, get yourself killed. It's odd, really."

There was a moment's pause.

"Whose book is it?" Amelia asked. "It sure isn't mine."

"Nor mine," Lily said.

"Nor mine," Dessin and Renee said at the same time.

There was again a moment's pause. It was eventually broken by Amelia. "Perhaps we should enjoy our free period instead of wasting it by thinking about how this book got here."

"I agree," Renee said. "Lily, I've some news for you."

"Pour moi?" Lily asked.

"Lil'," Renee said tentatively. "I think you've got a secret admirer."

"Who?" Amelia asked before Lily could even think.

"Oh! Is it....is it?"

"Quiet!" Renee whispered fiercely. "If you must know," she said. "I believe Severus Snape may have a tiny inflammation..." She gritted her teeth. "Mainly concerning....you."

Amelia slumped onto the stone floor, disgust in her eyes. Dessin did the same.

"Lil', I'm so sorry!" Dessin said sympathetically.

"No," Lily said. "It's quite alright, really..." She didn't understand why her friends detested Severus that much.

During lunch that day, Lily scanned the Great Hall, looking for Severus. "Severus... C'mon, you've to come..." And indeed, he came. His hair greased back like an Elvis-want-to-be, his face full of acne. She watched him stroll to the Slytherin table. "Severus Snape," she whispered again, but even more gleefully.

Once lunch was over, Lily caught up to Severus in the hall, walking alone. "Wait! Severus!" She called out to him. He turned and saw Lily coming. He stopped. Once she caught up to him she introduced herself.

"Oh," he said. "I know who you are. You play keeper for Gryffindor. You're quite good, really."

They chatted away for several minutes. The five-minute bell rang. "Well," Lily said. "I'll be seeing you, Severus."

She turned to walk to Transfiguration, but instead she stopped as she saw Severus's mouth open. "Call me Snape," he said.

They waved goodbye, and Lily walked to Transfiguration.

"Class," said Minerva McGonagall. "Today you shall be learning how to change a quill into a bottle of ink--"

Lily sat through Transfiguration, nothing shown in her eyes. She was silent; it was quite unusual for her. "Hey, Lily," Amelia said. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Lily sighed. And she went into daydreaming. But these daydreams were not nightmares. They were blissful.

That night Lily only half-knowingly did, and finished, her homework. She finished before even Amelia. "I'm going for a stroll," Lily said while putting her quills and ink away in her bag. "I'll see you lot in a bit."

Lily had every intention to breathe the air outside and be gleeful. But as she strolled outside near the trees, her eye was caught on something--someone.

Severus Snape sat beneath a tree. His eyes were fixed on nothing. "Snape," Lily said. "Hi."

His eyes came back to Earth. "Hi," he said. "Want to sit?"

Lily gracefully nodded and sat next to him. They were looking at the lake. "Nice night," Lily said.

"Yeah," said Snape. "Almost as beautiful as you."

Lily's heart began beating wildly. Snape looked at Lily, as he did so a tingling feeling rose in Lily's spine. Something was wrong. As she looked into his eyes, and he hers, she felt a sense of forbidding. This shouldn't be.

Snape looked up at the stars. "Nice night."