A/N: Does it look like I own anything? I don't, really! So stop glaring at me!
*Lily's POV
I found a seat near the front of the classroom, making sure that I was surrounded on all sides. Why give James another chance to sneak up on me? I opened my textbook and began to read. Wow. Arithmancy was fascinating, but it sure was hard. How was James going to manage? But enough about him. I steered my thoughts away from him and focused on the complex numbers and symbols in front of me.
*******
James looked around the classroom. There was Lily, but there was no room around her. Grudgingly, he sat in the seat Bella chose for him, near the back of the classroom.
"James, you've never been in any of my Arithmancy classes before. How come?"
"Well the truth is . . ." He sneaked a look at Lily. "I've never taken it before."
"But . . . I don't understand. Why are you in it now?"
"Oh, scheduling difficulties." He looked again, but Lily never turned around.
Bella was no fool. She could see why James was in the class. It was all because of that stupid Evans girl. But she knew better than to get James started on that subject.
"So, James, when does quidditch season start? I can't wait to see you play, you're such a great Seeker."
*******
How totally disgusting, he thought. A well-bred Slytherin girl was flirting shamelessly with an arrogant Gryffindor boy, who was in turn ogling at a Mudblood, worst of all.
Severus Snape felt that he was above such frivolous doings. He would never give any of his respect to a Gruffindor, and especially not a Mudblood like Lily Evans.
Unfortunately, even the best of us can be wrong about ourselves.
*******
*Lily's POV
I was more than ready for the bell signaling the end of classes and dinnertime. It had been a long day. Emily and I ate our meal without much conversation other than boring chatter about homework and teachers. Even after dinner, my mind was fogged with all the knowledge that had been crammed into me. I needed some exercise.
"Emily, do you want to go for a walk or something? I need exercise."
"Me, too. Why a walk? Why don't we go do some flying? Nobody's using the pitch since season hasn't started yet."
"Great idea! Let's go!"
The day was cloudy and damp, but Emily and I nevertheless had fun tossing around an old tennis ball and racing each other on our old Cleansweeps. Neither of us could afford a really good broom, which was one of many reasons we had never tried out for the House team.
It was almost dark when we saw two figures standing on the field below us.
"Come down, you two!" Sirius shouted. James waved.
It really was time to go in and start on homework, so I immediately descended. But what were they doing here?
When we were firmly on the ground, Sirius said, "Great flying, both of you. I can't believe you've never come to try out for the team. Too bad we're all full this year."
"Yeah," James agreed. "Or else I'd put you on, Evans, for sure. I'm captain this year." He smiled proudly.
It was no time for flirting, so I said abruptly, "What are you doing here?"
Sirius answered. "Well, Jamesie here wanted to say--"
"I can't do hall duty tonight," James broke in.
"Why the hell not? You can't just sneak off to Hogsmeade whenever you want, you know. I could turn you in."
"You sneak out to Hogsmeade? Wow!" God, Emily got on my nerves sometimes.
Sirius smiled. "I'll take you sometime, honey, but tonight it's more serious. Lily, I'm not kidding. This is important." He glanced nervously at the sky, which was clearing slightly.
"Please, Lily," said James, "cover for me just this once. I'll explain it to you someday."
He called me Lily. Not Evans, just Lily. I shook my head, more to clear my thoughts than to deny his request.
"You can't explain now?" I asked.
James and Sirius both shook their heads silently. For once, they were serious, and desperate.
"Just this once. You both owe me one."
"Thanks," they said in unison, as they rushed out in the direction of the grounds.
*******
The next day, everyone in Hogwarts (or at least the upperclassmen) was in a very good mood, due to the fact that the next Saturday was to be a Hogsmeade weekend.
Emily was practically bouncing up and down. "At last! Imagine Honeydukes, Lily! Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Patties, Sugar Quills . . ."
"Oh, come on," said Sirius slyly. "Hogsmeade isn't a big deal. I can take you tonight, if you want."
While Emily and Sirius flirtatiously set plans for a midnight excursion, Lily rolled her eyes up at the ceiling.
"Something wrong, Evans?" James sounded happy, if a little tired.
"No. What about you? How was your Hogsmeade trip?" Lily couldn't avoid sounding annoyed.
"Come on, you know I didn't go to Hogsmeade. It was something more important than that."
"Sure, sure." Lily wasn't in a very believing mood at the moment. But what did she care if James had indeed spent the evening having fun with his friends? It was none of her business, anyway.
James sighed. Lily had never been more irritable. And why? He shook his head. He would never understand women.
But Lily had ideas of her own. The previous night, while on hall duty alone, she had wondered why James had requested to leave. And she knew that his business had nothing to do with a fun-filled Hogsmeade excursion. Even more suspicious was the fact that Remus wasn't at breakfast the next morning. James had shrugged it off, saying that Remus had to visit his ailing grandmother. But as Lily remembered the past night's full moon, she began to wonder.
Remus' absences had been too common to believe James' story. After all, how could his grandmother be sick exactly once a month for seven years, always on the night of the full moon? Suddenly, something clicked.
And what did James have to do with it all? As she looked at the back of his head (he was laughing at one of Sirius' jokes) she could only wonder. If Remus really was a werewolf, he would be unapproachable on the night of his transformation. At least, thought Lily, confusing herself anymore, unapproachable to a human.
At the Slytherin Table, Bellatrix looked lazily up at the owls that were swooping down to deliver the mail, until a large, sleek owl deposited a small note in front of her. Curiously, she opened the envelope.
Dear Bella,
I heard that this weekend will be a Hogsmeade one. Please meet me in the Hog's Head at noon-I need to talk to you.
