The small group surrounding Lily’s bed all turned to look at James. James looked back at them in confusion, before realising what he had said. He opened his mouth to correct his mistake, but it was too late. The damage was already done.
“Um, Lily, why do you need to speak to yourself?” asked Sirius, raising one eyebrow.
“I don’t,” covered James, searching for an explanation. He moved his eyes around the Hospital Wing, before seeing Madame Pomfrey’s office. “Er…Lily is Madame Pomfrey’s first name,” he improvised.
“Really?” asked Remus, “I never knew that… I thought it was Poppy.”
Crap, thought James. “No, Poppy is just what everyone calls her,” he babbled. “Her real first name is Lily.”
“If her name is Lily, why does everyone call her Poppy?” Peter asked in confusion.
“For the irony, you know. Different types of flowers…”
“That is exceedingly odd,” commented Sirius, eyeing James sceptically, “I never knew you were even close to Madame Pomfrey anyway. Why are you on first name basis? Plus, if everyone else calls her Poppy, why do you call her Lily?”
“She’s an old family friend,” James replied looking at Lily for help. She just shrugged and covered her mouth to hide her smile. James was totally on his own now. He scowled and grasped for more explanations, “I call her Lily because…er… it was this game we used to play. When I was little I called her ‘Big Lily’ and she called me ‘Little Lily.’ I suppose we just kept things going.”
“Really? That’s so odd,” Sirius noted. “I didn’t realise you had a connection to Madame Pomfrey. I thought you were a Muggleborn?”
“Yes, but so is Madame Pomfrey. She lives next door to me,” James improvised wildly. Lily shook her head, desperately trying not to laugh.
“How come you never mentioned this? How come she never mentioned this?” Remus asked. James mentally cursed. If anyone knew anything about Madame Pomfrey it was Remus. Madame Pomfrey was the one who looked after him every month.
“Er…I meant she… used to live next door to me. Long time ago, when I was ten. Anyway,” he continued quickly, so no-one else could ask anymore questions about his ridiculous statements, “since she is obviously not here, could I please speak to James?”
“Okay, boys, I think that’s our queue to leave…” Sirius shot James an odd look as he passed. Obviously, he thought ‘Lily’ had gone crazy. As soon as they were out of earshot, the real Lily burst into laughter.
“They call her Poppy because it’s ironic? Oh Merlin, James that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard…” she looked back up at James’ annoyed expression and burst into another round of laughter.
“Oh shut up,” James spat. “At least I consult you before I make decisions regarding your life.”
Lily stopped laughing. “You broke up with Rodger!” she yelled in indignation.
“Pfft,” James rolled his eyes, “that was just something that needed to be done.” He began pacing the floor. “Why did you schedule training? Do you even know how to fly?” He folded his arms over his chest and shook his red hair out of his eyes.
“Not really,” Lily said sarcastically, “So yeah, I could’ve used your help. But no, you buggered off some where and I couldn’t find you. Where were you anyway? I looked for you for ages!”
“I was in your dormitory,” replied James stiffly.
“For two whole hours?” Lily questioned, unbelieving.
“I was reading.”
“Reading what?”
James paused, “Orsha’s Wish,” he mumbled.
Lily also paused, digesting the information, “Did you like it?” she questioned.
“It was okay, nothing special,” James lied, not wanting anyone, even Lily, to know how deeply he had gotten into it. If it ever got back to Sirius, he wasn’t sure he would be able to live it down. Plus, even hearing the book’s name made him want to run back to the dormitory to see what happened in the end. It was just too distracting, especially when he had more important things on his mind.
“Now,” James said clearly. “What are we going to do about the match on the weekend?”
“We have to find a way for me to get out of it,” Lily murmured. “Is there anyway you can fly? Polyjuice potion or something?”
“I thought you didn’t want to break anymore rules? Plus, you of all people should know that it takes at least a month to brew. There’s no way you can get out of it, you are meant to be Quidditch Captain. Plus, at the moment we don’t even have a back up Chaser. I’m going to have to teach you how to play Quidditch and we hope Robin catches the snitch really, really quickly.”
As soon as Madam Pomfrey, first name not Lily, returned and let Lily go, James dragged her straight back to the Quidditch pitch. For an hour and a half they did drill after drill. About half way though, it began to rain. Tired, cold, wet and angry, Lily swore that for every minute they trained that she would exact horrible revenge on James. But even so, she had to admit that he was an excellent teacher.
By the end of the training, Lily had learnt to steer as well as how to take her hands off the broom. She was in no way prepared for the match on Saturday, but it was unlikely she was going to fall off the broom due to her own carelessness, which was definitely a big improvement. At six o’clock, James finally dismissed Lily. Starving, amongst other things, she had slumped back to the dining room to eat a well deserved meal.
James however, as soon as Lily was out of eyeshot, bolted back to the dormitory intending on finishing Orsha’s Wish. As he ran through the corridors, cutting through at least three different passages that he was fairly sure the real Lily did not know about, he wondered how it would end. Would they end up together? He could see they suited from the start, despite how much they bickered and argued. Pondering this thought he burst into the girls’ dormitory in record time.
