A/N: Hi everyone! Welcome to Twisted Roses, my second fic! (It's choice #1, for those of you who couldn't guess.) For those of you who read Don't Let Him Go, my other fic, this is nothing like it. As you can see, it's rated M, mostly for language, but it may take a different path as I go along...
I've been working really hard on this one, but even so, I'm not really into this chapter. Oh well, it'll get better as it goes along, I promise.
This takes place in Lily and James' sixth year. It's a bit AU, but it'll mostly follow the normal L/J qualities.
Ok, well, hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: (You know how it goes.) I really, really wish that I owned Lily, James, Sirius, Frank, Remus, and all the other characters, but I don't. (I don't want Peter. JKR can keep him.) I only own the plot and stuff you don't recognize. Yeah. -Sighs-
James Potter was late for Charms.
It wasn't like he hadn't been late before, but Charms started at 11:30, and it was, at the moment, 11:49. And while his work came easily for him and he could honestly care less about anything but food, friends, pranks, and most importantly, girls, he did have a life which didn't involve getting detentions for being late.
James sprinted through the halls, perfectly aware that all of the girls who didn't have Charms at 11:30 were all staring and blushing as he rushed past. After all, he was one of the best looking boys at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and had almost the entire female population wrapped around his fingers.
You see, James Potter was not your average, everyday wizard (Or rather, underage wizard). He was strikingly good looking, with messy, jet black hair that always looked as if he'd just gotten off his broomstick, bright hazel eyes that shined mischievously behind silver wire-rimmed round glasses, and a smile that was powerful enough to make girls melt. He was also a very good Quidditch player, which compensated for his well toned body and reflexes. And, if that wasn't enough to get a girl's attention, James was currently single.
As James rushed through the halls, he tried to recall why he was so late for Charms in the first place. Well, he thought, it could be because I was up late with that girl - what was her name? Abby? Ashley? Something with an A... James' feet carried him up the stairs, through the corridor, around the corner, then-
James suddenly collided with something very solid, and he and it fell over in a flurry of books and screaming. Looking up, James realized that the thing he hit was in fact a girl, one with dark red, braided hair and thick-lensed coke-in-the-bottle glasses that he could barely see her eyes through.
"Ow," she said, pushing up her glasses. She seemed completely unaware that James was staring at her or even there at all.
James cleared his throat. "Um, sorry 'bout that," he said, adjusting his own glasses and standing up. He knelt down to pick up one of the girl's books.
"Don't bother," she said suddenly in an irritated voice.
James looked up, caught off guard by the girl's rudeness. "But, I - your books-"
"They aren't mine, they're Professor Flitwick's." The girl said somewhat shrilly, righting herself as best she could with the nine books in her arms. "I'm taking them down to Professor McGonagall as a favor. And besides," she added impatiently, narrowing her eyes, "Aren't you supposed to be in Flitwick's class now?"
"What? Oh - yeah!" James said, suddenly remembering why he was there to begin with. And, forgetting completely about the girl, he ran down the corridor to Professor Flitwick's classroom.
"Mr. Potter, you're late," Professor Flitwick said unnecessarily as James walked into the room.
"Yes, Professor," James said, bowing his head in mock shame. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again."
The professor surveyed James over his small glasses. "Alright, then. Take a seat, please." And with that, Flitwick turned and continued instructing the class on the Patronus charm.
James glanced about the room and quickly found his friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew sitting in their usual seats in the back of the room. He flashed his trademark I-just-wormed-my-way-out-of-a-shit-load-of-trouble smirk at them and headed up towards the back of the classroom. However, when he saw that his seat was being occupied by a blonde Hufflepuff girl who was drooling blatantly over Sirius, he stopped and shot his friends a look that plainly said, "Thanks for saving a seat for me, guys."
"Mr. Potter, would you please find a seat? You are disrupting my lesson." Flitwick said, his tiny hands on his tiny hips.
