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Chapter 4: Tears
Lily's whole world had been turned upside down. A week ago, she and James had argued, and played little jokes on each other, but all in good fun, and then, all of a sudden, James was looking at Lily with pure disgust, and Lily was practically chasing him around trying to explain. It was more than a little unusual.
Marlene and Lily were beginning to talk to each other again, but they were nowhere near best friends. In fact, they hadn't even gotten anywhere past quick moments of polite conversation. Not that Lily was exactly upset by that… It was like she didn't really feel like making up with Marlene.
So, to sum up, Marlene and Lily weren't really talking, and James and his friends were ignoring Lily completely. Things were definitely not getting any better. And then, suddenly, things got a whole lot worse.
It seemed as if James had finished ignoring Lily, but wasn't quite ready to talk to her again. Instead, he decided to go back to playing tricks on her, but it wasn't the same.
The pranks of before the date had been funny and good-natured. She would turn his skin green, and he would make her shoelaces tie themselves together. This new kind of prank, however, was cruel and vengeful.
Not only that, but Lily didn't have the heart to prank James back after what had happened, so the new prank war was a bit one-sided. That didn't stop James though. Lily couldn't blame him for wanting to get her back… After all, he did think she had gone out with him as a joke, in order to humiliate him… But what he did to her was going a bit too far.
*
Lily was walking to breakfast, completely exhausted, not only physically, but emotionally as well. This week was just horrendous-there was no other way to describe it. All the things that were happening were practically impossible to deal with and it was really taking a toll on her.
Lily was just tired. So tired, in fact, that she didn't see James Potter walking behind her. And, by the looks of things, he hadn't seen her either. He was absorbed in some book, walking quickly down the hall, rapidly approaching Lily.
"Oh…sorry, Evans," he said quietly as he almost bumped into her. "Didn't see you there."
His voice was flat and emotionless, and he didn't even look at her, but just the fact that he had spoken to her made Lily happy again. "James! Wait!" she shouted after him as he continued walking.
He turned and glanced at her for a moment, and she ran over, excited for a chance to tell him what had happened. He gave her a strange look, as if he was bored, and had much better things to be doing, but she ignored this.
"James, listen. I've been trying to talk to you for ages now. I need to explain what happened at Hogsmeade."
"Look, Lily…"
"No, just listen. You got it all wrong. It wasn't-"
James cut her off before she could get any further. "Hey, can we talk later? It's just that I'm kind of busy right now."
"Oh, yea sure," Lily said, smiling.
James gave her a strange sort of smile back, and then turned and walked away. Lily was thrilled. It was going to get better, and she was so excited. She wouldn't have to be miserable any longer, and maybe she and James would even get together. That Hogsmeade date had been so wonderful, and she wanted to have many, many more. For the first time in a week, it finally looked as if this might be possible.
Lily was so excited about all this that she practically skipped all the way to the Great Hall for breakfast. She felt like being nice to absolutely everyone. She even felt like making up with Marlene. After all, no harm done, right?
But when she got to the Great Hall, something wasn't right. All eyes were on her, and it was strange. Some people were looking at her wide eyed, and others, mostly Slytherins, were laughing.
Lily looked around, puzzled, and her eyes fell on James and his friends. Peter was giggling, Remus was looking resolutely at the floor, and Sirius was laughing and giving James a high five. Bewildered, she looked down at her robes, and gasped. In huge, glittering letters, was written one word: Bitch.
Lily's eyes stung with tears, but she bravely held them back. She looked up at James, and he stopped smiling when he saw her face. She looked more hurt than he had intended. She watched as he stepped forward, as if he wanted to say something, but she couldn't take anymore, and she turned, and ran from the Great Hall as fast as she could.
*
Lily threw herself onto her bed, the tears flowing freely now. Behind her, she heard the door open and close, and a moment later, Marlene sat next to her, patting her back understandingly.
"I suppose you were right about him," Lily sobbed. "I should have just listened from the beginning. He's awful."
"Well don't worry. We're going to get him back."
Lily looked up. "What? I don't think pranking him back is the best thing to do."
"So you're just going to take this lying down?" Marlene said, standing. "We have to make him pay for what he did to me!"
Lily frowned. "What he did to you?"
"Well, you, of course. I meant you," Marlene said quietly, sitting down again.
Lily nodded slowly, accepting it.
"So, we're going to get him back, aren't we?"
"But I… I like him," Lily said quietly. "I don't want to hurt him anymore."
Marlene chuckled cruelly. "Look, I know you don't want to hear this, but he hates you. You ought to just give up on anything happening there. Just pretend that Hogsmeade date never happened. Make him your enemy again."
Lily was silent for a moment. "But…"
"No, there's no but," Marlene interrupted. "He's obviously over you, and he wants to make your life hell. You're not going to let him, are you? The only thing to do is to throw all this right back in his face."
"Well, I suppose I could…"
"That's the spirit. And since I'm your best and truest friend, I'll help you out with it."
Lily nodded slowly. She wasn't quite sure that Marlene was right, but she was distraught, and she would have done just about anything to feel better.
So, while Lily sat and listened, Marlene planned out their next move. Tomorrow, the war would be reinstated.
Sorry it's not such a happy chapter, but I promise it's all gonna turn out happy really soon…
Anyway, please review! Thanks!
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