Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 11: Riddle's Offer vs. James' Offer
James was euphoric. Lily had hugged him - voluntarily! After watching Lily walk away with her friends toward the hospital wing, Sirius gave him a congratulatory pat on the back for not stuttering in front of her. James tried to play it off like it was no big deal but his star-struck grin gave him away.
Over the next several weeks Lily and James slowly became friends. It was easier for him to speak with her since he had helped her during their first flying lesson. It seemed to give him some needed confidence. After all, she had seen him in his element - flying. Anytime she spoke with him and he felt the fluttering from his stomach reaching his voice, he thought back to the confidence he got from flying and found himself able to speak to her in complete sentences. She still called him 'Potter' because that was what she was used to calling him. As a joke, he started calling her 'Evans.' Plus, whenever he thought of her as 'Lily' he would start to feel his tongue tie up.
They had flying lessons weekly and it took some convincing to get Lily back onto a broom. Mr. Levine made Frank promise to stay on the ground while Lily practiced flying. As soon as she was in the air for a minute or so she regained some of the feeling of freedom she had felt during her first lesson. That didn't stop her knuckles from turning white as she tightly clutched the broom handle. Sirius coaxed James into giving Lily pointers on flying since he was so good at it. He had had plenty of practice chasing snitches around the Quidditch pitch on his family's estate.
To Marlene's dismay the girls began to hang out more with the first year Gryffindor boys- they would often sit together at meals and during class. She did not like hanging around Sirius so much. She thought he was an arrogant git. After a week or so of barely speaking to her friends she decided that the time would be better spent torturing Sirius with kindness, making him think that at any time she could exact her revenge for the Sorting Ceremony prank. Her plan seemed to work because Sirius kept looking shiftily at her and sitting as far away from her as he could.
Lily excelled in all of her classes, however she was having some difficulty in her DADA class. She couldn't explain why. She was able to focus on all of her other classes and get outstanding marks on all of her assignments. With DADA she felt she couldn't focus as clearly as she did in the other classes. Remus and Emm were doing quite well despite Lily's difficulty. Remus even did well after he had to miss another day of class. Apparently his mother was ill and he had to go visit her. Lily hoped that his mum's illness wasn't serious. She was worried when he arrived back a day later. He appeared awfully pale however he insisted that his mother seemed to be on the mend.
One day as the bell sounded ending the DADA class the students were filing out when Professor Riddle asked Lily to remain behind for a few minutes. Lily told her friends she would meet up with them in the Great Hall for dinner. She approached Professor Riddle's desk and observed him packing up the most recent assignments the class had turned in. There was still a lot the students didn't know about him. He was very charming but he stuck to the assignments and was rarely seen outside class except occasionally in the Great Hall for meals. Sometimes he did not eat his meals in the Great Hall. He was rather handsome so several of the girls hypothesized that he had a girlfriend somewhere whom he met.
"Lily," started Professor Riddle, "I am glad I was able to catch you before dinner." His voice was very smooth as he said this, like the creamiest butter.
"What is it you wanted to see me about, Professor?" Lily asked hesitantly.
Professor Riddle, having finished packing his briefcase, looked up into Lily's eyes. Lily felt a strange sensation. There was something odd about his eyes. It's not that he appeared to glare at her. It was just that she usually got a good read at what someone was like when looking into his eyes. Riddle's seemed to match his name- a riddle. It was like staring at a closed book. His eyes, however seemed to probe hers, as if she was an open book.
"Lily, I have been speaking with a few of the professors and they have all commented on your superb performance in their classes," he said. "You have been doing fairly well in my class but only pulling out acceptable for your grades."
Lily felt her stomach drop a little. She wanted so much to prove that she deserved to be at Hogwarts. "I'm so sorry professor. I know my grades have been down. I've been studying so hard, and I promise I'll get them to improve if you just give me a chance-" she said with a pleading voice.
"Lily, please," he started with a smile, "I am not upset about your grades. They are acceptable and that is still a passing score. I was concerned because you are clearly an intelligent young witch and your DADA grades do not match the rest of your grades."
"Sir, I will take any suggestions you have to improve my score," Lily implored.
Professor Riddle again studied Lily's eyes, searching for something. After several moments passed he nodded his head as if in confirmation of something and said, "I'll tell you what. You're a bright witch, and I see how much this matters to you. I will offer to give you some extra tutoring myself to try to help you increase your grade. The thing is, there are several students whose grades are not as strong as yours. I am unable to personally tutor them all. It would be better if this was kept between us."
"I would be grateful for your help. That's such a generous offer!" Lily exclaimed. She couldn't believe her luck, getting tutored by the professor himself! His offer gave her an extra boost of confidence that the staff did, in fact, believe in her magical abilities and want to keep her around. "When can we start?"
He gave her a charming smile. She tried to study his eyes again however they seemed to have shadows surrounding them so again she could not get a good read. "I have matters that need attending to this week. How about next Monday around 8 pm, after dinner?"
