Fizzing Whizbees

~3~

James was proud of his wonderfully snarky comment, but he didn't want Lily to leave that soon. 'Oh, well.' James thought. 'At least she is thinking about me.' He turned and saw his friends watching him carefully. "C'mon." James said, diverting their attention from his 1,000th rejection by Lily Evans. "It's the last day of school and we must go out with a bang. Sirius and I have a prank planned. It includes the giant squid, underwear, seven toilet seats and the slimy greeseball." "Yeah!" Sirius laughed, jumping up from the table. The posse left the hall as if they were performing for a show, and made their way down to the Black Lake.

The weather outside was what one would describe to be a perfect day. It was warm and sunny, with an idle breeze tickling the skin of passerbyers. Students were scattered around the grounds enjoying their last day at Hogwarts. "Marauders!" Sirius assembled his gang, "this is the last hurrah for fifth year, and we need to make it epic. Wormtail- mouse up. You are on toilet seat duty. Moony, you are in charge of the Giant Squid. Make sure he stays incognito until time. Prongs, you have the honour of luring Snivllus into our trap. I'll be in charge of the underwear." Sirius finished, with a malicious smirk. "Break!" James screamed before sprinting up to the castle. The other Marauders assumed position. The prank was ready to go.

When Lily left the great hall she really had no intention of where to go. "Lily!" Nova chased after her. "Lily, are you okay?" It was nice how genuinely concerned she was. "You should have just hexed him." Celeste chimed in. "Honestly. Then he may stop bothering you for good." A hex may halt James Potter's pursuing, but she knew he would never give up for good. But, a halt would be a welcome surprise, so why didn't Lily do it? 'No.' Lily though to herself. 'It is NOT because I like him.' But she couldn't shake that tingling feeling in her stomach every time she heard his voice. "Thanks for your concern, guys, but I think I need some alone time." Lily said towards her friends in an effort get away. "Okay. We'll be in the common room if you need us." Nova responded before the two girls turned around and joined heads in whispering concern. Lily continued walking without purpose. She could sit by the lake, but she didn't really want to be alone. 'Sev' she decided, 'I'll go visit him.'

The walk to the Slytherin common was dark and cold, despite the sun shining outside. 'Five steps, duck left, around the corner, under the bend.' Lily recited to herself as she took the secret passage Severus showed her in their third year. "Lily!" She heard an excited voice as she emerged from the tunnel. "Sev." She responded before collapsing into the unmade bed in the corner. "What's wrong?" He asked, concern growing. "Oh, you know, the usual. James Potter and the Marauders. Plus, it's a beautiful day and I don't want to leave Hogwarts just yet. You understand, right Sev?" She finished and ran her fingers through her fiery red hair. Severus sat down next to her. "Of course I do." He said "I have an idea, let's just walk around the castle and explore like we did when we were first years. You can rant then." Lily smiled. "That would be wonderful." She responded, taking his hand and leading him out of the room.