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Chapter 6: Overheard
It had been a full 24 hours since the prank James had pulled on Lily, and Lily knew (because Marlene hadn't stopped reminding her) that something had to be done soon. Thankfully however, for now Marlene was nowhere to be found, and although it made Lily feel a bit guilty, she was glad to have a moment without her friend.
It was nice to have a little peace after all that had been happening, and Lily was just walking along, appreciating it, when she heard Marlene's voice from around a corner. She wasn't in much of a hurry to see her again, so she started to turn and walk away, when she realized that Marlene was talking about her.
"…and I know it's wonderful that Lily hasn't done anything to you yet, but you have to be sure. Just wait a few more days before you talk to her."
There was a pause, and Lily waited, confused, until she heard another voice that confused her even more: James Potter.
"But what if I wait too long, and she won't accept my apology?"
Lily could have jumped for joy. James was sorry for what he did to her!
"But what if you don't wait long enough and you spill your heart out to her only to get it broken because she doesn't care about you? I'm telling you, you have to be sure that she has feelings for you. I don't want you to get hurt."
Lily frowned. What was Marlene doing? She knew how Lily felt about James, so why wasn't she encouraging him to talk to her?
"You know, Marlene, it's really great that you're doing this," James said quietly. "I mean, I don't believe you would help me out so much, even after everything that happened between us."
Was he crazy? What was he talking about? Marlene would definitely have told her if anything had happened between her and James Potter!
"Oh, you know I'd do anything for you," Marlene said softly. "And even if things don't work out with Lily, I'll always be here for you."
Lily knew she couldn't listen to any more. She turned and ran silently back to the common room.
*
It felt like Lily had been sitting in the common room for hours before Marlene walked in with Potter. They both looked surprised to see her, especially since Lily was glaring daggers at Marlene.
James was the first to speak, though not quite successfully. "Er… hi Lily. How's it going?" When she didn't even look at him, he turned silently and walked quickly toward his room.
"Hi sweetie," Marlene said pleasantly, smiling. "I haven't seem you all day. What've you been up to?"
"Oh, you know-this and that," she answered slowly. "What have you been up to?"
Marlene's smile faltered slightly at Lily's tone, but she quickly regained her composure. "Oh, the same sort of thing, really. Are you ok? You seem a bit… odd."
"Oh, just dandy. But back to the previous issue. I'm very interested to know what you've been doing today."
Marlene laughed quietly. "What do you mean?"
Lily stood and looked her friend straight in the eye. "I think you know exactly what I mean."
Marlene stopped smiling and matched Lily's glare. "Fine. Let's just stop this pathetic childish thing, and you just tell me what you know."
"I know that you're an evil backstabbing bitch, and you were never really my friend."
"Oh, now that's not entirely true. We were best friends once, weren't we?" Marlene said, smiling again. "But then I saw something I wanted, and you were just getting in the way, so I did something about it. And if that makes me an evil backstabbing bitch, then I guess I am."
Lily stared at her. "How could you do that?"
"Oh don't be so naïve," she spat. "I didn't do anything to you. You hated him, remember."
"Only because of you! Back in first year, when James and his friends played that silly joke on me, it was you who convinced me to hate him!"
Marlene laughed. "Yes, I remember that. He turned your hair pink, and you just laughed. Well, I had to do something about that. We couldn't have you two getting along, could we? I could practically see then that you two were perfect for each other."
Lily was silent. It was all coming together now. "So when you pulled that prank in Hogsmeade, you knew he'd blame me, and you knew he'd really hate me for good."
"That's right, sweetie," Marlene said, looking very happy with herself. "So, I think we've pretty much covered everything. I think I'll just head down to dinner now. See ya around!"
"Wait, one more thing," Lily called after her, and then she paused. "James said… well he mentioned that… that something happened between you two. What was he talking about?"
Marlene laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She turned and started toward the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" said a voice from across the room.
"James!" Marlene gasped. For the first time that day, she actually looked flustered, but again, she regained her composure. "I was just talking to Lily about… you."
"I'm perfectly aware of what you were talking to Lily about," he practically growled.
"How long have you been standing there?" Lily asked quietly.
"Long enough," James said, keeping his eyes trained on Marlene.
"So how much did you hear?" Marlene said strongly.
"All of it."
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