so i've tried to fix some things about this story cuz some of it was rather confusing without breaks. i didn't mean to do that, i'm just not good at working yet. but i'm gonna figure it out! so i hope it's clearer now...if it's not, i'm sorry, i'll try again tomorrow!
Dreams and Reality
"GOTCHA!"
Eleven year old Lily Evans squealed as the door to the closet opened and blinding white light pierced the pitch black atmosphere around her. A boy with shockingly untidy black hair grabbed her wrist and pulled her bodily out of her hiding place.
"How did you find me?" Lily demanded of the boy as he stood proudly before her, a grin on his face and his nose in the air.
"No time for that, I still have to find the others!" the boy said impatiently, his pompous air leaving him at once. "Come on, you can help."
He started off up the brightly lit corridor, lined with photographs and memories. Lily followed him, but only because he still had a hold on her wrist.
"But, James, that's cheating!" Lily said, sounding highly affronted.
"C'mon, Lils, just this once?" James pleaded, stopping and turning to face her, a pathetic puppy-dog look on his face. Lily surveyed him shrewdly for a moment. She opened her mouth, perfectly prepared to adamantly refuse when—
"I'll buy you that movie you've been begging for. You know the one…um…Titanic! That's it…I'll buy you Titanic!" James said sweetly, raising his eyebrows and dropping the pleading puppy-dog eyes. Lily considered him for a moment. She wanted to refuse—after all, it had been he who had caught her. But the thought of owning Titanic at last was more than welcoming.
"Alright, fine! But just this once!" she said, and they shook hands, James grinning. "C'mon, let's go find 'em!"
They ran off down the corridor, checking every door as they went. Soon they were at the end of the hall and at a loss as to where their friends might be.
"Have you checked downstairs?" Lily asked and James shook his head.
"We're not supposed to go downstairs," he said. "It's against the rules."
"So is me helping you," Lily pointed out.
"True," said James. "And it is Sirius and Jessica Black. They could be anywhere."
Lily nodded and they ran off down the stairs. Sirius wasn't at all hard to find. He seemed to have been sidetracked (as usual) by the presence of Oreos and Marshmallow Cream. Lily rolled her eyes at him while James just laughed.
"You know, you really are bad at this game," she said huffily. "It's called Hide—and—Seek. Not Eat-up-and-let-everyone-else-waste-their-time!"
Sirius just shrugged, his mouth full of cookie and Marshmallow Cream. Lily grabbed James's arm and pulled him along out of the kitchen and into the Living Room where they encountered Lily's father reading the paper on the couch.
"What are you kids up to?" he inquired as Lily and James began searching behind chairs, under couches, behind the television and even under the cushions. (Sirius had once hidden himself under the couch cushions and no one had found him for hours…even with people sitting on him.)
"Looking for Jessi," James said promptly as he dived underneath the Dining Room table in the next room. "You haven't seen her, have you?"
"No, I can't say that I have," Mr. Evans answered, concerned. "Has she run away?"
Lily laughed as she straightened up from underneath the couch.
"No, dad, we're playing Hide-And-Seek," she said. "C'mon, James, I'll bet she's in the Den."
Lily yelled in triumph as her snowball hit him squarely on the nose. James fell over in shock, clearly not expecting her to have thrown something so perfectly. Wiping snow off his face, he stood back up and faced her with a malicious grin.
Lily watched him warily and ducked behind Sirius for protection. Sirius, however, seemed to be on James's side for he pulled her out from behind him and held her there as a clear target. Lily squealed and giggled madly but he was too strong for her.
James took his aim carefully, wound up, and threw the pearly white sphere spectacularly. It hit her right on the stomach and she doubled over, clutching it and laughing hard. Sirius fell down behind her as, apparently, Nadine threw a snowball at him.
"Prongs, I think they're using magic!" Sirius groaned from the ground. "They've never been able to hit us this well before!"
"Yep!" came Remus's voice, loud and clear across the frosty air. "They've got their wands hidden up their sleeves."
"Hey!" This was Jessi's voice. Lily looked around. Remus seemed to be holding her wand just out of Jessi's reach with a smirk on his face.
"I believe they deserve punishment," he said, still smirking. At these words, Lily got up quickly and scrambled away from Sirius who looked as if he had taken a liking to this idea and was eyeing her beadily. He shrugged as she backed away.
"Doesn't matter," he said. "James is the only one who can really punish you anyways."
As these words registered the poor thirteen-year-old's brain, Lily looked around frantically, but James was ahead of her. He'd already gotten a hold of her arm and wasn't letting go.
