The rest of January flew by in a whirl of increasingly difficult essays and more and more hours of studying. Lily could hardly believe the workload. “What will it be like in seventh year?” she marveled one evening, as she, Alex, and Cadrian toiled over a Potions essay.
Alex made a face. “Let’s not think about that right now,” she said. “Let’s think about this Potions rubbish instead.”
Cadrian pulled her dark hair into a ponytail. “Or we could take a break,” she suggested.
Lily lay down her quill and picked up her parchment, skimming over what she’d written so far. “I bet Remus has already finished,” she remarked.
“Yeah, but that’s because he spends every minute on homework,” countered Alex. “Poor guy looks like he never has any fun. I mean, look at him!”
Lily and Cadrian turned to see Remus sitting with Peter, Sirius, and James. He did indeed look pale and ill. “He looks sick,” observed Cadrian. “You’re right.”
“Well, of course he’s sick,” said Lily briskly, turning around. “Spending too much time with James will do that to you.”
Alex and Cadrian laughed. “He hasn’t affected you, Lily,” Cadrian pointed out.
Lily rolled her eyes. “Come on, guys. You know that I always try to avoid him.”
“Yeah, you do,” said Alex, “but he doesn’t try to avoid you.”
“True.” Lily snuck another glance over at the boys. They were laughing. “I guess I’m immune.”
Chris appeared out of nowhere and slung himself down on the couch next to Lily. “Is anybody immune to that kid?” he asked.
Lily rolled her eyes again. “Somebody should invent a James vaccination.”
Chris laughed. “He isn’t that bad, is he?” He smirked. “After all, he saved your life twice.”
“And almost killed me at that Quidditch match!” Lily protested.
Chris shrugged. “Whatever.” He cocked an eyebrow. “So, any of you eyeing somebody for Valentine’s Day? It’s in less than a week.”
Lily snorted. “No way. You?”
A wistful look came across Chris’s face. “Well…yeah,” he said. “Do you know Melanie Garrow?”
“Um…I think so. Blond third-year, right?” asked Alex.
Chris nodded. “Yeah, that’s her. She’s sitting over there. I’ve liked her for about a year now.”
The three girls grinned. “Well, what are you going to do?” prompted Alex. “I’m sure she’d go on a date with you. To Hogsmeade or something!”
Chris shrugged again, staring down at his clasped hands. “Maybe. But she’s so…I don’t know, I just don’t want to ask her.”
“What, you’re never going to tell her?” asked Cadrian. “Come on Chris, you have to! What if you never do, and then when you graduate you never see her again?”
“I’m not graduating for three more years!” protested Chris. Cadrian folded her arms across her chest.
“You have to. On Valentine’s Day,” she announced.
“Yeah. I guess you’re right,” said Chris, glancing over at Melanie. She was sitting with a group of third-year girls, laughing. She was really quite pretty: she had a slim, petite figure, shiny blond hair, and chocolatey eyes. Lily didn’t know much about her, except that she was an exceptional Herbology student.
“Any ideas how, though?” asked Alex, propping her elbows on the table at which they were working. “I mean, if you make it really sweet or something, she’ll be more likely to go on a date with you, right?”
“Er…that makes sense, yeah,” said Chris uncertainly. “I’m not very experienced at this kind of thing…”
“Well, neither are we. We’re only eleven,” said Cadrian. “This is just what we think. How should we know what makes girls say yes?”
Chris got to his feet. “Well, I should be going. I’ve got a ton of homework,” he said. “Thanks for the help.”
“Sure,” said Alex. They watched him leave and then went back to their essays.
After a few minutes filled with only the sound of the girls’ quills scratching on parchment, Alex absently laid down her quill, blotting the essay with ink. “I’d bet you anything that James will try something funny on Valentine’s Day,” she remarked.
Lily looked up. “You’re right,” she said. A smile spread across her face. “But who says we can’t try anything funny?”
Cadrian smirked. “What should we do? It has to be the best, way better than anything they could ever think of.”
Alex pushed her essay aside excitedly. “Oooh, yes!” she said. “Any ideas?”
Cadrian rustled in her bag for a blank roll of parchment and inked her quill, then looked up at Lily and Alex expectantly. “Well?”
“We could change their food into worms,” suggested Alex.
Cadrian wrinkled her nose. “Too gross!” she said. “Something more practical. Like…stealing their homework.”
“Boring,” objected Alex. “That’s too predictable.”
Lily twisted a lock of fiery hair around her finger. “I might have an idea…” she said thoughtfully.
Alex grinned. “Yes! Lily’s got an idea. Spill it!”
