A/N: here's chapter 4! Thanks to all that reviewed! Keep them coming =)
Disclaimer: I own nothing
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"Lily" Sarah said the next morning. "You need to get up. Classes start soon." Lily didn't move.
"Lily! Get up!" she said louder. Lily just muttered incoherently in her sleep and rolled over. Sarah turned to Rachel helplessly.
"LILY!" Rachel screamed. "GET YOUR ARSE OUT OF BED NOW!"
"Mmmm…go `way…I'm sleeping" Lily muttered.
"Lily, I'm going to count to five and if you're not up by then, I'm going to have James and Sirius hold you down while I read your diary in front of the entire school at lunch today." Rachel warned. "And don't tell me you don't have diary because I know for a fact that you do and I also know where you keep it hidden. Lily didn't even flinch.
"Ok, here I go…1…"
"She's not serious. There's no way she would do that" Lily thought.
"…2…"
"Nah…she's just bluffing. Rachel wouldn't do that to me…"
"…3…"
"Ok, she's not stopping…maybe she's not kidding…in which case I should get up…"
"…4…"
"Oh crap! She's not joking! Ok! Ok! Getting up now!"
"…fi…"
"Ok! I'm up! Stop!" shouted a very disheveled Lily, sitting straight up in bed. Rachel smiled, satisfied with her work and turned to Sarah.
"And that is how you wake up a Lily. Keep it in mind for next time." She then turned to Lily and said "By the way, I have no clue in hell where you keep your diary. I've tried to find it almost every bloody week!!" Lily sent her best friend a glare and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Hey Lil, how come you're so tired? We didn't go to bed that late last night" asked Sarah.
"Um…I have no idea…I guess I'm just not used to waking up this early." The two girls seemed to buy this explanation.
"K, well we'll meet you in the common room when you're dressed and we can walk down to breakfast together." Rachel said as her and Sarah walked out of the dormitory.
"Ok, I'll see you guys in a bit." She replied as the door shut. Lily sat back in bed and thought back to the real reason she was so tired. She had spent a lot of time the previous night lying awake in bed, thinking about none other than James Potter. She couldn't seem to get him out of her mind. He seemed to be invading every one of her thoughts and just wouldn't leave her alone.
"What is going on with me?" Lily wondered to herself as she got up to get dressed. "I cannot be getting feelings for James. No, that just can't happen. I won't let it." Satisfied with her reasoning, and fully believing that she had complete control over whether or not she had feelings for James, Lily finished getting dressed and made her way down to the common room where she found her five friends waiting for her.
"Morning guys! Ready to go to breakfast?" she asked.
"Yeah, lets go…I'm starving" Sirius said, standing up and walking towards the portrait hole. Everyone made to follow…except one person.
"Wait" called Remus from behind the group. "Where's James?" Everyone looked around the common room and eventually spotted him, fast asleep on one of the large chairs by the fire.
"Ok, there's something really weird going on with him." Sirius mused, walking towards the sleeping figure. "It was near impossible to get him up this morning…and now he's out like a light…We didn't stay up that late last night."
Lily walked over to James and gently shook him. "James, wake up. We need to go to breakfast." When he didn't move, she shook him harder. "James! Wake up!" He slowly opened his eyes, and as soon as he saw Lily, he sprang off the sofa and looked at her with wide eyes.
"Lily?!? What are you doing in my room?!?" he exclaimed.
"Um…James, mate…we're not up in the dorm." Sirius said, an odd expression on his face. "You fell asleep in the common room while we were waiting for Lily to come down so we could go eat." James looked around at Sirius and saw the rest of his friends near by.
"Oh…I did? Right. We're in the common room. And Lily is not in the dorm. Great, everything is ok. So…who's hungry?" he looked around to see everyone staring at him as if he were crazy.
"…What?…" he asked, getting uncomfortable.
"James, I've been in your dorm tons of times before." Lily said, clearly confused by James' behavior.
"Of course you have." James said. "Now lets go eat." And with that, he walked past his still bewildered friends and out the portrait hole. Everyone else looked at each other, trying to figure out what had just happened.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Rachel inquired.
"I have no idea!" Sirius said, still in a daze. "I've never seen him act like that before. I'm supposed to be the one that's out of it all the time, not him!"
Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius and said "Ok, let's go and catch up with James. With the state he's in, he'll probably end up in the owlry and start eating their food."
The group of friends walked out of the common room and down the hall. After turning a corner, they saw James walking a little ahead of them, making his way, slowly but surely, to the Great Hall.
"Hey mate, what's up? Why are you so tired all of a sudden?" Asked Sirius after catching up to him.
"Huh? Oh, nothing. I couldn't fall asleep last night. I guess I'm not used to the bed here or something." James replied, looking straight ahead and not at his friend. "Yeah, I couldn't fall asleep, and I wish it was because I'm not used to the bed." He scoffed to himself. "I wish it was because of anything except the real reason I was up. I wish that I didn't see those beautiful green eyes every time I closed my eyes…or hear her melodious voice…or her contagious laugh…wait…what am I thinking! Stop it James! You do not have feelings for Lily! That is absolutely ridiculous! Think about it logically. You were just thrown off a little because Sirius and Remus were talking about her before you fell asleep. Yes, that's it. I wasn't thinking about her because I like her, but because Sirius and Remus brought her up…but she really does have a beautiful smile…ugh! No, no, no! " James screamed at himself, not realizing that he had said the last part out loud while hitting himself on the head.
"Er…mate…are you ok?" Remus asked, cautiously. James flushed, realizing what had just happened, and muttered a quick "yeah, I'm fine." And walked into the Great Hall. The rest of the group had no choice but to follow in his wake.
James' odd behavior continued all day. He hardly talked to anyone, and was constantly spacing out.
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At 5 o'clock, when he and Lily had to meet with professor Dumbledore, Lily was a little wary about approaching James. He was currently sitting in front of the fire in the common room with a book open, but his eyes were glazed over. He was obviously deep in thought. Lily approached him carefully and stood in front of him.
"James?" she said quietly.
"Hmm?" he replied, looking up at her. They made eye contact and Lily's words got caught in her throat. `He looks so lost and confused' she thought to herself.
"Um, we have to go talk to Dumbledore now. He needs to give us some details about our responsibilities and show us our head dormitories."
"Oh, right. Ok Let's go." James got up and began walking out of the common room with Lily.
"James," Lily began, looking up at him, " are you sure you're ok?"
"Of course. I'm fine." He replied.
Lily wasn't convinced, but sighed in defeat. " Well, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here to listen." She said earnestly. Suddenly, James stopped walking and turned to Lily.
"Thanks." He said, giving her a sincere smile "I really appreciate it. You really are a great friend."
"Any time." Lily said, returning the smile.
`A friend. That's all she is. Just a very good friend.' James reassured himself. They continued walking to the headmaster's office in silence.
"Lemon drops" James said the password to Dumbledore's office. They statues sprung apart and a spiraling staircase was revealed. At the top, the two students knocked at the door and entered to see the headmaster sitting at his desk, expecting them.
"Ah. Good. Right on time." Dumbledore said, looking up. " Have a seat, both of you." James and Lily sat down across from him.
"The reason I asked you two to come here today was to tell you the details of your head boy and girl duties and to show you your head dormitories. This year, you two are expected to act as role models for younger students and set good examples. You will be responsible for holding prefect meetings once a month to discuss upcoming events and any other issues you or the prefects see fit. You will plan a winter ball that will be held the day before students leave for the winter holidays. After you have made the final plans, show either professor McGonagall or I so that we can then begin putting everything together. Both of us are available if you have and questions of concerns at any time. Do you have any questions at this moment?"
"Is the ball for all the years" asked James
"That is for you two to decide. I believe that you are up to the responsibility." Dumbledore replied.
"What about Hogsmede trips?" Lily asked.
"You will both get schedules of those within the next week and will be responsible to distribute them to the prefects of each house so they can tell their respective houses. Anything else?" both Lily and James shook their heads.
"Good. Now if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your dormitories. You will both have your own rooms their, a common bathroom, and a small common room. You are, however, both welcome to stay in the Gryffindor common room." The three stood up and left the headmaster's office. Dumbledore led them down a few halls and flights of stairs and eventually came to a portrait of a fairy.
"The password is fairylights. You are free to go in and out as you please now. It is ok to bring your friends in here if you wish, just don't get too carried away." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Thank you professor." James and Lily said.
