After, oh say—a year, I'm finally updating this. Oh dear.
After a night of fervently studying Vanishing Spells, I nearly fall asleep at the breakfast table. My oatmeal looks like a canvas, and my spoon a paintbrush as I trace shapes in the porridge. First, a smiley face. A house. A--a heart? Oh, bloody hell, this is getting cliché. Nothing quite takes the charm out of unrequited love like cold porridge.
Frank Longbottom asks me if I am all right. I mutter, "Yes, Frank, I am doing quite spiffingly. Thank you very much, old chap!" but it ends up sounding like, "Yefraspifthanks." He gives me a sceptical look, shrugs, and eats his eggs. I look down, deciding to go back upstairs—perhaps I still haven't quite perfected those charms.
As I slowly walk up, a voice hisses in my ear: "Given up, have we?"
I turn around slowly. Severus Snape is standing there, his arms crossed. I give him a tired look, which doesn't take much of an effort. "What are you doing, Severus?" I ask, rubbing my eyes.
"You're moping about the bloody school, Mudblood. It's even depressing for me," he sneers.
My eyes snap open. I have to hand it to Snape for getting me back to my old self. "Why are you bothering me?" I spit, "don't you have anything better to do?"
He scowls, of course, and tucks a strand of hair behind his ear. "Well…no, I was just bored." He looks at me with an almost hopeful look in his eyes. I look past him down the stairs, only to see James and Sirius having a swordfight with their spoons. A crowd of girls surround them, and one knows they're only doing it for attention. James stops, winks at a girl and ruffles his hair. Rage pours into me and I feel as if I hate him more than ever.
I look back at Snape. He's still looking at me, and realization hits…
"You're trying to be my friend, aren't you?"
He sputters, struggling for words. "What? I…no…pfft…no."
Which obviously means, "Yes, please."
"It's fine, you know," I say as I continue walking, "I'm not as narrow-minded about Slytherins as the rest of my fellow Gryffindors." I give him a sweet smile, knowing it will make him squirm. It does.
Suddenly, James and Sirius start to tango. James pushes Sirius away, who acts offended and swoops the girl he was winking at into his arms, twirls her around, and gives her a kiss. The hall fills with "Awww"'s.
"James Potter is such a prat," I can't help but mutter. Snape gives me an incredulous look.
"I thought you were his girlfriend," he says, wonder evident in his voice.
I lift my chin, pushing the memories of the past few days into the back of my mind. "I detest Potter just as much as you do."
He gives me a smile. "I have a feeling this is going to be a beautiful friendship."
"Isn't that line from a Muggle movie?"
Snape ignores me. "The way he ruffles his hair…who does that?"
I roll my eyes. It's exhilarating to have somebody to talk to about how annoying James is. "James Potter does. After all, he's such a ladies' man." I ruffle my hair and lower my eyes in 'seduction.' "Hey baby, you wanna ride my broomstick?"
I glance at him, and he's emitting a noise that sounds suspiciously like a laugh.
"I saw you talking to Severus Snape today."
I look at my friend, Artemis Pace. In my fifth year, I had many friends, most of them girls. During the past two, however, we've lost that connection. Artemis, though she can sometimes be a bit too dreamy, has truly stuck with me throughout the years. I am laying on my bed on my stomach, working on an assignment, and I look up.
Now, I am irritated by her. "What, were you in the crowd watching James Potter?" I ask with a harsh tone.
"Yes," she answers honestly, "and I saw you two. Together. You aren't—"
Sighing exasperatingly, I reply, "No, we aren't dating. We've simply…bonded, that's all. Am I not allowed to have friends?" My pitch rises, and I can feel myself becoming defensive.
Artemis shakes her head ardently. "No, no, I mean…it's just strange. I haven't seen Severus Snape be friendly with anybody who wasn't Lucius Malfoy or one of those Slytherins, let alone a Muggle-born Gryffindor." Her face grows concerned.
I brush it off. "People can change, can't they? People much better, much more mature than Potter." I say the word as if it's Avada Kedavra itself.
She shrugs. "Okay. Whatever you prefer." She sits at the end of the bed, taking a magazine from her nightstand and flipping through it. "Who do you reckon will be Witch Weekly's Hogwarts Graduate of the Year?"
"Probably James bloody Potter." I purse my lips.
"Yes, you're probably right. Though he might have competition from Sirius Black." She must not have noticed my sarcasm.
"You...don't fancy Sirius Black, do you?" I inquire, looking up.
Artemis raises her eyebrows. "Oh, heavens no! I mean, I quite like him, but..." she stops, and a dreamy smile comes across her face.
I sit up. "Who?" I demand.
She gives me a coy grin. "It's a secret. I'll tell you later." She closes the magazine and leaves the room. I stand up, starting to follow her, when I run into somebody else at the bottom of the stairs.
"Lily! How are you?" Sirius Black is babbling, and he gives me a bone-cracking hug. James looks over from where he's sitting. I awkwardly pat his back.
"Er…fine, thanks."
"What's going on with you and—"
I narrow my eyes. "This isn't about me and Snape, is it?"
He flashes me a smile. "Well, now that you've mentioned it…"
I sigh impatiently. "I'm sorry that I'm friends with someone you think is a git, okay? It's all fair really; you're friends with a person I think is a git."
Looking at me for a moment, Sirius breaks out into a beam and wraps his arm around me, tugging me around the common room. "Oh, Lily, you've always been my favourite."
I furrow my brow. "Favourite what?"
"Ahh, just my favourite." He gives me a one-armed hug before joining James, who for some reason or another, looks simply furious.
I fear for his sanity.