Author's Note: For those of you wondering, I had previously posted Chapter 4, but taken it down for revision upon a couple of suggestions from reviewers. Sorry for the delay and I hope you'll give your honest feedback.
Chapter 4: The Morning of Confrontations
He never knew she had it in her, but as he got up completely sore and in loads of pain, James would never again doubt the capability of the Head Girl to have a wicked streak in her. Who would have thought the seemingly proper and polite Lily Evans would be able to make him truly regret romping around at night, even though the fight had not been his fault.
James groaned as he touched his forehead, wincing as it still stung from last night. He made a mental note not to get on Lily's bad side again as he readied himself for breakfast.
Heading down the stairs to the shared common room, he spotted some of the books Lily had left there from last night. That was strange – usually she had them with her at all times, or put away. She wasn't a slob as far as he could tell.
James almost left the room when a black book with no title caught his eye. It wasn't a school textbook or a library book. Curious, he picked it up.
"Impedimenta!" cried Lily from the top of the stairs, having just gotten ready for breakfast. The spell shot out of her wand, immobilizing James. She flew down the stairs, grabbing the book out of his hands before the jinx wore off. She panted from moving so fast and realized how close James had been to discovering what exactly what was in that book.
The now mobile James looked at her in bewilderment.
Lily scowled at him. "Do the words 'personal property' mean anything at all to you?" she hissed, possessively clutching the black sketchbook to her chest.
"Er.." James scratched the back of his head, giving her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, really I am. I was just curious. You did leave your things sprawled out all over the place."
"Oh so now it's my fault you distracted me by bleeding all over the place?" She dared him to challenge her. She was upset because her most personal secret nearly being discovered by a boy she knew was very capable of being insensitive about it. He could post the sketches for the entire school to laugh at, or even worse, think she was another one of his adoring fans.
James gave her an innocent look. "You found me attractive enough to be distracting?" Then he grinned at seeing her outwitted and disbelieving expression. "I'm flattered! Honestly Lily, first the Quidditch Pitch and now this."
Lily's slack jaw expression and twitching fingers made James think it was time for a hasty exit before she recovered her wits enough to hex him for his bold comments. And he was indeed right as she gave him a look he could have sworn was almost amused but promised heavy retribution for his smart comments.
Her lips twitched as she gave him a speculative look. "You have five seconds to get out of here, Potter, before I hex you like I've never hexed anyone before. And if you thought the stinging was bad last night…"
James' eyes widened in terror and he subconsciously let out a small whimper.
"Five…"
James was out of the door and to the next hallway before Lily could even say 'four.' She smirked, blowing the tip of her wand and twirling it as she had seen cowboys do to their smoking guns in American western movies.
"I still got it," Lily sung in smug satisfaction.
Lily was glaring daggers (discretely or so she thought) at the person responsible for her recent trouble with Potter. Selene, for her part was completely unaware.
"You know if you had listened to me, you wouldn't be in this mess," commented Eva.
Lily turned her nasty glare upon Eva, one of the few people she would tolerate teasing from. "I told you before…Head Girl…no hexing…memory charms...remember?" she bit out.
The black-haired witch nodded, but clearly didn't believe her. "So why is it then, you have no problem hexing Potter?"
"I did not hex Potter!" Lily said with heavy emphasis. She almost had, but Eva didn't need to know that. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
Eva spared a glance at the redhead. "So you snogged him then," she said matter-of-factly, wondering how Lily would take that. Something had gone on last night, for James to be sneaking more glances than usual at her.
Lily blinked. "What?" She dropped her toast, her eyes narrowing at Eva. "I could have sworn you said-"
"I did." Eva said smugly. "So the rumors are true then." She could have mentioned she had started the rumors…but why ruin the fun? Lily was too uptight for her own good; she needed a little excitement in her life.
"Rumors?" Lily repeated, stunned. "I did not snog Potter!" she insisted strongly, keeping her voice low enough as to not attract unwanted attention. "Whatever you heard about Potter and me is simply rubbish. You know if you weren't my friend-" She glared at Eva.
"Best," corrected Eva, basking in the redhead's discomfort. James, she noted, was looking thoroughly amused by Lily's reaction. He must have overheard Lily's declaration. She couldn't blame him. It wasn't often that she was visibly shaken. Not to mention that glare Lily had perfected over the years, thanks to none other than James himself. It didn't faze Eva in the least though.
Lily growled. "Fine. If you weren't my best friend you would have the honor of being the recipient of my first hex as Head Girl." Grabbing her things, Lily marched off, shooting both Eva and James a dirty look.
Eva snickered as Lily left early for her next class – claiming to be too disgusted to eat anything else. "Whatever you say Lily… whatever you say."
Smoothing her short black hair back, she noticed Amos heading her way. She arched an eyebrow at him, but didn't move from her spot. She wasn't intimidated by very many things – least of all boys.
He slid into the seat across from her, flashing what he thought was a charming smile. Eva immediately suspected that he wanted something.
"Can I help you find your seat Amos? As I recall it's right across the room next to the Slytherins." She didn't spare him a glance as she picked at her blueberry muffin, popping the wild blueberries into her mouth. Eva closed her eyes in bliss; nothing could beat blueberries in her opinion.
"Huh…is it really? Well good thing I wasn't planning on sitting there now isn't it?" He looked unperturbed by her open hostility towards him. Amos had surmounted more difficult challenges before; it only took time and patience on his part.
"Must be my lucky day," Eva retorted sarcastically, not letting Amos' presence ruin her delicious food.
"Funny that you mention it actually," he moved to sit right next to her, ignoring what sounded like a growl from her. "I've decided you're the one that has the privilege of walking me to my first class today."
She wondered if his ego could be any bigger. "Oh really, your Highness?" Eva stood up from the table, mirroring his wide smile.
With that, she dumped the rest of her breakfast onto his lap, calmly retrieved her book bag and left.