Lily just grinned and motioned for her friends to lean in closer, closing out the rest of the common room with their schemes.
* * * * * * * * * *
It was the weekend before Valentine’s Day, and everything was ready. It had taken quite a bit of help from Chris and his friends, but the three girls had devised a plan. They were going to present each of the boys with a box of Honeyduke’s chocolates that Chris had bought on the last Hosgmeade weekend. But the boys didn’t know that all of the chocolates had been bewitched. Chris had a friend in sixth year who knew all sorts of useful spells, and he’d helped them out. The jinx wouldn’t take effect immediately, but the next day, if they ate the chocolates, they would be turned into lions-in honor of Gryffindor, of course. It was a very complicated spell, and Chris’s friend hadn’t guaranteed its success, but Lily was willing to try, and so were her friends.
It was a Saturday-Valentine’s Day was on Monday-and the girls were at a Quidditch match. Lily hadn’t really wanted to go. Gryffindor wasn’t playing-it was Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff-but Alex and Cadrian had begged her profusely until she gave in.
Now she was really beginning to regret it. It was absolutely freezing outside, with a temperature of a measly three degrees. The wind was whipping Lily’s cheeks and lips raw, and her nose and fingers were completely numb. Her cloak just wasn’t cutting it against the cold. She turned to Alex, her lips chattering. “I think I’m going to go inside,” she said.
Alex turned to her. “Why?” she asked. Alex didn’t look the tiniest bit uncomfortable. A few snowflakes rested in her curly brown hair. Her cheeks were rosy and her lips were purply, but her eyes were excited and sparkly.
“Because it is freezing cold!” Lily said, getting to her feet.
Alex shrugged. “Whatever!”
Lily stepped over dozens of legs, managing not to trip, which was even more of an accomplishment than usual because the bleachers were getting more and more icy every second. But she made it without incident back into the castle.
The long, dark, drafty corridors were deserted, and truthfully, not much warmer than outside. Lily slowly ambled up to the common room. She wondered vaguely if anybody was up there. Probably-not many people thought this match would be worth watching. Slytherin was pretty much a lock to win.
Before long Lily reached the common room, murmured the password, and climbed in through the portrait hole. As she’d expected, the room wasn’t deserted. Sixth- and seventh-years were poring over their books. A group of giggly third-year girls, including Melanie Garrow, were laughing over by the fire. Lily noticed Chris sitting by himself. Every now and then he glanced over at Melanie.
“Lily?”
Lily turned to see James sitting alone in the darkest corner of the room. “Hello…” she said cautiously. “Why aren’t you at the match?”
“Well, Remus felt lousy and I decided to stay back with him. He’s upstairs. He fell asleep and I didn’t want to bother him, so I came down here.”
“Oh. That’s, um, nice of you.” Very nice, Lily thought to herself, and very unlike James.
James shrugged. “He’s my friend, so I have to.”
Wow. He’s doing it again, thought Lily furiously. Being the decent James. The bearable one. Now any second, he’ll change back…
As if on cue, he shifted his weight in his chair and grinned up at Lily. “Speaking of friends, where are yours? They find somebody better to hang out with?”
Unbelievable! He couldn’t just leave something nice stand by itself. He had to back it up with a nasty comment. “Of course not,” said Lily primly. “It’s just freezing cold outside, so I decided to come in.”
“Ah, right. Delicate little Lily has to be protected from the elements. You’d better go up to bed right now so you don’t get sick,” he said mock-seriously, his hazel eyes wide and seemingly innocent.
“Don’t worry about me, James. The only thing that can make me sick is you,” she replied just as sweetly, then smiled angelically at the boy before skipping up the stairs to her dormitory.
Ugh! He was infuriating…horribly infuriating. She couldn’t wait to turn him into a lion. She just hoped he wouldn’t attack her.
* * * * * * * * * *
Valentine’s Day was filled with spontaneous showers of pink confetti in the corridors, lots of candy, and much kissing in between classes. The common room that night was pure mayhem. Lily, Alex, and Cadrian stayed in a corner, out of the mess. Girls were cutting pink hearts out of paper and laying them around the common room, while boys were all working up the nerve, if they hadn’t already, to tell the girls how they felt. Lily had a Herbology essay out, but she wasn’t getting any work done. She kept watching Chris. Would he ask Melanie out? He hadn’t yet, and Lily knew he was very nervous.
Melanie was sitting with her friends, looking especially pretty. Her blond hair was wavy and cascading down her shoulders. Her skin glowed and she was smiling and laughing, obviously very happy.
The minutes ticked by and soon it was eight-thirty. “Guys, should we give the boys their presents now?” asked Alex slyly, checking her watch. “I think it’s time.”
