The next few days passed in silence between James and Lily. Many people were surprised that there were no ferocious arguments between the two of them, but they were reluctant to question, because the tranquility was enjoyable.
Lily took to brooding in her spare time. This was very unusual for her, since usually she was the "happy one." Many nights she could be seen sitting in a lone chair scribbling away in a notebook. It had made her terribly sad that James had turned her away. Couldn't he trust her? She was left in a state of indecision, the choices being whether to make James trust her or to turn her back on him forever. Deep down she knew which choice was the right one, but it seemed that turning away from James was a simpler and quicker solution. And so she decided that whatever feelings she had had for James needed to be tucked away and forgotten. Her life needed to change.
After those dark nights a new Lily arose. A Lily who was detached from things that made her hurt. A Lily who could make herself not feel anything. As numbness overtook her she felt a peace within herself. She had effectively put up a shield around herself. Smiling, she walked down to the common room the morning after her "transformation." As usual many first and second years stared at their Gryffindor prefect in awe. This happened to Lily a lot. Even though she was the most friendly and approachable person in Gryffindor fifth year, many students tended to put her upon a pedestal. It was a bittersweet cross to bear. She loved the respect but she hated the distance it put between her and everybody else. However, today things didn't seem to hurt so badly. She kept on smiling and swiftly walked through the common room and out the portrait hole. As she was stepping out of it a black haired boy obstructed the exit. Lily looked up in surprise, but never took the smile off of her face. As the black haired boy was recognized Lily's eyes turned to ice, but still her smile remained.
"Hey Lily," James said meakly.
"Oh, hello James," Lily replied smoothly.
"Are you headed to breakfast?" he asked nervously.
"Yes, sorry to cut our conversation short, but I really must get down there. Emma and Madison are waiting for me," Lily said in a clipped tone.
With that Lily walked away. James stared after her and realized he had blown it. Her eyes were so cold. He had never seen her so...unfeeling towards someone. Even when she was yelling at him it was in a warm way. But today, everything about her was cold. His body shivered as he recollected the look she had given him.
At breakfast that morning Emma and Madison both noticed the change in Lily. She seemed much more carefree than usual. Her normal frantic banter about upcoming quizzes or hard homework was absent. Instead she commented on the weather and sat silently for the rest of the meal. Occasionally, she would contribute a few words to their conversation, but even those had a detached tone to them.
For the rest of the day teachers and students alike wondered what had gotten into Lily Evans. This was not the good-natured, fiery, redhead that they all knew and loved. The Marauders especially picked up on it. Remus was concerned there was something really wrong with Lily. Sirius was wondering whether or not her attitude change would enable him to get away with more pranks or the complete opposite. Peter wasn't affected too greatly since he was busy thinking about the upcoming meal. James, however, was almost as bad as Lily that day. He desperately wanted to know why Lily had changed so suddenly and so drastically. As much as he tried to push it a way a thought kept creeping into his head. It told him that he was the reason Lily had changed. And with that thought came a great sadness.
Author's Note: Hey all of you readers out there. Please review when you get done reading! The more reviews I get the sooner I will put up the next chapter. So please,please,please review!!!!