However, he was not alone. Alice was sitting on Lily’s bed, tears welling up in her eyes, Orsha’s Wish, open on her lap.
“Um, Alice,” James asked, his patience reaching its breaking point. “I was wondering if I could just borrow that book for a second?”
Alice looked up, her eyes narrowing, “But you must have read it hundreds of times before. You know what happens in the end. Why do you need it right now?”
“I was in the middle of re-reading it…” James tried. Alice was meant to be Lily’s friend. She should give up the book.
“No. I’m reading it now.” Or not. He supposed no-one liked being forced to stop reading in the middle of a novel. Especially not in a heart-wrenching climax. James paused in his thoughts. Eternally grateful that no-one could read his mind, James couldn’t believe that he had just used the term heart-wrenching. Giving himself a little shake, James returned his attention to the situation at hand. He wanted that book and if Alice didn’t relinquish it, he might have to kill her.
No, that wasn’t true. Despite how much Alice was annoying him at that precise moment, he couldn’t help but like the girl. They had never really spent much time together, but hanging out with her the last few days, James had really started to respect her. She was sly and witty, often coming up with off the cuff remarks and clever comments that made him laugh. She was obviously a very trustworthy person, and seemed like she was in for the long hall with Frank; something that he deeply respected.
James suddenly remembered that she was going to tell him something before he ran off to find Lily. Putting aside his own desire to read Orsha’s Wish (if only for a moment) James inquired to Alice what her news was.
Alice put down the book. “Frank is going on a three week training mission before Christmas in France. When it’s over, he wants me to join him for a week.”
“Oh wow.” Even James knew that that meant things were getting serious, “What did you say to him?”
“I agreed,” Alice looked slightly sheepish, “I have a good feeling about this relationship. I feel, I don’t know, like it could last for a very long time. Like, I want to wake up beside him every morning, and kiss him goodnight in the evening. I think I want him not just now, but forever.”
James nodded. He wasn’t sure, but he was beginning to think he wanted all that with Lily.
After a moment of silence where both James and Alice were lost in their own thoughts, James returned back to the present.
“Can I have the book now?” James asked.
“Not a chance,” said Alice with a smile, before picking up the book and turning the page.
Monday and Tuesday passed without much hassle. James and Lily, now slightly more adjusted, slipped into the pattern of each other’s lives. They attended classes, hung out with their new friends and kept themselves clean, much to James’ delight and Lily’s embarrassment.
However, both mornings, James woke up Lily at the crack of dawn for Quidditch training, teaching her drills and new skills. James left reams of instructions of what to tell his team, and Lily ran the trainings in the evenings. Lily told the team that, due to her concussion, she had temporarily lost a few skills. It had seemed like a good idea at the time; after all they might even let her out of the match. However, after seeing their total and utter panic, she had informed them that she would be fine by Saturday.
If only.
James on the other hand, had started a war with Alice. Unfortunately, Alice was a busy girl who liked to read books over time. James was dying to know what happened in the end of Orsha’s Wish, but Alice refused to relinquish her hold. In her eyes, Lily had read the book multiple times and didn’t need to find out what happened in the end. She carried the book around with her, in case she was bored in-between classes.
James had made a few unsuccessful attempts to steal it, but Alice had thwarted him each time. She obviously thought it was some kind of game to encourage her to keep reading it. James was going slightly stir crazy.
At six A.M on Wednesday morning, whilst James was teaching Lily how to throw a Quaffle properly, James finally cracked.
“Lily, you know, Orsha’s Wish?”
“Yes, James, it is one of my favourite books,” Lily replied sceptically.
“Does it have a happy ending?” James blurted out before he could stop himself.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” James said a little more clearly, “through the whole book Orsha refuses to admit to herself that she loves Alain, even though it is very obvious she does. Does she end up with him?”
“Why do you want to know?” said Lily with a small smile.
“No reason,” James muttered.
“Then there is no reason to tell you,” said Lily slyly.
“Okay, fine!” James yelled, flailing his arms in the air, “I read about three quarters of the book before Alice started to read it! I got up to the part when he is about to go on that sabotage mission and Orsha is going to say something, before I had to come get you! I want to know what happens. No, I NEED to know what happens!”
“Hold on, Alice is reading it?” said Lily surprised, “I’ve tried to get her to read it for years, what did you say to her?”
“I just left it open on the bed! It’s getting her to relinquish her hold that’s the problem,” mumbled James. “Now, does Orsha end up with Alian?”
“Now, James,” Lily said with a small secret smile. “Patience is a virtue.”
“No, it bloody well isn’t.”
“Yes, I’m afraid it is. I think I smell breakfast.” Lily began to dive to the ground “ she was getting much better “ “I’ll see you round,” she called, leaving a confused, but annoyed James hovering in the air.
“Lily Evans, if you do not explain to me what the conclusion of Orsha’s Wish is, I swear I will start embarrassing you.”