In the end they’d opted to give all the boys chocolates and not leave Remus out. He seemed to be feeling a lot better since the weekend, and Lily was glad. He was so much nicer than James, Sirius, and Peter.
“Okay, let’s go!” The three girls clutched the chocolate boxes in their hands and went over to where the boys were sitting.
Alex cleared her throat to make the girls known. James looked up, alarmed, and then quickly stuffed whatever he was working on into his bag. Lily saw a flash of pink before it disappeared.
“Hello,” she said cheerfully, as the other boys looked up. “We brought you some presents. Happy Valentine’s Day!” Alex and Cadrian handed each boy a box of chocolate.
“Wow, cool,” said James. “Peter, taste one to make sure the girls didn’t do anything.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Some people would just say ‘thank you,’” she muttered.
Peter chewed the chocolate cautiously and swallowed. Nothing happened, of course-the spells wouldn’t kick in until the next day. “They’re fine,” he announced.
“Great. Thanks, guys,” grinned Sirius, popping three of the candies into his mouth.
“You’re welcome,” said Cadrian, and the girls turned to leave.
Back at their table, Lily again fixed her attention on Chris. He was hunkered over his work, looking depressed. Oh no-had she turned him down? “Guys, I’ll be right back.” She hopped off her chair and walked over to Chris.
“Chris, are you okay?”
“What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”
“Did you ask Melanie out?”
He turned to her, his expression conveying pure misery. “No,” he said. “Somebody beat me to it. Look.” He nodded over to where the blond girl was sitting. Somebody who hadn’t been there before had joined the group: a curly-haired boy whom Lily didn’t recognize. His arm was draped over her shoulders and Melanie’s head was lying on his shoulder contentedly.
“Oh,” said Lily softly. “I see.”
“Yeah.” Chris was obviously in no mood to talk. “Look, Lily, I’m really tired, okay? I’m going up to bed.”
“Yeah. See you later, Chris.” Lily watched him leave. He looked so dejected, her heart went out to him. Valentine’s Day wasn’t always so great for everybody, it seemed.
Not long after that, the three girls also headed up to bed. Lily was surprised to find a bright pink card lying on her pillow. There was a big purple heart clumsily drawn on the front with the words “Happy Valentine’s Day” in the middle of it. Curiously, Lily opened the card.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Lily! This card is a greeting card for the holiday and also an apology…sorry for, well, throwing that snowball at you. You know the one. I don’t think I really ever apologized for that, so here it is. But, although I never apologized, you never actually properly thanked me for bringing you those notes. I mean, I actually had to write them, something I usually try to avoid. And all you did was point out that we aren’t really friends. Still, don’t worry about it, I forgive you.
James
“He almost apologized,” Lily muttered, rolling her eyes. “I guess that’s a step.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
The next day, around six-thirty in the morning, Lily rolled out of bed when she heard a yell. The sound startled her and she ran out of the dormitory to see what was going on.
At first what she saw didn’t make sense. Then she remembered the prank, and she burst out laughing.
Reilly, a first-year boy whom nobody really knew very well, was sitting wide-eyed in the doorway of his dormitory (He’d been running out of the room when Sirius-though Reilly didn’t know who it was-growled. Reilly had stopped in his tracks in the wide-open door.) He seemed to be frozen with fear-for where the other boys usually slept were, instead, four lions.
Wait… thought Lily. Those lions are awfully small… then, all in a rush, it hit her. Chris’s friend had warned her the spell might not go perfectly. And it hadn’t. Instead of turning into lions, the boys had turned into lion cubs.
Still laughing, Lily woke up her friends. “Alex, Cadrian! Come here, look what our prank did!”
Alex sat up groggily. “Huh?”
“Come on!”
Reluctantly, Alex climbed out of her bed and followed Lily into the hallway. When she looked into the boys’ dormitory, her eyes widened and she giggled.
A few seconds later, Cadrian stumbled blearily out and joined in her two friends’ peals of laughter.
One of the cubs jumped off the bed and padded over to Lily, growling. Lily had no way of knowing who it was. But the eyes were exactly the same hazel as James’s, and she could’ve sworn that the lion cub was grinning.
* * * * * * * * * * *
A/N: Really, really, really, really, REALLY sorry it took so long. I’m really busy right now and things won’t slow down for awhile. Hope you enjoyed it, and don’t forget-REVIEW! :)
Lily, Blossoming by halfbloodprincess22
Chapter Notes: Chapter 19, finally! I know it took awhile, and I'm sorry for the wait, but I hope you enjoy it. And PLEASE, REVIEW!!