Semele Perdita

Er, right, I should be apologizing, but as I’m not in the mood much to grovel and beg for forgiveness, I’m hoping this chapter may do a bit to assuage anyone’s fears that I may be dead. I have written stuff(mostly H/Hr, but at least it’s something) and a L/J one shot that still needs a bit more editing and grooming before I even dare to post it) I just haven’t written much for SP, but as you can see I finally have so enjoy, and sorry for the wait. Love y’all!

Oh and something else, I lost all my email addresses and have a horrible memory, so I can’t find any of my betas, so obviously this chapter hasn’t been edited or even looked over. If anyone is up for the job of betaing for such a lazy and inconsistent author as myself, let me know!

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Last time on SP:

I yawned heavily and stretched my legs under the table, not letting my head leave its precarious position in the cradle of my arms.

It was quite a few minutes before I was disturbed by a deep voice I didn’t immediately recognize calling my name.

“Lily? Lily?” the voice whispered near my ear.

I groaned and turned my head in the direction of the sound, sliding one eye open to see the amused face of James Potter staring down at me.

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-Lily-

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It took a full moment for me to realize that he was waiting for me to answer him; when I had finally gathered my wits about me enough to even form much of a coherent though he had already pulled up a chair and was watching me with a curious look on his face.

“Yes?” I heard myself say and mentally kicked myself. That was intelligent.

“Just wondering why you are sleeping in the library, usually you’re the one who is glaring at the people who are snoring while you’re trying to study. But now it’s the other way around I see.” His grin is absolutely infuriating sometimes, and at the moment it was plastered on his face with the same teasing glint in his eyes that I had seen the night we had spent in detention a few weeks ago.

It took another minute for me to fully process what he had said in my still slightly foggy brain.

“Hey! I don’t snore!” I blurted before I could stop myself. His grin got even wider and I felt the increasing need to hit the boy.

“How would you know?” His eyebrow quirked a bit at me and he let out a small laugh. Hearing him laugh gave me the unexplainable urge to join in with him, but even as my mouth twitched, I didn’t smile. There were still a few facts to set straight before I would smile at James Potter, if I ever did.

“I-I just know I don’t.” I nodded curtly at him and turned to my Ancient Runes text, pretending to concentrate on the same paragraph that I had given up hope on a few minutes ago. That was I was trying to concentrate on it until Potter reached over and had the nerve to close the book. My eyes lingered on the back cover of the text until I managed to dread up what I felt was a semi-convincing glare for him and faced him.

“Is there a reason you had to do that or was it just to make me mad?” I sighed with my growing annoyance at him bleeding into my voice. I attempted to re-open the book, but his hand reached out again and stopped me. My eyes darted involuntarily down to where he had grabbed my hand and raised my eyebrows when I lifted my eyes back up to meet his.

He let go almost immediately and his grin faded a bit, I noted with a bit of satisfaction. Serves him right, who said he could grab my hand anyways.

“Actually it was a mixture of both,” he cleared his throat and said with the breezy tone of someone who always knew what they were doing. I hated when he talked like that: like he knew so much more than everyone else. Just because he could get top scores without opening a single book didn’t mean he was any better than the rest of us.

“Well, kindly leave me alone now, I am trying to study.” I turned back to my book and this time successfully opened it without him interrupting. My eyes focused on the illustration on the page that was of two smooth looking rocks with inscriptions dancing their way across them in weaving patterns. I followed a line of the symbols upwards as they wrapped around the rocks in almost identical patterns.

It was a few minutes later that I realized he was still sitting there, watching me. My eyes flicked up from studying the picture to meet his again.

“What?” The same annoyance from earlier was seeping into my voice. There was the same strange need to slap him across the face again rising in me as I returned his gaze in silence.

“Nothing, just wondering when you were going to fall asleep again,” he responded cheerfully.

This time when my lips twitched upwards I let a small smile show; he had me on that one. But just because I had smiled at him didn’t mean I was going to let him win this. Whatever this was.

“I wasn’t sleeping; I was taking a bit of a break and resting my eyes. And not snoring, I might add,” I said with as much false dignity as I could manage. I found that it was very hard to keep a straight face around James Potter and I wasn’t exactly sure if I liked the idea of it.