James turned around and scanned the room for an open seat, but the only one available was in the very front of the classroom, next to a large stack of unaccompanied books.
"Mr. Potter?" It looked as if James would just have to sit in the front of the room. He inwardly groaned. How was he supposed to sleep if the teacher was a mere five feet away from him?
He shoved his books across the table and sat down. The room seemed so much smaller from up front that he wondered for a moment if this was the classroom Charms normally took place in.
James looked around him. It seemed that all of the front rows were occupied by geeks and nerds. Crossing his arms and slouching in his seat, James thought, Some friends I have.
James' brooding was interrupted a few moments later when the red-headed girl returned to the class room. She handed a note to Flitwick, who thanked her, and turned to sit down. She froze when she saw James there.
Huh, James thought, staring at her over his glasses, she must be in my fan club or something. But wait, then why didn't she want me to help her pick up her books? The girl took a breath and sat down next to James. She opened her notebook and began writing down practically every word Flitwick said, sitting straight and still as a statue and staring raptly at the professor. James blinked and looked forward too.
But after five minutes, James' attention was waning. Charms wasn't a blow off class for him, but it wasn't like he'd ever paid attention before. He sighed and tore a sheet of parchment off his roll.
Sirius, you great arse, He wrote, why couldn't you save me a seat instead of letting your girlfriend sit back there?
He balled up the parchment and, checking to make sure Flitwick still had his back turned, threw it to Sirius in the back of the classroom. He looked forward as the professor turned to the class.
"As I said earlier, the Patronus charm is one of immense difficulty, and is often only conjured by the most talented of wizards." He turned back to the chalk board. James looked back just in time to catch the parchment with Sirius' reply.
Hey, it's not my fault you were late. I thought you and that girl - what was her name?- were still up in the dorms. And she isn't my girlfriend. She just sat here on her own. Besides, you're not exactly one to be lecturing me, are you? (Look next to you.)
James turned his head to the red-headed girl next to him. She wasn't paying any attention to him, and seemed completely unaware that anything was going on around her except for the professor's lecture. James went back to the parchment.
What, her? I don't even know her name. And why would you think that there's something going on between us? Look at her. If that doesn't spell geek, I don't know what does.
James threw the note back to Sirius who read it quickly and wrote back just as fast.
The professor turned again. "Who can tell me why the Patronus is such a difficult charm?" The girl next to James raised her hand straight into the air. "Miss Evans?"
"Because," 'Miss Evans' said, "in order to produce a Patronus, you must be able to focus your entire mind on a very happy thought or memory. And in the face of danger, or even death, it is a very difficult ordeal for an incapable wizard to complete." James distinctively saw her eyes dart towards himself when she said 'incapable wizard'.
"Yes, very good. Ten points to Gryffindor." Flitwick said turning back to the board.
In the time that it had taken for the girl to answer the question and the minutes that proceeded it, James had received the note three times and thrown it back to Sirius twice. He hastily wrote another answer and threw to Sirius, who caught it just as the professor turned.
"Hm...Mr. Potter," Flitwick said. "Could you tell us the incantation that conjures a Patronus?" It was obvious that the professor knew he wasn't paying attention. James noted uncomfortably that the girl next to him had a particularly smug look on her face. She, of course, knew the answer
"Oh, um," James said, his eyes scanning his desk for something that might help him to not look like an idiot. He spotted the red-headed girl's note and quickly read. "Uh, Expecto, er, Patronum..."
"Yes indeed." Flitwick said, turning back to the board. James breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the girl next to him again. She still had her head turned to the front of the classroom, but there was a distinct frown on her bespectacled face.
James blinked and turned in time to see Sirius throw the note, but he didn't catch it. Instead, it was grabbed away from him by the girl sitting next to him. She held it tight in her hand and smirked at his bewildered face.
James quickly wiped his face clean of emotion and whispered, "Can I have that back, please?"
"I don't know, can you?" she whispered back, turning and staring ahead.
"Er," James stuttered. How was he supposed to answer that?
