Lily Evans

Chapter Five

Disclaimer I do not own these characters, they belong to JKR

On Friday, the day before the much anticipated Girls Night, Lily went into her Charms lesson excited. Today they were going to be casting a Patronus charm. Lily had been practicing and had managed to produce a fully corporeal Patronus. All the desks and stools had been shoved into one corner, leaving a large space for students to mull about. Lily took her place with the other seventh-year Gryffindors. Flitwick clapped his hands together, calling their attention. "Now now, class. We are practicing the Patronus charm today," he announced. James sniggered from behind her. She glanced at him.

"What are you on about?" James smirked at her but said nothing. She rolled her eyes. Flitwick flicked his eyes to her.

"Ah! Miss Evans, would you care to go first?" Flitwick asked, bouncing on the balls of his small feet. She sighed internally.

"Sure Professor." She moved into the center of the semi-circle that had formed. She pulled her wand out of her sleeve, before saying firmly, "Expecto Patronum!" A brilliant doe burst from her wand, she laughed, having it prance over to Mary. James stared at it, his mouth hanging slightly open. Flitwick clapped, encouraging the other students to do so. Lily waved her wand and the doe disappeared. She gave a small sarcastic bow and returned to her spot.

"Must've been a good memory huh, Red?" Lily colored.

"Piss off." Lily chose to ignore the butterflies that came with the memory. She had thought of the train ride, her friends' laughter, and Sirius's stupid pranks. It made her smile and feel light, despite what had followed. James gave her a curious look while Sirius smirked at her. One by one the others took their turns producing a Patronus. Sirius's was a wolf, Remus's a shaggy dog, Peter's a serpent. Mary had a meerkat, Alice a rabbit, Emmeline a tiger, Dorcas a cheetah, Marlene had a barn owl (which looked exactly like her beloved Shakespeare). When it was James's turn to step up instead of showing off, he went up to Flitwick and talked with him quietly. Flitwick shot Lily a quick glance and nodded to whatever James was saying. Lily nudged James's side. "What was that about?" He shook his head at her. Lily narrowed her eyes. When the class was dismissed, Lily lurked right outside the doorway, waving off her friends to lunch.

James bellowed, "Expecto Patronum!" She watched as a magnificent stag burst from his wand, prancing elegantly around the classroom. Flitwick smiled at him and they conversed quietly. Lily staggered back into her hiding spot. Oh, bloody hell he has a stag Patronus. Stags and does go together, what does that even mean? Why didn't he show that in class? Well, maybe, he didn't want you to see. So go away to lunch you prat. Leave him alone, but why wouldn't he want me to see? Maybe he didn't want to embarrass you, oh look here he comes, your chance to escape just diminished to zero. "Lily? What are you doing here? I thought you'd gone on to lunch," James said, tilting his head at her.

"Oh, uh. I was waiting for you actually," she smiled shakily. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"I see, Evans. You are growing fond of me, you can't resist me anymore, I know the truth now," he told her sternly, lips turning up at the corners. She punched his shoulder, the two starting to walk towards the Great Hall. He laughed at her expression. "Come off it Evans. I was only bloody joking."

"I know, still deserved it," she informed him with a grin. When they entered the Great Hall smiling at each other, half the school looked and started up the rumor mill. They reached their spot and sat.

"You two look chummy." Lily threw a roll at Sirius's head. He pouted. He perked up suddenly. "PETE! Where on earth have you been?" Sirius poked at Peter's chest.

"I was talking to Professor Flitwick about my charms mark," Peter said, sitting and helping himself to food. Lily shared a glance with James, they had not seen Peter anywhere near the Charms classroom.