“Whatever you say, Evans, whatever you say.” He was still smiling that infuriating grin that had such a familiarly charming fit on his face it made me wonder if he practiced smiling in front of a mirror in the morning. Well, it would have been likely for him to do last year, when he was a real arse all the time, but this slightly, mark me when I say slightly, more matured James Potter didn’t strike me as a complete self-conceited idiot like he had last year. Even though I hadn’t really known him all that much last what I did know of him hadn’t impressed me. This year, however, something about this outspoken and fun-loving Gryffindor boy caught my attention and not just because he had almost literally put himself in my way as much as it seemed he could.

Of course, I’m sure this hadn’t been a conscious decision of his.

I made a sound that reminded me of a hum in the back of my throat, finding that I didn’t know how to respond to that. To save myself from any more talking, I reasoned I should go back to my common room. At least he couldn’t follow me there. I hoped.

I closed my Runes book and gathered up the parchment that my essay was scrawled on, I realized that I hadn’t finished it and bit back a moan of disappointment, this meant I would actually have to spend some of the holiday on the stupid thing. Grabbing a few pages of notes that had fluttered away from their spots in my book and tucking them safely back, I shoved my book into my bag and slung it across my shoulder.

I stood up and began walking out of the library, heaving a sigh when I heard him abandon his own chair to follow me. Once we had safely cleared the earshot of Madam Pince, I turned on him.

“Must you follow me, Potter?” I hissed at him, suddenly angry at his insistence of talking to me. I guess the anger I had felt at Laila and Violet could be directed elsewhere too.

He looked taken aback for a moment and I thought that he might give up following me. So I turned around and started walking at a brisk clip in hoping of losing him soon as the idle chatter he seemed to enjoy was starting to get to me. To my disappointment, his footsteps started after mine after a few beats.

Once he had caught up to me, he grabbed my arm to stop me.  I turned to face him, adjusting the strap of my shoulder bag and sighing. What did he want now?

“I actually wanted to ask you something…not just annoy you. Actually I didn’t really want to annoy you at all that just kind of happened…” he trailed off, looking a bit uncomfortable all of a sudden. I wondered if I was the one making him uncomfortable or he was just unnerved at something else.

“Do you have a point, Potter?” I asked with a touch of sarcasm in my voice.

“I have a name you know, other than my surname,” he pointed out randomly. I felt the tug of a smile again at this. He was avoiding something or other.

“I know that, it’s James. Is that what you wanted to know: your first name, Potter?” I snapped back at him with a smirk on my face.

A flicker of his normal grin appeared on his face at this, until it was replaced with a more serious expression when he cleared his throat and ran an errant hand through his already messy hair. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at this; it was such a stupid habit of his. I don’t know how I started to despise it, well maybe I did.

In fourth and fifth year, being the stupid prat he was and sometimes still is, he would run his hand through his hair to mess it up to make it look ‘cooler.’ Though it had made most girls swoon at the thought of him, I had developed a great distaste for it. Now, it seemed as though it had simply become a habit from doing it too many times and not something to make him look ‘windblown and damn sexy’ as some girls liked to describe it. Not that it did, usually it just made him look like the scruffy-looking jerk that he had been.

“Oh yes, that’s it exactly, Evans,” he replied snarkily. This time I gave him a real smile and tilted my head to the side. I didn’t know Gryffindors could be sarcastic. Imagine that.

“Well then, what did you want to know?” I asked, still amused at his answer.

“Oh…uh, right. I was actually wondering if you would…uh” He fumbled on his words for a minute before finally blurting out quickly, “You’re really brilliant at Charms and me and my mates need some help with something.”

“What kind of something?” I narrowed my eyes, suddenly suspicious of him. This didn’t sit well in my mind, since when did James Potter and his crew of troublemakers ask for help? From a Ravenclaw Prefect who they barely knew, no less?

“Something most definitely against the rules,” he supplied readily. “But,” he continued before I could say anything, “very constructive and useful, that will help plenty of people in the future if you help us.”

“And how will this help me? For another thing, why are you asking me?” I questioned him further, nursing a slight interest in what he was talking about all of a sudden.

He opened his mouth to answer me but then the sound of hurried footsteps abruptly cut off whatever he was about to say, and he quickly pulled me to the side of the hallway.

“Listen, I’ll explain it all once we get back from the holidays, but promise me you’ll help? Please, I’ll do anything,” he pleaded in a rushed whisper, glancing over his shoulder to see if he could spot who was coming our way.