"No problem at all." He replied. "Now, I must be getting back to work. Have a nice day you two."
" You too professor" James and Lily entered the common room and marvelled at the sight. It was decorated in Gryffindor colors and had a large sofa near the fire, surrounded by several comfortable chairs. To the right, were three doors. The two on the outside were the two bedrooms, which were connected by a bathroom in the middle.
"Well…this is nice" James said walking around.
"Understatement of the century" Lily muttered, walking towards her bedroom. "I'm gonna go check out my room" she opened the door and immediately felt at home. The room seemed to reflect her personality perfectly. It had a large bed with baby blue and green sheets. The floor was covered with a soft sink-your-toes-in carpet and there was a bookshelf filled with all her favorite novels. The walls had posters of her favorite bands and actors. There was a desk and chair to one side for studying.
`I can definitely get used to this' she sighed to herself. She turned around and went through the door that led from her bedroom into the bathroom. Inside, she found a large bathtub with many taps, each with a different function. Next to it was a medium-sized shower stall. Across from the tub was a large counter with two sinks and a large mirror that covered the entire opposite wall. A toilet was placed to the other side of the counter. The bathroom was very well lit and seemed to be fit for royalty. Suddenly, the doorknob on the opposite side of the bathroom turned, and revealed a smiling James.
"This is bloody awesome!" he exclaimed. " We should just ditch the Gryffindor common room, and bring all our friends here." Lily laughed at his enthusiasm, and couldn't' help but notice how adorable he looked when he was excited.
`No! Stop it Lily!' she scolded herself.
" Yeah, it is pretty cool, isn't it. We should go and get our friends. They'll definitely want to see this." They both left their common room and made their way to the Gryffindor common room.
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Sarah and Remus were sitting on a sofa in the common room working on their charms homework while Lily and James were at a meeting with professor Dumbledore and Rachel and Sirius were at the kitchens, getting a snack.
"Did you get the answer to number five?" Sarah asked, chewing on the end of her quill.
"Yeah I did" Remus answered, absentmindedly. Rachel waited for him to continue.
Nothing.
"Well let me see it." She said reaching for his paper.
"No, no, no" Remus said, holding it out of her reach.
"Hey! Come on!" she said, reaching for the paper. It really was useless, seeing as she was only 5'4" compared to Remus' 6' she had no chance of reaching the paper that was held above his head.
"Remus!!" she whined, jumping up and down, grabbing his arm. Remus just looked down at the distressed blonde with an amused expression. Finally, she stopped jumping.
"Fine." She said, slightly out of breath. "If you wanna play it that way then…" and she climbed onto the arm of the sofa and jumped onto Remus' back so that her legs were wrapped around his waist, one of her arms was holding onto his shoulder, and the other was stretched out, grabbing for his paper.
Remus, completely caught off guard by this bold move by the shy girl, lost his balance and fell over onto his stomach, causing Sarah to come tumbling down with him.
"Bloody hell." He said, his voice muffled by the carpet. "What the hell were you doing."
"Homework" she replied, trying to get off his back, only to realize that the silver chain she usually wore around her neck was caught on the clasp of the one that Remus wore.
"Oh shit" she swore, trying to survey the damage done.
"What?" Remus asked, "Get off me will you? I can't breathe"
"I can't get off you, the clasps of our necklaces are stuck together."
"Well do something!"
"I'm trying you oaf. Stop complaining!"
"Arg! Don't pull your head up! My necklace is gonna strangle me!" came the panicked voice of Remus
"Oops." Sarah said sheepishly. "Ok, here. I'll try to lift my self up, and you turn over so you're on you back."
"Ok."
Sarah planted both her hands on either side of Remus' body and hoisted herself up a little, giving him some space to roll over. As soon as he was done, the necklaces pulled her down again, so she was now lying on top of his stomach.
"Ok, let me see where they're stuck together." Remus said, bringing his hands up near Sarah's neck. As his hands began trying to untangle the two chains, Sarah began shaking with suppressed giggles.
"What's so funny?" Remus questioned
*Giggle* "nothing." *Giggle* she laughed. "I'm just really ticklish"
"Oh. Are you now," Remus said, mischievously. He moved his hands from the necklaces, brought them down to her ribs and began tickling her mercilessly.
