James and Lily: It Took A While

The Half-A-Dozenth Chapter

Chapter Six

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I didn't hear or see anything from Snape and his cronies for the next two months. I kept a lookout, and followed them down corridors, but didn't hear a THING.

It was quite frustrating.

~

In mid-October, the first Hogsmeade visit arrived. I talked to my now constant group of friends: Elle, Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James Potter. Elle had a HUGE load of homework to do (she'd been neglecting it), Remus had prefect duties (mine were tomorrow), Sirius had detention for giving someone a pair of fairy wings, and Peter was in the hospital wing with a bad case of fairy wings. It was just Potter and me. Great.

Although James had been surprisingly enjoyable the last month and a half, I was still reluctant to hang out ALONE with him. So when Saturday arrived, I somberly pulled on my robes and grabbed my messenger bag, tucking a few extra galleons into the outside pocket. Then I timidly walked down the spiral staircase and out through the portrait hole. I saw Potter in the courtyard, and started walking towards him, but was stopped by the caretaker-who had a HUGE Prohibity Probe. After a few jabs, I was announced 'Clean!' and was sent on my way.

"That caretaker, he's so paranoid!" Potter started.

"I know. What am I gonna have-a cursed piece of jewelry or something? I'm Head Girl! I should hope I wouldn't have anything." I was beginning to ramble, and I did that occasionally (meaning whenever I felt awkward). I wasn't really excited about the prospect of an entire afternoon spent alone in James Potter's company, but I'd have to do it.

He brought up the subject of Quidditch during the walk to the village. "So what's your favorite team?"

"I have no idea. I don't really pay attention to Quidditch."

He stopped in his tracks and it took me a few feet to realize he hadn't moved. "What?"

He snapped his mouth shut. "You don't pay attention to Quidditch at all?!" he exclaimed.

"No. My parents are muggles. I've never LOVED Quidditch. I can understand that this must be difficult for you to process," I teased.

"No kidding." He started walking again. "I'll just have to tell you ALL about it."

"And quite possibly bore me in the process."

"Come on Lily, Quidditch is interesting!"

I heard an intake of breath from both Potter and me. He had called me Lily for the first time ever. He had ALWAYS called me Evans. Never had he ever referred to me as Lily.

I tried to change the subject, but we were still awkward. "So...Quidditch? You were going to bore me?"

He shook his head. "Right. Um well..."

He dove headlong into a detailed explanation of Quidditch teams in Great Britain and all around the UK. I was only half listening. I was wondering why, after six years of being referred to as Evans, James had accidentally called me Lily. He didn't still...have feelings for me, did he? I'd been pretty sure that over the few weeks we'd been hanging out he'd been able to see that I wasn't interested. He'd played it cool and had acted like we were just friends. But now I was pretty sure it had been an act. James Potter was head over heels, as always.

We reached Hogsmeade and he turned towards me. "Where to?"

"I do need a new quill..."

"Wow Evans. We come to Hogsmeade for fun and you buy a quill. What's your idea of a party-book club?"

"Maybe," I said curtly. "Come on let's just go then we can get it over with much faster."

"Fine."

After I'd combed the shelves of Scrivenshaft's, Potter made me go into Zonko's where I nearly died amongst all the noise and pranksters running around. I watched from a secluded corner as he bought four Nosebiting Teacups and a few other prankster must-haves. (He also picked up a few things Sirius had requested. Even in detention, Sirius couldn't be prevented from acquiring certain Hogwarts-banned pranking helpers.)

When Potter had FINALLY finished purchasing things of unclear use, we headed back onto the streets of Hogsmeade. "Three Broomsticks?" I suggested.

He nodded and we made or way through a large crowd of sixth year students and into the cafe. I headed to the counter to purchase two butterbeers while he grabbed us a place to sit. When we had finally settled into a table for two, it got rather awkward again, and I drank my butterbeer simply for something to do.

"So how's the team going?"

"Great! I have some really great beaters and a few good chasers. I think I made a mistake with my Keeper though. Oh well, a bit of training and he'll be okay."

Potter was captain of the Quidditch team, and so naturally he had his hands full trying to manage it. But I knew that by just mentioning it Potter could talk for hours. And I was right. Quidditch got his mouth running no matter what situation he was in, and he proceeded to describe each of his teammates, their strategies, and opposing team members' strategies in detail for the remainder of our butterbeers. If we ignored the fact that several older students teased us for being out together alone, we had a nice time.

When we had finished our drinks, we paid and then began the long walk back to the castle. Just as we reached the edge of the village, I heard voices coming from somewhere nearby. I turned abruptly and started walking in the direction of the Shrieking Shack, where the voices were emanating from.

"Evans? Are you okay?"

I shook my head and continued on. When I finally reached the pathway to the Shrieking Shack, I could barely make out whispered voices.

"Evans! Come on, let's go! Why are you checking out the Shrieking Shack? I'm pretty sure it's haunted..." He seemed extremely uncomfortable. He was fiddling with his robes and shifting his weight from side to side. "Let's go," he repeated firmly.

"Don't you hear that?" I asked him.

He cocked his head. "No-yeah. Who is that?"

"Not sure. But I have a hunch.." I quietly walked to one of the boarded up windows of the Shack, and my hunch was proven fact.

Snape was in the Shack with his faithful followers.

I motioned for Potter to come nearer. "It's Snape," I mouthed. His face hardened. He really did hate Snape. I peeked through a minuscule crack in between the boards that covered the window. I could make out the faint outlines of Snape, Avery, and Mulciber. Potter put his face next to mine and peered through the crack. He turned towards me and mouthed, 'What the heck?' I shook my head and turned my eyes back to the crack.

"So we've decided on what to do?" Avery whispered. He sounded like he'd been cheated out of something.

"Yes and if you don't like the plan you can butt out. But this is what we're doing. Lucius suggested it."

Avery mumbled something under his breath that I couldn't quite make out. Then Mulciber said, "When are we gonna be doing this?"

"A few months. Sometime near February or March I hope. I want to throw off Evans and let her think we dropped our plan. I don't know how much she heard before I stunned her in the Owlery, but I can gather she heard quite a bit."

Potter's head whipped around. So he'd figured out what had really happened in the Owlery. Great.

"That's-" he yelled. "What happened?!" He changed to a whisper, but was too late. Snape, Avery, and Mulciber were bounding over to the window we were hiding behind.

"Stupefy!" Snape yelled.

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