I sighed, running this vague information through my head quickly. What could he possibly need my help for so desperately that was not only against the rules but obviously very complicated? I had to admit that he had me intrigued with what little information he had given me to think on.

“Fine, but this better not get me another detention,” I answered him after a moment, keeping my voice in the same soft whisper he had used, and granting him a small smile which he returned with one of his huge grins that stirred something deep in my stomach again. I shook myself and nodded to confirm my decision to myself and messed with the strap on my shoulder again waiting for a verbal response from him.

“Brilliant,” he sounded excited and released his hand that I realized was still holding onto my arm. “I’ll catch up with you after I get back from the holidays. You’re staying, right?”

“Yeah,” my voice, to my internal horror, was tinged with slight depression at the thought of staying in the empty, drafty castle for Christmas.

He gave me a quirky smile that I couldn’t remember ever seeing on him before when he heard me and I wondered if he noticed the tone, I hoped not.

“I’ll see you later, then,” he broke the brief silence and gave me a nod before he turned around, walking away.

“See you around,” I agreed, my voice back to its normal sound, I thankfully noted. I turned around myself, heading in the opposite direction than him, towards my Common Room.

Before I had gone but two steps, he called out to me, “Hey, Evans!” I spun around to see him watching me at the end of the hallway.

“What?” I called back to him, tilting my head to the side again.

“Thanks.” That damn maddening grin was back in place on his face, but I found that it annoyed me a notch less than it did just a little while ago.

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Taiyourshoes- well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your story, you should know that just seeing your reviews arrive after so long of me being uninspired for this story actually pushed me to sit down and force something out. Thank you so much for your kind words and thoughtful reviews.

Lady Starlight – wow, can’t say how much it means to me that you went through and reviewed every chapter so diligently. :-D It might amuse you to know that the incident with the trees was inspired by an old guidance counselor who spoke to a group of me and my friends about how our lives were like trees and well…my mind has a tendency to wander during long lectures about stuff like that. I see you noticed it wasn’t pre-OotP as much as my own telling of what I think should be like it. It’s nice to take a sabbatical from canon stories sometimes. :-D

Eschiva – I hope you’re happy, I updated and it’s not just a filler either. So have any more complaints about my laziness? :-P I’m sure there are plenty, I shouldn’t have asked that.

Remus’ sweetie – well I’m glad your stumbling brought you to my story and you enjoyed it. Thanks for your review!

Draco’s Gurl – me? Alive? Oh, well, I’m breathing if that’s what you mean, but my writing tendencies have seemed to go even more random and haywire than normal lately(honestly I’ve been more inspired to write H/Hr than L/J lately and I call myself L/J obsessed. Shame, really.) Hope you liked this chapter, you saw a bit of L/J action, though most of the development in their relationship will be a little later.

Bondariana – I couldn’t believe I actually managed a cliffhanger actually, I was proud of myself. Hehe, did I leave you hanging long enough? It’s the smiley parade, hehe, have I mentioned I love your reviews? They always make me smile. :-D

Anonymous – oh wow, thanks, I’m rather partial to the trees part too actually. And me, write my own book? I don’t think I’d have the concentration to do it, but thanks for the opinion that I have any talent at all. :-)

Mani12191 – thanks so much, I love writing humor, sometimes I laugh a little too hard and it takes me forever just to get the words out of my brain. J

Green Eggs and Ham – well is this chapter a bit better? At least they spoke! Hehe. Hope to hear more from you. :-D

PhoenixPheather – I love writing about people pasts, I get so caught up in it sometimes I forget about telling the story that I’m supposed to be telling actually. I’m glad you liked some of the background information and I’m sorry for the wait.

Lady In Black – morals? What are those? :-D anyways if you hired a hit woman who would write the next chapter? ;-)

Msnorris – hmm most likely a lapse of my brain, but he starts calling her Lily more and more, so it will work. :-) shhh, don’t tell anyone.

KJ Bridgerton- Yes I did have to end it there, just to torture people. Mwah hahaha! *clears throat* er-right I mean…it was a good place to stop, I mean. :-D He was in the library because he needed to talk to Lily and she was in there. Hehe

Shortcake – is your curiosity quelled again, then? :-D

pottersgirl363 – thanks for the review!

Now review again or it will be months until you hear from me again! Mwah.