"Ahh!! Remus! Stop!" Sarah shrieked.
"No, no. This is payback for getting us into this mess in the first place."
"Well, tickling me isn't gonna get us out of it!" she barely gasped out
"That may be true, but I love hearing you laugh." He replied, still tickling her. Sarah, who was in tears by now, lost her balance and fell off of Remus, bringing him with her. They were now lying on the carpet with Remus on top of her. In his surprise, he stopped tickling her.
"Now look what you did" Sarah ground out "Merlin you're heavy! Get off!"
"Nah, you're comfy." He said teasingly. Just then, the portrait hole opened and a laughing Lily and James walked into the common room.
"Yeah, and then we…" James froze at the scene in front of him. Lily, who was behind James, didn't realize he had stopped walking and crashed right into him.
"Ouch! James! What are you doing?" she emerged from behind James, grumbling and rubbing her head. "You can't just…oh. My god." She nearly fell over from the shock of what she was seeing.
"Oh! Thank Merlin you guys are here. We need some help." Sarah said from her spot underneath Remus.
James smirked at this. "What, don't you guys know how to do it yourselves? I mean come on, we are 17 years old." Lily smacked James on the head. Remus and Sarah looked up at James and Lily with confused expressions. Then, as if they had just realized that they were lying on the floor in a very compromising position, they both let out horrified gasps and stared wide-eyed at each other.
`Oh Merlin. I'm currently lying on top of one of the prettiest girls in all of Hogwarts! Ok, I need to stop thinking about it and focus on the problem at hand, or I might end up more embarrassed then I already am' Remus thought to himself.
"Holy…No…you guys have it all wrong. We were just…this is so not what it looks like." Sarah said desperately,
Lily, who had been staring in shock, spoke for the first time.
"Ok, um…so what are you doing underneath Remus?" she asked, with a slight smile on her face
"Ugh. It's all his fault…" she began.
"What! No it's not!" Remus interrupted.
"Yes it…oh honestly! Can you guys help us get up please? And then we'll explain everything. Our necklaces are stuck together and we can't get them untangled."
Lily and James made their way over to where their friends were lying to help them get up. On the way though, James stepped on a stray quill on the ground, slipped, fell across Remus and landed on the ground next to him. In the process of falling, he had flayed his arms back and grabbed Lily, who in turn, fell on top of James.
At that precise moment, Sirius and Rachel walked through the portrait hole with their arms full of snacks and froze when they saw the two couples lying on the ground, grunting and moaning.
"Bloody hell! What is going on here!" Sirius exclaimed, completely shocked. "And how come Rachel and I weren't invited to join in on the fun? It looks like you guys are having a good time." He smirked.
"Sirius!" Rachel reprimanded. " You perverted prat. I'm sure it's not what it looks like."
"Thank-you Rachel!" Lily said, lifting herself off of James and helping him up.
"Er…what exactly is going on?" Sirius questioned, looking at Remus and Sarah who hadn't moved from their spot on the floor.
"I'll bloody tell all of you if you bloody help us up!" Sarah screamed. Lily got out her wand and muttered a spell. Remus and Sarah's necklaces untangled themselves and the two of them were now free to stand up.
Remus lifted himself off of Sarah and stood up, dusting himself off and rubbing his neck where his necklace had cut into him.
Sarah immediately sat up and began trying to recover her lost breath.
"Well," Sarah began, still trying to recover her breath. " It all began when we were doing our charms homework. And she told her friends exactly how she had ended up beneath Remus on the common room floor. By the end of the story, Sarah and Remus were blushing slightly and the other four were in stitches, laughing.
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Later that night, the four boys were in their dorms getting ready for bed.
"Hey guys, I was thinking." Began Remus, sitting on the edge of his bed fidgeting with his hands. "I was thinking that maybe I could ask Sarah to go to the next hogsmede trip with me…not that we know when that is yet…"
"Like on a date?" asked Sirius dumbly.
"Yes Padfoot, on a date" Remus said, exasperatedly.
"Wow, I never knew you thought of Sarah like that." James said.
"I never realized it until today either." Remus replied. " It's just that, I never enjoyed doing charms homework until today."
"You want to ask her out because you enjoyed doing homework?" Sirius questioned "I think he's lost it." He said to James.
