Chapter 33-Perfect
Now I try hard to make it
I just want to make you proud
I'm never gonna be good
Enough for you
I can't pretend that
I'm alright
And you can't change me
'Cause we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be Perfect
Now it's just too late
And we can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be Perfect
Sirius still ran around mumbling about that darn Mackenzie McKinnon; which thrilled her of course. No one seemed to be
bothered by it, everyone had grown used to Sirius' desperate attempts to being passed as an insane blubbering
lunatic.
James was more content than ever, being with Lily. He didn't know how he could feel so good about someone. It was indescribable how he felt when he was around her. She made him feel good, as though nothing could go wrong in their perfect world. He was floating on cloud nine whenever he was in her presence.
"Prongs?" a voice said. "Earth to Prongs? Is anyone home?"
"Don't bother, Moony," Sirius said. "He's insane."
"He's the insane one?" Remus asked.
"I knew you'd see things my way," Sirius said. Remus stopped waving his hand in front of James' face. Professor Flitwick was trying to teach and James wasn't getting any of the notes.
"Is that really all that unusual?" Sirius had said to Remus.
James had been busy staring at Lily avidly take her notes and pay attention to the Charm they were learning. He watching as she bit on the middle part of her quill when she was reviewing her notes. He watched as her hand furiously scrawled against the parchment in which she was writing on. He was so mesmerized by her.
They hadn't butted heads yet, which was somewhat of a shock to everyone. Sirius had a daily bid on which day they were going to fight. The highest bid had been 10 Galleons for the week before. That person hadn't been too happy.
Sirius had grown bored with the lesson they were learning and decided to talk to Addy a bit.
Hey Addy babe. What are you doing?
Taking notes, Sirius. Isn't that what you're doing?
Of course. Want to see?
Not really.
Notes by Sirius Black
-At the start of class James let out a slight giggle when he saw Lily adjust her hair clip.
-Ten minutes later, he sort of let out an unrecognizable noise for no incoherent reason. When asked he didn't respond.
-Three minutes later, drool protruded from his mouth.
-A grand total of 15 minutes later, Moony and myself attempted to wake him out of his trance. Lily had been taking notes when the glossy look in his eyes appeared.
Like my notes? Tomorrow I plan on taking notes on you.
Somehow, that is not very reassuring. How do you get such good marks when all you do is stalk people in class?
It's a fine art I like to call, being Sirius Black
You truly are hopeless, you know that?
You better warn that Mackenzie McKinnon to watch her step though. That Witch Weekly is poisoning the minds of all who read it.
Were you taking notes on her as well?
But of course.
Investigation by Detective Sirius
-At the start of class Mackenzie McKinnon bit her lip trying to find a seat. She decided to sit next to Prewitt, said accomplice.
-Three minutes later they started passing notes while Flitwick tried to teach.
-Ten minutes later she looked at me and grinned. I pretended to bark at her. I could tell she was afraid deep inside.
-Fifteen seconds later she told Prewitt I was staring at her. They giggled together and started speculating that I liked them. I think I saw mention of a meeting for the Sirius Black Fan Club.
-Right now she is looking at me, drooling slightly. She keeps sending you evil glances because I am writing you notes.
She's going down.
I refuse to participate in any of this mindless babble any longer. I think there's something seriously wrong with you.
Don't you mean Sirius-ly?
Do you want me to Sirius-ly hurt you?
Sirius stopped sending notes over to Addy after that.
.X.
Lily and James still had to patrol every night. They didn't grow tired of it because it gave them a chance to talk and whatnot. They held hands, patrolling the halls and looking for mischief makers. Often they found Sirius and Addison, out for a stroll. They usually turned their heads at that.
That very night though, Lily didn't see hide nor hair of James. Normally he was pretty prompt for patrol. She decided that maybe something had come up and she was better off to just patrol alone.
So, she headed down the halls, her wand ignited so that she could see every inch. She heard some noise down by the Charms corridor and made way to head over there. Sure enough, there were some mischief makers there. Three to be exact. One she was ashamed to say, was her boyfriend.
"James Potter!" Lily shouted. She held her wand out and looked him in the eye. He looked at his watch, panicked and took his wand off of Severus Snape. Sirius on the other hand still had him pinned to the wall.
"Look Lily, I'm sorry. He just-" James started to say, when Lily put her hand up to stop him.
"Save it, Potter," she said coldly. She pointed at Sirius with her wand and knew her green eyes were flashing.
"Put him down, Sirius," Lily ordered. Sirius put his hands up and let Snape fall to the floor.
"I thought we had finished in this," she said, shaking her head.
"Lils, I really am sorry. I shouldn't have been-" he said.
"You're right. You shouldn't have been. The only reason you're sorry is because you got caught. How long has this been going on? Is that why Snape's always got cuts on his face?" Lily asked. "Answer me!"
James and Sirius nodded. Snape wiped the blood from his lip and snarled.
"Fifteen points apiece," Lily said. "Thirty from Gryffindor, fifteen from Slytherin."
She turned on her heel and went to patrol in the other direction.
"Sirius, go back to the Common Room," James ordered. "You too Snivellus, go back to your precious Slytherin."
Sirius and Snape glanced at each other in mutual hatred for a moment and then headed off in opposite directions.
James ran to catch up to Lily. She was walking fast and her temper was rising.
"What do you want?" Lily asked, hearing him approaching. She couldn't deny the butterflies in her stomach at his mere presence; nor could she deny the anger pulsing through her ears.
"I want to explain," James said.
"Go," Lily said.
"Can we just sit and talk?" he pleaded.
"I, unlike you, still have some respect for my position as Head of the school. We need to patrol," she said, briskly.
He put his hands on her shoulder and stopped her from walking away.
"You don't understand," James said.
"What don't I understand? The morality in torturing someone who you pick on for your own enjoyment?" she asked him.
"I know it's wrong," he answered. He leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. She followed suit, placing her hand next to his.
"I don't do it for an ego trip," James said. "It's just how I was raised."
"What do you mean?" Lily asked. She figured that the Potters had been good, wholesome people. Nice, caring parents. Surely they wouldn't teach their son such horrible manners.
"I mean that my parents fought Dark Wizards. I always thought that was right. Whether you choose to believe it or not, Snape is a dark wizard. I have never trusted him. I can't stand prejudiced people," James said. "He's prejudiced against anyone of Muggle descent."
"Aren't you just as prejudiced?" Lily asked. She saw his confusion. "Against Slytherins, perhaps?"
"I know it was wrong. I can't take back all the times I was mean to him. I also can't promise that it will never happen again. Me and Snivellus have bad blood. There's no fixing that. Just so you know, I didn't start it. When I said I was raised to fight him, I meant that I was raised to never start a fight, but to never leave one. I can't say it's always held true but if he provokes me, I do retaliate. I just wish you hadn't have witnessed that," he said. He saw her eyes uncertain about the whole thing. They were confused.
"I like you James," Lily said. "I don't think I could possibly love someone who picks on others inferior to himself. There's something that's telling me you're not like that anymore."
"I may not be like that Lils, but I am far from perfect. I don't know why I deserve another chance. I'm just hoping you'll be forgiving enough to accept it," he said.
"I'm not perfect either," she whispered in his ear.
He knew everything would be fine between them, at least for that moment.