Lily was giggling even before he started tickling. She squealed and squirmed and kicked and punched but she couldn't extricate herself from his grasp. His hands moved across her devilishly ticklish back and stomach before he let her go and she rolled away, wet with snow and gasping for air.
"Lily, dear! Dinner's ready!"
"Be down in a minute!" Lily yelled down the stairs, frantically searching for a clean shirt. Finally, at the bottom of the suitcase, she found a brown tank top and shoved it hastily over her head, slammed her trunk and made her way quickly down the winding staircase.
"Sorry Mrs. Potter," she said to Vikki Potter as she entered and took her seat next to James. "Couldn't find a decent shirt."
"That's quite alright, dear," Mrs. Potter replied, smiling sweetly. "No need to fuss."
"You coulda just come without the shirt," James murmured in her ear, smirking and Lily giggled, nudging him hard in the ribs.
"You just woulda loved that, wouldn't you?" she asked and James grinned, leaning back in his own seat again as soup appeared on the table.
"So, how has school been, kids?" Mr. Potter asked from the end of the table. "Sixth year treating you alright?"
"Sixth year is, though I'm not sure your son is," Lily replied pointedly.
"Hey!" said James indignantly, dropping his soup spoon. Mr. and Mrs. Potter just chuckled while Lily patted James's shoulder sympathetically.
"It's okay, Jamsie, they know I'm just kidding," she said, but James only continued to glare at her. "Oh, give it a rest, you big baby."
"You're evil," James said, still scowling and Lily laughed. "And don't call me Jamesie."
"I'm so sorry," she said sarcastically. "I'll try to be more of the angel I used to be."
James laughed at this.
"Angel? You?" he asked skeptically and Lily smacked him, smiling.
"You're lucky I like you, or I'd just have to hex you," she said.
"Liking me's never stopped you before," James replied, eyebrows raised pointedly.
"Kids these days are so mean to each other," Mrs. Potter remarked idly, dipping her spoon back into her soup. Lily and James laughed at this statement and went back to their own soup.
"I…I'm sorry I never t-told you," Lily whispered, facing the ground and refusing to meet his eyes.
"You had every right not to tell me," James said quietly. "But you should know," he took a step closer and, putting a hand underneath her chin, delicately forced her to look at him, "your father wasn't the only person that's loved you."
And with that, he pulled her into a gentle kiss, something which Lily had least expected but wanted more than anything. She was lost in this new feeling. All she knew were James's hands on her neck and lower back and the feeling of his mouth against hers. She kissed him back, moving her own lips steadily against his, her hands clinging to the collars of his shirt, pulling him closer and deeper into the kiss.
When he pulled away he rested his forehead gently against hers.
"See you in the morning?" he murmured and Lily nodded, holding back a smile as she bit her bottom lip nervously. "'Night," he whispered. He kissed her softly once more before turning and running quickly up the boys' staircase.
Lily stood there for a minute, still biting her lip and trying not to squeal with excitement. She needed to gain complete control of her rampant emotions before she went upstairs lest any of the girls be awake enough to badger her.
Lily sat bolt upright in her bed, hands shaking and unshed tears already stored in her waking eyes. Wiping them away quickly, she stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom to start her shower. The only good thing about those dreams was the fact that they woke her up much more efficiently than her alarm clock did.
Wanting desperately to forget about her restless night, Lily forced her mind to think about how much work she had to do that day. Warming up her voice seemed like a good idea and singing would certainly take her mind off of hindering matters of no importance.
They had to get at least three songs recorded today or they would be completely behind schedule. And the WMA's (Wizarding Music Awards) were coming up soon. It was essential that they stay on schedule.
After singing three songs, her hair was clean and her body spotless. Climbing out of the shower, she finished her morning bathroom routine and proceeded to the kitchen to make herself breakfast. However, when she opened the cabinet that held her favourite cereal she found it missing from its rightful place.
"You know, you really should eat something a bit more nutritious than this," said a voice from behind her and Lily screamed, nearly jumping out of her skin.
"Damnit, Nadine!" she said breathlessly as she turned and spotted her best friend sitting lazily at her kitchen table and reading the back of the Trix cereal box quite indifferently. "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that!"
"At least one more," Nadine said, smiling sweetly and putting the box down. Lily glowered and, snatching the box off the table angrily, turned back around and heatedly began to prepare her breakfast.
"Why are you here anyways?" Lily asked much more rudely than she had intended. Nadine raised her eyebrows.
"A little harsh today, aren't we, Miss Evans?"