Love,
R. L.
Bella could not restrain the blush that was flooding her cheeks. Although her obsession with James was final and complete, she could not deny the charms of her old boyfriend. And she wondered what he needed to tell her. He was always full of surprises.
*******
By the time Saturday actually came, everyone was ready for a vacation from schoolwork, and nobody was more eager than James, who had endured a full week of NEWT classes in subjects which he knew nothing about. He had yet to convince Lily to give him much-needed tutoring sessions, but had not given up badgering her on the subject.
After all, why didn't the girl pay attention to him? Before fourth year, when he started crushing on her, he had no shortage of dates. But Lily was simply unattainable, even for James, who considered himself quite a catch for any girl.
But James was ever faithful, and as he silently walked up to Hogsmeade with his usual crew, he vowed that before graduation, Lily would be his.
Meanwhile, Lily was setting very different goals, because she knew that James Potter could not be more wrong for her. After all, she tried to convince herself, why should I have anything to do with anyone as self-centered as that?
Emily Weasley was having a much better time of it than Lily, as she joked along with Sirius. Lily smiled smugly at the two of them, shamelessly flirting with each other. At least her best friend would end up with a boyfriend by the end of the year.
*******
"Bella," Lestrange said with excitement, "I have something to tell you."
She tried to remain calm, which was difficult. As it was previously noted, Bellatrix was not the best at concealing her emotions. "I'm listening."
His eyes darted nervously around the deserted bar. Slowly, he whispered, "Of course you know . . . about the Dark Lord?"
Bella was startled. She had expected something more, well, more romantic. "Yes. Of course."
He noticed the question in her voice, and hastily continued, "so you must be aware of his growing power, his--"
"My own cousin has joined him. I know."
"Well, to make it short," he said, looking nervous, yet filled with anticipation, "Where do you stand?"
Again, she was surprised. Although her parents thought well of the Dark Lord as a well-meaning but radical wizard, it was not a question that seemed appropriate to ask. "My parents . . . my family-we have always been neutral."
He fixed a look on her that chilled her to the bone. This was not the Lestrange she had known at Hogwarts. He was older, more mature, and more intense. "The time to be neutral, Bella, is over." He raised his hands dramatically. "It is time to decide." And, in a split second, his hand flew to his opposite shoulder, and he rolled up the sleeve, to reveal a tattoo in the shape of a skull with a snake for a tongue.
"Bella," he said, "do you stand with me? Will you come with me to stand with my Lord? For years, I have wanted nothing more than to spend my life with you. Bella, if you agree to join me-to marry me, we now can have more riches, more power, than you have ever dreamed of."
A thousand thoughts whirled in her head. "I don't know," she whispered.
"There is nothing to lose if you accept," he urged. "My side, our side, we will conquer."
Of course, he was right. But inevitably, Bellatrix thought of James. Why did he always pop into her head at the least opportune moments? If she agreed to join He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, surely any chance of winning James would disappear.
"I'll have to think about it," she whispered, and before he could stop her, she was running out the door.
She ran blindly, tears running down her cheeks. And she ran straight into someone.
"Bella!" The voice was comforting, soothing. But it was not James. It was, instead, one of the people she most detested-her cousin Sirius.
"Bella, what's wrong? Actually, I came to find you. James told me--" Why was it always about James, Bella wondered. "He said he saw you talking to Lestrange."
"And what if it's true?" Bella drew herself up proudly and wiped her eyes.
"Look, Bella, you don't have to be this way. Surely you must know that whatever Lestrange asked you to do was wrong." Was Sirius psychic? Bella wondered. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is evil, and he is wrong. You don't have to support him."
"It's none of your business what I do."
"But it is. Whether we like it or not, we're family. I'm not proud of it, and I don't think you are, either. But it's true. So just deal with it." His voice changed, to something more nostalgic, more sentimental. "What happened, Bella? We used to be playmates, even friends."
"It's not me. It's you who has changed, hanging around mudblood filth like that Evans girl. And having a girlfriend who comes from one of the most undistinguished wizarding families in Britain."
Sirius laughed. "Emily is not my girlfriend, and it wouldn't matter if she was. No, Bella, you're wrong and you know it. It is not me. You know that what our family preaches is filth, more dirty than any muggle-born like Lily could ever be. You know it. And why, Bella, why? Why do you have to be this way?" He was pleading, and he was right. Sirius knew it, and Bellatrix knew it, as if they could read each other's minds.
Sirius understood.
And it made Bella feel so empty and frightened, that her thoughts stood out so strongly to Sirius. And suddenly, she felt anger.
"You have no right to tell me what to do!" she screamed. "It is none of your business, and it will never be! You should be a goddamn priest, for all your preaching and sermonizing. And I don't want to hear any of it!"
He looked at her sadly, without any trace of anger. "Why, Bella?" he asked again, and walked slowly away.
And when he was gone, she cried again, unable to stop the flow of tears.
*******
Yay! I know this chapter took a surprising (even for me!) turn into angst, when I meant for it to be a breezy L/J romance. But now the angst has completely taken over (I'm completely out of control lol!) and so, you'll have to tolerate it.
I want to thank all of you who have reviewed, and especially those of you who write longer, more thoughtful comments on my writing. That is what I appreciate most!
And . . . I know you'll hate this . . .but! I won't update unless I get 10 reviews for this chapter . . . It's my way of both getting more reviews and also giving myself more time and motivation to write. Okay? Get that? 10 reviews!
One last note! I just started a fic on fictionpress.net, which I'm working on more seriously than this one. It's pretty good, I think, and probably better than this story. Please check it out! http://www.fictionpress.com/read.php?storyid=1445546