Wednesday had passed with little incidence, save for the constant pressure by James for Lily to spill her secrets. Lily had continued to thwart him, continually smiling and replying that patience was a virtue.
“Like how?” Lily asked this time, actually interested in what he planned to do.
James saw a Ravenclaw boy passing.
“Hello, handsome,” James said, making his voice smooth and sleek. “Would you like it if I took of all my robes right now?” Dropping his wand, he leant over slowly to pick it up. Straightening and flicking his hair, he leant out to stroke the boys face.
The boy laughed and kept walking.
James turned, confused, to Lily, who was also laughing.
“What?” spat James, annoyed that his plan was apparently backfiring.
“That’s Arty,” Lily choked out through the laughter, “I flirt with him all the time. It’s this little joke we have. He’s actually gay. I’m one of the few people he has told.”
James stamped his foot. “For Merlin’s sake, I can’t handle it. Just tell me what happens in the end, will you?”
“Ah, but James. Patience is virtue!”
“So I’ve heard,” James grumbled as Lily began to stride away. “What the bloody hell is a virtue anyway?” James yelled at Lily’s retreating back. “Sounds like a load of bullocks.”
On Thursday evening, while James was staring jealously at Alice, who was reading the book, Lorèly burst into the dormitory crying.
“He broke up with me,” she sniffed. “Tomorrow was going to be our six month anniversary and he broke up with me.”
“Lore, honey,” Janelle said with sympathy before she and Eve moved to her side. James was a little confused. This was something that boys definitely did not do. The girls began to comfort her. James, who was obviously expected to do something, followed the other girls lead and moved to her side.
“I’m going to be so alone tomorrow,” she whispered, letting out a large sob. “We had this big date planned and it’s all come to nothing.” She planted her face on Eve’s shoulder and continued to cry.
James stared, his mind boggling. He remembered the time when Sirius had come back to the dormitory, after his girlfriend of two months had called it quits on him. The conversation had gone as thus:
“Pfft, Rach broke up with me.”
“Skank,” he had replied.
And that was all. He looked over at Lore. Her face was still buried in Eve’s shoulder as she wailed about how her life was over. Janelle was stroking her hair as she murmured words of encouragement into her ear. James realised Lore had grabbed his hand. He was probably meant to say something too.
“Don’t worry, Lorèly. He was a skank,” he tried. All three girls looked up. Lore actually giggled. The other two smiled.
“Thanks. You always say the right thing, Lily,” Eve whispered.
“As for tomorrow night, Lore, don’t worry, we’ll have a girly party,” Janelle declared, “we’ll invite the sixth year girls to come and join us. Who needs boys anyway?”
James did not know what a girly party entailed, but the thought immediately caused him to break out in a cold sweat.
Alice, who up until that point was completely ignoring the commotion, shut her book, tears streaming down her face.
“Girly party you say? Just what we need,” she said boldly, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. “Oh, thanks Lily for the lend; I just finished.” Alice placed the book on James’ bed and moved over to Lore to give her a big hug.
James stared at the book. He would finally know what happened. He stared back at the girls, who were still making lots of noise. Knowing he wasn’t going to get any peace in the dormitory, he quietly slipped away with the book.
Orsha’s heart stopped beating. Lying in the gutter was Alain, covered in blood. But the pause was short lived, within seconds, Orsha’s heart was beating again, thumping against her chest in horror. With a strangled cry, she began to run.
“Don’t die, Alain!” she cried upon reaching his side, “I love you! For god’s sake, you can’t die without hearing that. You can’t die at all. I love you, Alain. Please wake up.”
Orsha found the bullet wound and ripping off her jacket, she pressed it to the injury. Alain was still breathing, but it was growing fainter. The bullet had pierced his side and Orsha prayed that it had not hit any vital organs.
“I realised it the day you said you were leaving for this god awful mission. But right as I was going to speak, the bombs dropped and I was knocked unconscious. When I awoke, I found that you had gone, and that note that you left made me cry.” Tears began to pour down Orsha’s face, splashing on Alain’s body.
“Wake up, Alain! I love you, I should have realised long ago.” Burying her face to his chest, she cried for what she had lost, and the future they might have had. However, something changed. Orsha could feel Alain’s breathing becoming stronger beneath her. She looked up, Alain’s eyes were open.
“Good job patience is a virtue,” chuckled Alain, “because I have waited so long for you to say that.”
In that moment Orsha knew that Alain was going to be okay. She yelled to other members of their group to grab a stretcher and take him away. Passing out from the pain, Alain had looked into her eyes one last time and whispered her name. But Orsha knew that he would awake and that they could be together. Although in these uncertain times the future would be unknown, whatever would happen, they would have to wait and see. But they could wait and see together. Orsha smiled to herself, it had been a long time coming. But Alain was right, patience was a virtue.
Fin
At the top of the Astronomy tower, James finally finished the romantic tale. With tears in his eyes, James decided that Lily Evans was a genius.
But he loved her all the more for it.