Chapter 12- Flowers and Prongs
The female population had a reality check Monday morning as Sirius Black and James Potter, two of the most eligible bachelors at Hogwarts, entered with girlfriends on their arms. Lily looked around the room to see a few tears shed at the Hufflepuff table, a few vindictive girls plotting revenge at the Slytherin table, some disapproving looks from Ravenclaw and dirty looks from her own house! There was a definite change taking place this year, and the girls knew this was one of them.
James entered, smiling and holding hands with Lily Evans. Lily felt slightly uncomfortable as all eyes were on her and James. But, she took her normal seat at the Gryffindor table with James and began jamming her toast and making friendly conversation with Katy.
Sirius acted nothing of the complete silence as he entered with Halle, his arm carelessly around her shoulder. He was grinning like crazy and was too involved with Halle to think anything of his ferocious fan club. Halle however had noticed. She didn't like being the center of attention, at least not in this way. She felt her face go red and she knew that she was now the most hated girl at Hogwarts. She sat down and avoided looking at her fellow Gryffindors, besides the ones who didn't like Sirius.
The seventh years had to endure their normal classes with a twist. If they thought NEWT year was going to be easy, they were plainly mistaken. There was a lecture the moment the students stepped inside the classroom. The only two individuals who had kept their cool that day were Sirius and James.
"How can you be so relaxed James?" Lily asked, glancing down at her massive pile of books.
"I know my stuff. If you haven't noticed, I did very well on my OWLs without touching a book and I don't plan on it being any different for NEWTs," he said coolly. "You should relax more Lils, how about a nice massage to loosen you up?"
"Oh no, not this again. James, I don't think the teachers will appreciate you trying to loosen me up," she said, glancing nervously at her surroundings. James took his hands off her shoulders.
"Whatever you say Flower," James said.
"Oh no," Lily said, glancing nervously at her watch. "We have a meeting with the Prefects in fifteen minutes."
"We better go," James said, waving goodbye to Sirius, Halle, and Peter, all of whom were not Prefects. Katy and Remus stood together, but walked as far away from each other as possible.
"So Hal, can you possibly think of a way to pass a good half an hour?" Sirius asked.
"Not a single thing can come to mind Sirius," Halle said.
"Well, let's take a tour of the castle," Sirius said, leading her in another direction.
"Have you seen the broom closet?" he asked her. She giggled and headed inside with him.
Peter was left alone, yet again. It seemed as though all his friends had somewhere to be except him. He was left in the shadows a lot of the time, with friends like James, Sirius, and Remus who wouldn't be?
Peter headed towards the Gryffindor Common Room but was intercepted along the way by Lucius Malfoy. Malfoy who had long, silvery blonde hair, and cold gray eyes, was strolling along the corridor when he saw Peter. He grinned evilly to himself.
"So, Peter is it?" Lucius asked. Peter nodded. "Left out by your friends yet again?" he asked.
"No, they had a Prefects meeting," Peter said, wondering why on earth he was talking to Malfoy.
"Well, some of us Slytherins think this whole Prefect this is lame. So, we made a sort of club. Like an Anti-Prefects Club," Malfoy said. He had the bait, now all he had to do was wait for the tug on the line.
"Really?" Peter asked anxiously. An opportunity for him to do something while everyone else was busy. Maybe he wasn't an outcast after all. "Do you think I could join?"
"Why sure," Malfoy said, sounding thrilled about the idea.
"Wait, I don't think my friends would like it," Peter said.
"Sirius's own family members are in the club! Regulus and Bellatrix are superb members. Maybe one day you could be an important part. You have to start at the bottom and work your way up," Lucius said.
"Well, if Sirius's relatives are in it, I guess it would be ok. Is the meeting right now?" Peter asked.
"Yes as a matter of fact, it is. In the Slytherin Common Room. Follow me," Malfoy said, grinning to himself yet again.
"Ok," Peter said. The two of them walked off into the other direction, Peter quite unaware of exactly which
direction this 'club' would lead him.
.X.
"Ok everyone! That was a great meeting," Lily said.
"Yes, it was. We appreciate all your questions and would like to remind you that the next Hogsmeade weekend is one week before Halloween," James said.
"Sign ups for help with the Masquerade Ball is posted near the Portrait Hole," Lily called, as many students filed out.
The two of them walked arm in arm to the Heads Room where they fell onto the large couch. Lily slept comfortably in James's arms and they rested in peace with one another.
.X.
Lily awoke a few hours later to see James was no longer on the couch with her. She walked out of the Portrait Hole, trying to look for him. He was nowhere to be seen. She walked near the Kitchen and saw an awful sight. James had his wand raised and was sending spells to a bleeding Severus Snape.
"James! What are you doing? Stop before you kill him," Lily said. James turned in shock to see Lily and knew immediately that this was not the right thing to do.
"Lils, if you knew what he had said-" James started to say.
"Maybe you haven't changed. Maybe we rushed into this. I thought that you had matured over the summer and that you would respect your Head Boy position, but obviously I was wrong," Lily spat in disgust before turning her heels to leave.
James looked down at Snape.
"You bastard," was all he could say. He left Snape there and headed to the Room of Requirement. He needed to think.
He realized that the room was feeling too cluttered, even for him. He needed air, but he didn't need to be bothered. He ran out the Great Hall entrance, towards the Forbidden Forest. He transformed into Prongs and walked along the grounds. He looked over to the lake and saw Lily, crumpled into a ball near the shore. He walked over towards her.
Lily looked up at the beautiful stag and smiled. She patted his soft fur and let the tears fall. She looked into it's hazel eyes and sensed something familiar about the stag's presence.
"Why did he have to do this? Why? I was finally giving him a chance and I really did like him," she cried, using the stag as a listener.
The stag transformed into James Potter and Lily looked at him in shock.
"James?" Lily asked.
"Yes Lils. I am sorry," James said. He pulled her closer to him and ran his hand through her hair. He kissed her passionately on the lips and she kissed back. He pulled back and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Oh, James.." she said.
"Shh.." James said, putting a finger to her lips. He knew everything would be okay between the two of them.
A/N: Please review.