The Awakened Sleeper

"Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies."

-- Aristotle

Chapter 2

Two Bodies; One Soul

When Professor Slughorn dismissed his class, Lily Evans wasted no time in gathering her materials and racing out the door of the classroom. She stalked down the corridor, receiving curious glances from the other Hogwarts students she passed. Severus Snape! Of all the people Slughorn could have paired me with, he chose Severus Snape. How am I supposed to work with someone who hates me simply because my parents are Muggles? He'll probably try to sabotage my work in some way. I can't believe this! Lily was so angry, so focused on her problems, that she was surprised when she found herself standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Well, dear," the Fat Lady murmured, "are you going to stand there all day, or is there something I can do for you?"

"Oh, sorry!" Lily was so flustered that she had momentarily forgotten the password that would gain her entrance into the Gryffindor Common Room. "Er...belladonna!"

"About time, sweetie," the Fat Lady grumbled as her portrait swung open.

Lily stormed into the Common Room, walked over to the sofa in front of the fireplace, threw her things down on the floor, and collapsed onto the sofa next to a girl with long, wavy espresso-colored tresses.

"Lily, what's wrong? On my way back here from Arithmancy, I heard you were in a snit about something that happened in Potions. Everyone saw you tearing through the corridors of Hogwarts like you had hellhounds on your heels."

Lily turned to look at the girl. "Cressida, when was the last time you saw me this angry?"

Cressida looked up as if the answer were floating above her head. "Erm...let me see. Oh! I remember you got in a strop that day last June when Severus Snape called you a...well, you know." Cressida studied Lily for a moment. "Why? Does this have something to do with him?"

Lily jumped off the sofa and began pacing back and forth. "Ugh! It has everything to do with that loathsome, sorry excuse for a human being. Slughorn is making the Slytherins and Gryffindors pair up and work together this year. Guess who my partner is?"

Cressida's caramel-hued eyes widened in shock. "You're kidding? He actually made Severus Snape your partner? For the entire school year?"

Lily knelt down in front of Cressida. "Cressida Corwin, we've been best friends for years now. I've been a good person, right? Why am I being punished this way?" Lily dropped her head onto Cressida's knees. "Kill me. Kill me now."

Cressida successfully held back the laughter that was trying its best to escape from her mouth. "Lily, don't you think you're being a little overdramatic about this?" Cressida gently lifted Lily's head up. "It's not the end of the world. You've performed brilliantly in Potions for the last five years without the aid of Severus Snape. Surely, you two can work together without really working together."

Lily sat back on her heels and frowned. "What do you mean 'work together without really working together'?"

"Oh, Lily...honestly." Cressida began rummaging for a pair of chopsticks that she kept in her book sack. She twisted her thick hair into a bun at the nape of her neck and used the chopsticks to secure it. Cressida often did this whenever she was exasperated with someone; it was almost as if her abundance of hair kept her from thinking properly. Lily giggled at the sight.

"What's so funny?" Cressida shook her head and said, "Never mind; don't want to know. Listen, since both of you are more than capable of handling yourselves academically, you can both work on your own. Then when it's time to hand in essays or whatever, just make sure both your names are on the work. Problem solved!" Cressida's smile was infectious, and Lily couldn't help but smile back.

"I suppose that could work, Cressa. I don't know, though. I know I don't trust him, and I'm sure he doesn't trust me. Whose work would we hand in - his or mine? Besides, this project that Professor Slughorn has us working on is so new and different, there's no telling what we'll have to do. I may not have a choice in the matter." Lily sighed and looked over at her best friend. "Thanks for helping me to calm down, though. I guess it's not really as bad as I made it out to be. He just made me so mad in class today. You know he cost Gryffindor ten points!"

"What? How?" Cressida was fiercely competitive. Nothing made her angrier than losing house points.

"Severus said something to piss off James Potter. James tried to pummel him. It took four boys to keep him away from Severus. When the professor asked Severus what he said, he gave him some rubbish about James not wanting to hear about how poor he is at Potions. Professor Slughorn actually believed it, awarded Slytherin ten points and took ten points from Gryffindor! It took everything I had not to hit Severus myself."

Cressida scowled. "I'm sure Sirius and James will get him back. They always do." She took a tiny pot of Muggle lip gloss and a mirror from her bag. "Maybe I ought to offer my assistance," she added as she expertly applied the lip gloss. She smiled at her reflection and looked up at Lily. "D'you think that would impress Sirius?"