"Don't call me that," Lily snapped, placing her breakfast forcefully on the table and proceeding to plop down ungracefully into a chair. Nadine rolled her eyes.
"How come I can't call you that but the Prime Minister can?" she asked, though the answer to this question was so obvious Lily felt as if her IQ would drop if she answered it.
"You never answered my question," she said instead. "Why are you here?"
"Greg wants you there early. He needs to discuss something with you, I think. You have so many security measures on this place he wasn't exactly sure how to use Floo Powder so he just told me to come get you," Nadine replied and Lily groaned. "Lily, you know we have to get this done today or you'll never make it to the stores by the time the Award's roll around."
"I know, I know," Lily said grumpily. "But I mean, come on! Seven in the morning to ten at night? Even you have to admit…"
"Hey, I resent that," Nadine said, but without any real conviction as she picked up The Daily Prophet that an owl had just dropped onto the table. She tossed it a Knut and it flew away gracefully. "You act like I work too much."
She shot Lily a grin and silence fell for a few moments giving Lily's thoughts and excuse to drift back to her nightmarish dreams. They clenched at her heart with and iron-like grip and she couldn't make them let her go no matter how hard she struggled. She'd learned to control the tears every time the dreams occurred, but every now and then, the memories wouldn't stop and she'd dissolve into sobs of anguish, guilt and heartbreak.
"You ready yet?" Nadine asked impatiently and Lily jumped, consumed by her own thoughts. "He wants us there at seven sharp."
"Yeah, yeah, I just gotta grab my purse," Lily said, rolling her eyes. She set her empty cereal bowl on the counter and ran to her room to snatch her purse off the bed.
"C'mon," she said irritably to Nadine as she reentered the kitchen, flipped off the lights and opened the door obligingly. Once outside the apartment building, they Apparated to the studio where they found Greg, June and Mike all waiting for her. June smiled and Mike nodded when she entered, but Greg looked extremely impatient.
"You know, it would be a lot easier for me to get in touch with you if you'd lift that security device over your fireplace," he said crossly. Lily rolled her eyes again and threw her purse on the table they were sitting at.
"Is there a reason I needed to be here so early?" she asked, crossing her arms and staring at her manager with raised eyebrows.
"Yes, we have things to discuss," Greg said, gesturing for her to have a seat. Nadine sat next to her and Greg conjured coffees for them. When all the cream and sugar had been added, Greg settled back in his seat, hands clasped behind his head.
"Now," he said, "the President of the record label, Mr. Fikes, has a…er…request. There's a new band that's just signed a contract to the label and they've already got the number one hit on seven stations in London. Now, Mr. Fikes wants you to—"
"Who are they?" Lily interrupted, idly stirring her coffee some more.
"Pardon?" Greg asked, clearly annoyed by her disruption.
"The band, what's their name?" Lily asked, looking up.
"I don't know, Fikes didn't tell me, but that's not the point!" Greg said, waving impatiently. Lily shrugged, wondering vaguely why he was so on edge. "The point, Lily, is that he wants you to go on tour with them."
Lily's spoon fell to the saucer with a clatter. The sound seemed to ring through her ears as if a giant bell had just been rung next to her head.
"But we don't even know who they are!" she protested. "For all we know, they could be some psychopathic druggies who only want my body! How am I supposed to go on tour with that? I'd be—"
"Yes, yes, we know Lily, you're perfectly right," Greg said tiredly. "I agree wholeheartedly. But Mr. Fikes thinks it would be the biggest prophet they would receive from any tour thus far."
"And you'll get to meet them first; we're not just going to send you out with complete stran—"
"Yes you are!" Lily said, half angry, half disbelieving. "Even if I meet them once, they'll still be complete and utter strangers! This is ridiculous, Greg! You tell Mr. Fikes I'm not doing it! I won't—!"
"You have to do it, Lily," June sighed, speaking for the first time. She looked as if she had resigned herself to doing something awful. She pulled out a white piece of paper. "Mr. Fikes already drew up a contract and sent it to us. He expects you to have it signed by Friday."
"He can't do that, June, he can't!" Lily said frantically, standing up suddenly and picking up the contract June had set in front of her. "It has to be against my contract, doesn't it? Doesn't it?"
Mike smiled sadly at her, shaking his head.
"Sorry, Lils, your contract pretty much says Mr. Fikes can let you go if you don't agree to this tour," he said apologetically.
Lily sank back down into her seat, completely disoriented and wishing regretfully that Greg had waited to tell her until after they had recorded for the day.
thanks for reading! REVIEW and i'll love you for ever.
Lillian James