Chapter 5- Detentions and Allergic Reactions
Lily had just taken her seat next to Aurelia when James stumbled into the classroom with a bemused dreamy look on his face. All of his friends were slightly concerned when the agile James Potter began stumbling over various desks and chairs as he walked over towards his friends. He collapsed down into the open seat by Remus with a big goofy grin gracing his countenance.
"Are you okay?" Remus asked warily as he inspected his friend. James continued to smile.
"Yes," he answered dreamily his head still obviously in the clouds.
"Did Madame Pomfrey accidentally drug you up again?" Peter asked shuttering at the memory of the last time that happened. It was their fourth year, and James couldn't stop hitting on one of the suits of armor outside of the common room.
"Nope!" James replied, he seemed to be slowly returning back to normal.
"What's up with you then?" Sirius asked impatiently.
"She likes me!" James proclaimed to his friends. They all exchanged a confused look.
"Who likes you, James?" Sirius asked obviously confused, "Is Madame Pomfrey hitting on you again?" James shook his head and snapped back to reality.
"Eww, no, Padfoot, that's disgusting," James said scrunching his face up in disgust, "I'm talking about the girl in the cabinet."
"Hold on a second, you've been hiding a girl in our dorm?" Peter asked astonished.
"You should have told us!" Sirius said angrily. "Then we could have shared…"
"He means the girl in the secret cabinet," Remus said frustrated with his friends' stupidity, "My God, sometimes I just want to strangle you two . . ."
"No need to get your knickers in a twist, Moony," Sirius scolded his friend before turning back to James to ask him curiously, "How come you think she likes you? She doesn't even know what you look like or who you are. For crying out loud James, you've only talked to her once!"
"She was there again," James ignored Sirius comments as he talked mainly to Remus.
"Well that doesn't mean that she likes you," Remus pointed out siding with Sirius, "Just because you talk a girl more than once doesn't mean that she's interest."
"Take Evans for example," Sirius pointed out, "You've talked to her on numerous occasions and she completely hates you!" James let out a dramatic sigh.
"You do wonders for my self-esteem, Padfoot. Now I know why I keep you around," James said sarcastically rolling his eyes, "But I know she likes me because she kissed me."
"What?" Peter demanded completely shocked, "You kissed Evans?"
"No, you idiot" James said quickly getting frustrated, "The girl in the cabinet! I kissed the girl in the cabinet."
"Oh," Peter said seeming to get it, "Wait is this the one in the secret cabinet or the one in our dorm?" James, Sirius, and Remus all smacked their foreheads in unison before the later two turned to James and congratulated him.
"Have you figured out who she is," inquired Remus, "I mean if you kissed her, she should have at least told you her name."
"Nope," James replied, "I didn't tell her mine either."
"Did you at least think about asking her?" Remus asked as he shook his head at his friend's stupidity.
"Of course I thought about it," James replied offended, "but the time just wasn't right."
"Since when are you concerned if it's the `right time'?" Padfoot asked grinning, "You've never cared about timing when it comes to members of the opposite sex. Remember all of the failed attempts of you asking Lily for a date? Horrible timing, every last one!"
"If I remember correctly, a few times you were at fault," Remus rebuked Sirius, coming to James's defense, "Remember when James asked Lily out and you threw that frog spawn at him!"
"I didn't know that James would turn away at that exact moment!" Sirius exclaimed, "I didn't mean to throw it at her!"
"Are you sure?" Remus inquired rolling his eyes.
"Ehm, well, a little bit, maybe," Padfoot broke under Moony's disbelieving glare.
"Prongs, just a bit of advice: If you really want a girlfriend, get rid of Padfoot," said Remus, "Or you're going to end up a lonely old man with twenty cats and lacy doilies under your tea cups."
"Moony," Sirius said a bit put out, "Are you trying to say that . . . that I- I'm . . ."
"Whatever you're trying to spit out," Remus said calmly flipping through his book, "I'm sure you are."
". . . absolutely desirable . . ." Remus sat dumbfounded for a moment before realizing that Sirius had duped him.
"You didn't mean to say that!" Remus protested.
"How do you know that?" Sirius taunted and stuck his tongue out at his studious friend.
"Real mature, Sirius," Remus said dryly, "but that completely changed the meaning of the sentence. Besides, you are not absolutely desirable!"
"What are you talking about?" demanded an angry Sirius, "Of course I am. You can ask any girl at Hogwarts. They'll all tell you that I'm a stud!" James and Remus grinned maliciously.
"Hey, Aurelia," they called with a coy sweetness at the same time.
"Yea, what do you lot want?" Aurelia asked as she turned around in her seat and smiled just as sweetly as they had called her.