"No, no, of course not Sirius." Remus said as he rolled his eyes. "What I was trying to say is that just being near her, hearing her talk, listening to her laugh, made even charms homework seem fun. I felt so relaxed, so at home just sitting next to her. But I felt so alive at the same time. I wanted to tease her, to make her laugh, to talk to her. I just…Merlin, am I making any sense at all?"
"Wow. You've got it bad mate." Sirius said, staring at his friend. "You should definitely ask her out. You guys would make a great couple."
"Thanks…wait…what if she doesn't feel the same way? I mean we've been friends forever. She could just not think of me that way."
"Not to worry mate. I'll have a word with my partner in crime, Rachel, tomorrow" Sirius said. "I'll ask her if there's any chance that maybe Sarah has feelings for you too…But don't worry…I'll be subtle." He added.
"Great, thanks Sirius…just try not to make me sound like a fool in front of her, ok?"
"Have some faith moony old pal! I've got everything under control"
"Oh lord." Remus sighed. As he ducked to avoid a pillow aimed at his head. "Hey! I was just joking. I trust you Sirius."
"Thank you." Sirius said, aloofly. "You've been awfully quiet James, anything the matter?"
"I don't understand." He said, expecting the other two to understand.
"Er…understand what, exactly Prongs?" Sirius asked.
"I don't understand how after being friends with Sarah for almost 12 years, you suddenly realize today that you like her more than just a friend. It doesn't make any sense."
"It's not supposed to make any sense. Love isn't supposed to be logical and thought out, James. It's just supposed to happen and catch you completely off guard. You never know when it'll come creeping up and grab you. But when it does, there'll be nothing you can do to stop it. No one can escape love…not even you."
"Yeah, we'll see about that." James scoffed. "I refuse to let myself fall in love. I'm strong. I can fight it…and I will." With that, he got into bed and rolled over, willing himself to fall asleep and to stop thinking of a certain red head…
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Breakfast the next morning began as it did everyday, until something surprising happened. Just as Lily was taking a bite of her scrambled eggs, John Lefsky, a seventh year Ravenclaw came and sat down next to her.
"Morning Lily." He greeted
Lily looked around at him with a surprised face, which soon turned into a happy smile.
"Hey John, what's up?" she asked
"Well, I was wondering something," he began, painfully aware of the stares he was getting from all of Lily's friends. " I was wondering, if you would like to go to Hogsmede with me next weekend, like on a date" he asked nervously.
"Oh!" Lily said, surprised. "Um…sure. I'd really like that." She replied with a smile.
"Great" John said, relaxing a bit. "We can work out the details when the dates for the trip are posted…er… I guess I'll see you in Defense class then." He got up from the Gryffindor with a smile at Lily and walked back to his own.
"Well." Sarah said. "That certainly was unexpected."
"Yeah it was." Lily said, still in a daze over what had just happened. "But I'm glad it did." She added with a girly smile.
"Oh! This is so great! We have to pick out the perfect outfit and fix your hair, and…"
"Rachel! We don't even know when the trip is. Hold out on all the fashion tips till then, ok?" Lily said with a laugh.
"Awww. Lilykins has a date!" Sirius pretended to gush. "My baby's growing up"
"Sirius…shut up. I've had plenty of dates before. What's the big deal?"
"Um…" Sirius said, unable to come up with an explanation. "Pass the eggs?" Lily just rolled her eyes and passed him the plate full of scrambled eggs.
Through all the excitement, Lily and the other friends missed the calculating and confused look on James face.
`Lily has a date. Yeah, so? She's right, she has had dates before. It's no big deal. Well then why do I feel like ripping that John kid's head off? Ugh. Something is seriously wrong with me.' He thought to himself.
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A/N: hey guys! Here's chapter 4. Sorry it took kinda long for me to get it out. I really have no excuse except for laziness. Sorry!!! I like this chapter, but all your reviews with comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated! If anyone has any ideas for this story or has anything that they want to happen, put it in a review and I'll see how to incorporate it in here. I'm really open-minded about all suggestions.
One more thing…I'm going on vacation in a few days for a few weeks, so the next update might not be for like three weeks or something. Sorry!!
Till next time then!! Remember to review!
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