"I can do that. Thanks again, Professor!" Lily said as she picked up her books and walked out to meet her friends for dinner.
As her footsteps echoed down the hall the professor spoke softly but with satisfaction, "She will suit my purpose."
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James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all found a spot at the Gryffindor table. Alice and Marlene had decided to drop their things in their dormitory room. The boys, however, were too hungry to make the trip up to Gryffindor tower and back.
All of the boys had been excelling in their classes, except Peter who only managed a decent score in Tranfiguration. Remus was a bit annoyed that Sirius and James could pull off outstanding marks when they goofed off most of the time. They even goofed off in class, annoying the professors and earning them a few detentions. They did lose points for Gryffindor as well, however it wouldn't take long for them to show off their skills and earn the points back.
The boys had wanted to sneak out one night to grab Mrs. Norris and stuff her into one of the many suits of armor that stood around the castle. It turned out that Remus had to go home to see his sick mother that night so that left James, Sirius, and Peter to do the deed. James had pulled out his invisibility cloak, eager to test it. He remembered his father's warning about not showing it to others however he felt he could trust his new friends. Sirius howled in delight when he found out what it was and Peter just gaped at James' disembodied head as he modeled it for them.
Their mission was almost successful. They were able to sneak out hidden under the cloak at about midnight. They had no trouble seeing their way around since the light of the full moon was pouring through the windows. It only took them about 30 minutes to find Filch's cat. As they grabbed her she screeched and hissed in shock at being lifted off the ground by something invisible. Her cries alerted Filch who came running. The boys didn't have time to stuff Mrs. Norris into the suit of armor so they dropped her on a trick stair that was nearby and ran for it. Filch spent the next few hours trying to pry his unhappy kitty out of the stair without getting more scratches and bites than necessary.
The three boys had wasted no time telling their tale to Remus after he had returned. Remus couldn't help but chuckle now as he noticed Filch at the staff table trying to eat his food with bandages covering his hands. The chuckling made Remus start, because he was still sore from his transformation a few nights earlier. This wasn't unnoticed by Peter, who asked, "Alright there, Remus? You don't look so great."
Remus suppressed his panic at Peter's observation and covered it with sarcasm, "Gee, thanks Peter. You're looking lovely, yourself. And I'm fine, thank you for asking."
Sirius was chatting with James, "So things are looking positive with Evans, eh?" He had decided to call her 'Evans' just like James did. "I mean, you haven't looked like a horse's arse for a while now."
James gave one of his lop-sided smiles. "Yeah, things have been good so far."
"Well, you made a definite improvement when you showed her your flying skills. Maybe you should give her some extra private lessons," Sirius added with a grin.
"Maybe," replied James. It didn't seem like a bad idea. Maybe after their next flying class…
"Hi, Potter!"
James looked up and almost blushed as he saw Evans taking a seat at the table next to him. He tried to cover it up quickly with one of his trademark grins. "Hey, Evans! It's about time you joined us."
Alice and Marlene had joined them as well, Marlene giving Sirius one of her trademark unreadable stares. Sirius stared back, trying to decipher her thoughts.
"Sorry I'm late. Got held up after class," Lily replied as she filled her glass with pumpkin juice.
"What did Riddle want with you, anyway?" Sirius asked.
Lily took a moment to answer as she surveyed the dinner selections in front of her. As she started to serve herself some mashed potatoes she replied, "Oh, um- he wanted to make sure I had heard the assignment correctly. He had seen Alice whispering to me when he read it to the class. No worries, though. Didn't get in trouble."
"He's not so bad, Riddle. Doesn't pile on as much homework as the other professors and he doesn't flip out about students whispering and goofing off occasionally," Sirius said.
Dinner continued for what seemed like an eternity as James tried to figure out how to ask Evans about flying with him. That eternity seemed to draw to a close quickly because she and her friends were about to get up and return to the common room when James finally reached up and touched her arm to stop her from leaving. He felt a tingling sensation run from his fingertips and up his arm. She turned back with a questioning look.
"Yes, Potter?"
James took a deep breath and tried to still his leg that was shaking under the table. "Well, Evans, you see, I noticed you're getting better at flying. I see you're still a bit nervous about it, though. I thought, that since I'm pretty good at it, that maybe after flying class on Monday we could hang out and fly for a bit longer."
She started to smile but suddenly stopped as she realized something. "Oh, I'm sorry Potter. I can't."
James' heart dropped a few inches. "W-Why not?"
"I already have plans. I'm sorry," she replied.
"What are they?" he wondered out loud.
She looked at her feet before replying, "Just plans, that's all." She turned around and left as James' heart dropped about another foot.
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What do you think about the developing friendship between Lily and James? Does it seem realistic? What do you think about Riddle and his offer to tutor Lily? Please tell me in a review!!!
Thanks to Remus'Sweetie and Potter, James Potter for the latest reviews. I replied in the review section.
Next chapter: Lily is in trouble - who will come to her rescue?