"Do you think Sirius is absolutely desirable?" asked James. Aurelia seemed to ponder this question seriously for a moment or two.
"Sirius . . . who's that?" Aurelia asked back. Sirius's jaw dropped in shock and outrage as his friends attempted to cover their laughter.
"ME!" Sirius angrily pointed to himself.
"Oh! They mean you," Aurelia said as if some grand revelation had suddenly dawned upon her, "I was just asking myself if there is another Sirius at Hogwarts," she turned back to James and Remus, "Nope, not desirable at all." Sirius glared at her.
"Thanks Aurelia. You've answered our question," Moony smiled at her.
"You're welcome, Remus," She smiled back at him and turned around in her chair again to face Lily.
"Do you want to see her again?" Wormtail asked suddenly and they snapped back to their original topic.
"Well, technically I won't be seeing her, but rather hearing her . . ." James mused with a goofy grin. The others sighed in mock frustration.
"I hope for you, that you won't be in for a nasty surprise when you finally find out who she really is," Moony thought aloud, "She could be anyone!"
"Don't worry, Moony," James assured, "I know for certain that she is wonderful person regardless of what she looks like or who she is."
XXXXXXX
When Lily sat down for dinner Professor McGonagall approached her with a slightly angered and serious air.
"Miss Evans," she said in a cutting voice.
"Yes Professor," Lily asked innocently.
"Your detention is set for 8 PM tonight. You will go down to the grounds to Greenhouse 3. I have informed Mr. Potter already. Professor Sprout will be waiting for the two you."
"Yes, Professor McGonagall," Lily answered and her Head of House hurried off.
"You didn't tell me that you received detention," Aurelia complained before mocking her friend, "Detention and you are Head Girl." Lily snorted angrily.
"I rather have a hundred detentions than letting that arrogant Potter make some `you're just a girl' comment. I couldn't resist giving Jam… Potter a taste of his own medicine."
"What did you do?" Aurelia asked intrigued by her friend's comments.
"I pinched his broken nose," Lily responded almost sheepishly
"No," Aurelia gasped looking scandalized.
"Yes, I did!" Lily protested and angered that her own friend wouldn't believe her.
"Are you mad?" Aurelia asked awed and shocked, "Do you have any idea how painful that would be for him?"
"But he deserved it," Lily said desperately while a little nagging voice in the back of her mind told her otherwise.
"You should apologize!" Aurelia reprimanded her friend, "First, you kicked him down the stairs and he broke his nose because of you. Then you add insult to injury by pinching his broken nose and hurt him again! You should be ashamed of yourself, Lily!"
"Well I'm sorry," Lily protested, "But you know I get carried away when I'm angry. Short-fused anger and all that jazz. Potter always pushes my buttons and sets me off!"
"You know, Lily," Aurelia said serious. "I'm beginning to think that you're not mentally stable. You need to get a boyfriend. Then you will feel better and mellow out a bit."
"Excuse me," Lily flared up, "I only broke up with John two weeks ago. I don't want a guy right now." Aurelia arched an eyebrow at her friend.
"I didn't know you swung that way, Lils," Aurelia teased and Lily smacked her hard.
"You know what I meant," Lily said angrily.
"I know I know," Aurelia conceded, "He was stupid anyway. You need to get a Gryffindor guy. All of the guys in Ravenclaw are too arrogant for their own good and Hufflepuffs are all complete idiots."
"But wasn't your last boyfriend a Hufflepuff," Lily commented astonished and amused.
"Just goes to show that I know what I'm talking about," her friend retorted.
"Okay, I will remember that," Lily promised.
XXXXXXX
It was ten minutes to 8 PM when Lily had finally walked down to the greenhouses. By the entrance to Greenhouse 3 she saw and met with James.
"Ah, ready to attack me again me, Evans?" asked James angrily.
"Okay, I will only say it one more time." Lily croaked, because her voice had slowly worsened through out the day, "I didn't do it on purpose and . . . I-I'm sorry."
James looked at her in disbelief, "Are you apologizing?" A slow smile spread across his face.
"YES," Lily hissed, "for the hundredth time today."
"It's a miracle," he said to the sky, "Evans actually apologized."
She glanced at him with an expression of boredom and anger, "Don't get used to…" she couldn't say another word because her voice had completely died out on her. She clutched at her throat.
"To what?" Prongs asked. Lily gestured to her throat and James laughed, "A second miracle. Merlin, you must love me!" Lily shot him a poisonous look. You will pay, she thought angrily. James was about to tease her more when Professor Sprout arrived.
"Good evening, Mr. Potter, Miss Evans." She nodded and opened the door of Greenhouse 3. It smelled after earth, dragon dung, and flowers. Lights flared up and they stood in the middle of what looked like a tropical forest.
