[On Hiatus] It Was Meant to Be (A James and Lily Story)

Chapter 17

That Friday, Professor Slughorn had decided to host a Slug Club meeting. Lily loved Professor Slughorn, but she absolutely despised those Slug Club meetings. Essentially, every time Slughorn introduced her to some high-ranking Ministry official, he would start with, "This is Lily Evans, she's Muggle-born, but..." and Lily hated it.

Nevertheless, the food was good and Lily didn't want to disappoint one of her favorite professors. She had decided to drag Alice along with her as her "date". That way, she knew there would be one person in the room she could talk to.

Lily had gotten permission from Professor McGonagall earlier that week to invite Alice into the Heads Dorm so that they could get ready together. Lily had even struck up the nerve to tell James that Alice would be over.

After she had recovered from her sickness, Lily and James had gotten along superbly. They worked together in the library, often asking each other questions. Lily still couldn't believe that he had stayed with her the whole night.

There was only one thing she knew for sure. James Potter had grown up and matured. Lily actually liked being around him, which is something she was shocked to hear herself say. Their conversations were always interesting, whenever they weren't fighting, of course. But even when they were fighting, Lily felt a thrill. Yes, part of it was her temper, itching to hex him, but another part of it was passion. She had never felt so much anger around anyone, not even Petunia. But James Potter was a different story.

In a way, she was glad she could get so angry with him. It meant that they both knew how to stand their ground. They were both people who had strong beliefs, and those beliefs often contradicted one another. Lily and James were both very stubborn people, which meant that they would rather go down fighting than being told that they were wrong.

When Lily walked into the common area, she noticed James was sitting at the table, scribbling away furiously on a piece of parchment.

"Wow, I'd never thought I'd see the day when James Potter is actually working," Lily teased him.

James looked up at her and gave her a small smile. "Ah, but you see, Lily, I'm a very hard worker when it comes to Quidditch," he nodded at the piece of paper in front of him. "Just trying to figure out the best formations for the team."

"Anyways, Alice and I will be in my room for a bit before we head down to the Slug Club meeting. Let me know if you need anything."

"Yeah sure. Enjoy your slugs," James said as he went back to his parchment.

Lily guided Alice up the stairs to her bedroom, throwing her schoolbag on the chair of her desk. Alice deposited hers next to Lily's and clambered up onto Lily's bed, lying down with a sigh.

"Your bed is so soft. Can I sleep here forever?" Alice sighed, dreamily.

Lily poked her friend in the side. "No, geroff it's my bed."

Alice sat up, a frown lining her face. "Lily, don't be a spoilsport. Just because you're Head Girl doesn't mean the rest of us can't reap the benefits."

Lily laughed and rolled her eyes at Alice. "I'm going to change. Get up when you feel like it."

Lily headed into the bathroom and when she came out, she saw Alice still lying on her bed, flipping through their transfiguration textbook.

"Hey, Lils, I was was wondering... How is he?" Alice asked, suddenly.

Lily didn't register the question properly. "Who? McGonagall?"

"What?" Alice wrinkled her brows, "Of course not! I was talking about Potter."

"Oh," Lily waited a moment before answering. "He's fine. We work well together."