Lily rolled her eyes. During their fourth year, Cressida had begun attracting the attention of most of the male student population. For the last two years, she had accumulated and discarded enough boyfriends to alienate herself from most of the girls at Hogwarts, consequently earning a bit of a reputation in the process. Cressida didn't care what most people thought of her, which was one of the things Lily liked best about her friend. However, there were two people at Hogwarts whose opinions mattered to Cressida: Lily and Sirius Black. For years, she had tried to get Sirius to notice her, but he didn't fawn over her like most of the other boys did. Lily supposed that was the reason why Cressida wanted him so much.

"Impress Sirius? It might, but would you really fancy spending your first date in detention?"

Cressida furrowed her brow as if in deep thought. "Hmmm...detention with Sirius. Could be interesting..."

Lily laughed and began picking up the items she had thrown on the floor earlier. "C'mon. It's a beautiful day outside. Let's go and study by the lake."

A soft breeze tickled Lily's skin as they made their way to the lake. It reminded her of another beautiful day years ago. She was unable to enjoy the lush beauty of the school grounds that day. In being forced to remain indoors, Lily found the best friend she'd ever had. Before that day, Lily had always felt incomplete; like a puzzle that needs that one missing piece to be complete. On that wonderful day, she had found that missing piece.

Lily began tugging at the locket she always wore. Cressida smiled at her friend's habit. Lily was unaware of it, but whenever she was in deep thought, she would tug the locket back and forth along the gold chain it hung from.

"What's on your mind, Lily?"

Lily hooked her arm through Cressida's and said, "I was just thinking about the day we became friends." She threw her head back and chortled. "At the beginning of our first year, if someone had told me we'd be best friends, I'd have thought they were insane!" As they approached their favorite tree next to the lake, they plopped onto the ground and continued to giggle.

"I would have agreed with you. You know, I really couldn't stand you. I thought you were a goody two-shoes. Always studying. Always getting the right answers in class. Always brown-nosing. You reminded me of Andra."

Lily picked up a roll of parchment and whacked Cressida with it. "Andra? I reminded you of your 'I'm-so-sweet-a-sugar-quill-wouldn't-melt-in-my-mouth' little sister? I was never that bad. And I never brown-nosed!"

Cressida took one of the chopsticks out of her hair and poked Lily in her back, giving as good as she got. "Oh, yes you did! 'Professor McGonagall, I hope to be as good at Transfiguration as you are one day!' 'Oh, Professor Slughorn, will you need help setting up for your next class?' Sickening."

Lily's face had reddened from embarrassment. "Well, maybe I did brown-nose just a little bit. But I've come a long way, Cressa."

Cressida removed the other chopstick and shook out her hair. "Only because you had the good sense to become my friend. There's no telling what you'd be like if you hadn't."

Lily opened her Charms book. "I couldn't stand you either. You were so cheeky I wanted to just slap you sometimes. The boys liked you because you were just like one of them. All you ever wanted to talk about was Quidditch. All the boys still like you. I guess nothing's changed in that department. "

Cressida wiggled her eyebrows at Lily, smiled devilishly and said, "It's not Quidditch they want to talk about now. Trust me; there have been plenty of changes in that department."

"You're so evil! That hasn't changed either. Getting me into trouble in Professor McGonagall's class. I guess you didn't wager on your little plan backfiring on you, huh?"

Cressida stretched her arms over her head and laughed. "No, I didn't. I thought my plan was brilliant and completely foolproof. Forging a naughty little note in your handwriting about McGonagall smelling like a cat litter tray was the easy part. Containing my delight as she gave you detention was a little harder. I ended up in detention with you." Cressida shook her head and chuckled softly. "That lady doesn't miss a trick, does she?"

Lily began absentmindedly tugging at her locket again as she thought for a moment. "No, she doesn't. I think she knew exactly what she was doing when she put us in detention together. We found out we had more in common than we thought we did, didn't we?" Lily looked out across the lake with a wistful, almost sad look on her face. "D'you ever wonder what might have happened if we hadn't had that detention together?"

Cressida noticed the change in Lily immediately. "Lily, what's wrong?"

Lily looked at her best friend. She looked as if she'd aged twenty years in only two minutes. "It's nothing, Cressa. I was just thinking that you're like the sister I've always wished I had." Lily looked down at the locket that she never removed. "My real sister being such a disappointment and all." Lily looked up to see Cressida wiping a single tear from her cheek. "Oh, Cressa! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you."

"Don't be silly, Lily! I'm fine." Cressida thought about what she said and giggled. "Silly Lily! That's funny."

Lily shook her head. "You are such a nutter!"

Cressida reached over and gave Lily a hug. "You know me. I like to make my own fun."

Lily hugged her back. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Cressa."