"You task is to repot the Toadgrass," the Professor said happily like it was the best and easiest thing in the world to do. Lily opened and closed her mouth in an attempt to communicate with the professor.
"I didn't catch that, Miss Evans," Professor Sprout said looking at the confusing hand gestures.
"She lost her voice," James explained while Lily gestured furiously to the Toadgrass and then to her hands.
"This is not the time to be playing charades, Miss Evans," Professor Sprout exclaimed and she summoned a quill, ink, and parchment. Lily wrote something down and showed it to her.
"Oh, you are allergic to Toadgrass," the teacher exclaimed as she read Lily's neat, curvy handwriting, "Well, than take these dragonskin gloves, Miss Evans." Lily made a disappointed face which caused James to smirk.
Shortly afterwards, Lily stood next to James with the bulky gloves on her petite hands and they stood next to a table with several pots that contained a flower with a bloom that looked like the head of a toad. Lily avoided any contact with the plant.
"The Banshee of Hogwarts lost her voice," James snickered. Lily made a croaking sound that caused James to chortle.
"Well, well, now you know that from now on that you should be kinder to your voice," said Prongs and added in a whisper, "Banshee of Hogwarts!"
Lily felt her anger rise consistently from a slow simmer to a full rolling boil. She did what she had already done earlier that day; she resorted to violence. Lily slapped him so hard on the shoulder that even her own hand stung through the protection of the gloves. She was sure that it was more painful for him because of said gloves.
"Ouch! That was uncalled for and just plain mean," James whined causing Lily to smirk, "You're wearing dragon skin gloves too!"
Lily whispered something that sounded like: "Okay if you want it the other way then you can have it the other way!" She took one of her gloves off and was about to slap him again when he caught her hands in his.
"Not again," he growled and stepped closer. Lily flushed a lovely shade of pink as she felt head radiating off of James. For a few seconds they stood transfixed as emerald stared into hazel, both wanting to let go but reluctant at the same time. Then James let her go. Lily turned back to her Toadgrass forcing the blush that had crept into her cheeks back and placed it in a new pot. When she touched the plant her fingertip tickled.
Oh no, she thought and tugged in James's robe. He let out a frustrated grunt.
"What is it?" he demanded with an edge to his voice before he turned to her. Lily held her hand under his nose before then gesturing furiously at the Toadgrass. She repeated the process for about two minutes when she realized that it was too late. Lily gasped inaudibly, her eyelids fluttered and she fell backwards landing with a dull thump on the earthen floor. Prongs stood staring at her on the floor, completely fascinated by her acting skills.
"That wasn't half bad," he said lazily and bent over her, "Evans, that was a nice little act, and very entertaining to watch, but it's time to get up now. I don't want to be here all night replanting Toadgrass." But Lily didn't respond.
"Hey Evans!"
Nothing.
"Lily? Wake up." He roughly shook her but still she didn't move. He was starting to worry.
"Lily, if you don't get up right now, I swear that I will bend down and kiss you," he threatened. When she didn't even flinch at this remark, Prongs knew that it was serious and that she had had an allergic reaction.
"This is so abso-fucking-lutley perfect," he mumbled and lifted her off the ground. Against his expectations Lily wasn't heavy at all and so he didn't even think about using a levitation charm to carry her to the Hospital Wing.
As he carried her up to the school, he saw that her school robes and uniform were in a disarrayed position thus allowing more skin to be visible than was usually accepted. As he adjusted her weight in his arms, he could see that her tie hung loosely around her neck and the top few buttons of her shirt were undone, exposing the smooth skin of her neck. Gulping he averted his eyes to look back at the corridor her was currently in, but they slowly wandered to her lower appendages. Her skirt scrunched up and was higher than usual. Thus it showed more of her legs. Long slender toned legs . . .
Oh Merlin. Don't look at her, James thought as he tried to banish the dirty thoughts about Lily that were beginning to surface in his mind, Just don't look at her!
But he couldn't stop himself risking a look from time to time. Every time he caught himself admiring her body, he blushed and tried to keep looking away. Thankfully, he finally arrived at the Hospital Wing. He told Madame Pomfrey all about her allergy and what had happened.
"It was smart of you to bring her up here. The last time she had a reaction it took her several days to recover, because she wasn't treated immediately. Can you believe her friends thought she was acting?" James blushed slightly at the nurse's last remark.
Damn, James thought, Why I wasn't near her the last time? I would have brought her up much faster this time around had I known it was so serious. Plus I might have gotten to carry her again . . . and he then had several very vivid images cross in front of his mind's eye that made him grin from ear to ear.
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