The girl rolled her eyes. "The proper way of stating that question is 'may I have that back please', not 'can I have that back please'."
James stared at her. "Okay...may I have that back please?" He tried.
"No," was the reply
"Why not?" James asked, his patience waning.
"Because first of all, you're supposed to be paying attention to the lecture, and you can't do that if you're busy writing notes to your dear lover boy back there. Second, if you can't ask for something properly the first time, it won't be given to you. Third, because you're an arrogant, bulling toerag who doesn't deserve to have his precious little note back. And lastly," she said, licking her lips coldly, "because I'm a bitch who doesn't really feel like giving you your note back just so you can continue talking about me behind my back with your idiot friend."
James stared at her, completely abashed. How did she know we were talking about her? He wondered. He turned around in his seat and looked at Sirius, who had his eyebrows raised. He appeared just as confused as James felt.
James turned back to his pile of books with every intention of starting a new note, but his roll of parchment wasn't on his desk. He quickly checked the floor behind and in front of his chair, but it wasn't there. He wildly looked at the girl next to him and saw that she was twirling a roll of parchment that was unmistakingly his in her long, thin fingers. James looked down at his desk, raw with confusion and anger, and saw a small slip of open parchment that read in thin, neat writing,
Looking for something?
James had never been more confused, angry, or annoyed in his life. He crumpled up the slip and chucked it into the wastepaper basket. Then he went back to his quiet brooding, looking sideways at the girl every so often with his eyes narrowed in slits. What the bloody hell's her problem?
Lily Evans was quite proud of herself.
She had just infuriated James Potter, the most 'popular' boy in school. That's another potential problem to cross of my list, she thought as she walked quickly to the Hospital Wing.
Her walk was a very quiet one, as nearly everyone in the corridors barely noticed her presence. But Lily didn't mind - she rather liked it. Lily wasn't one of those girls who basked in attention, but rather, a quiet bookworm who liked being alone or with her two best friends, Willow and Dathan Brinks. She reached the Hospital Wing, pushed one of the heavy oak doors opened and entered.
"Lily," a voice said from the far end of the wing. Lily smiled and hurried to the bed that was currently occupied by Willow, who eyed her contently. "I'm guessing Dathan's off wandering the halls again?"
Lily smiled. "That Dathan does like to wander, doesn't he? He didn't even come to Charms." She said, sitting on the edge of Willow's bed and dropping her bag to the floor next to Willow's three-inch-heeled combat boots. "So, how are you?"
"Fine, but I have to stay the night." Willow responded, glaring at the bed sheets.
"Well, it's not like you can help it. I'm just glad you got up here before it got really bad." Lily replied, surveying her friend. Willow was a very thin, pale-skinned enigmatic girl who had a gothic tendency to wear only black. She had very long dark brown hair that she always kept up in a knot at the back of her head. Willow's eyes were huge and strikingly violet, but no one ever saw them, as they were always hidden behind her veil of nose-length bangs. She hardly ever smiled or showed any emotion on her half-hidden face.
Willow suffered from random fits, during which she had very bad hallucinations of people dying. It was one of these fits that landed Willow in the Hospital Wing that very morning.
"So," Willow said, "how was Charms?"
"Well, Professor Flitwick went over the Patronus charm all hour. Basically stuff we learned in third year. I took notes that you can copy. Oh, and speaking of notes," Lily reached down and dug through her bag. She explained to Willow what had happened with James Potter in the hallways and how he had sat next to her in class. "And then he started throwing notes across the room to Sirius Black, and I got so annoyed with it that I stole it from Potter as he was about to catch it. He was very angry about it, but it serves him right."
Willow cocked her head to the side, her eyes dancing. "You're a very odd girl, Lily Evans. You know that, don't you?"
"Right, the Angel of Darkness is telling me I'm odd." Lily replied back, snorting slightly. "Wanna read it with me?"
"Sure," Willow said, sighing, and Lily scooted closer. The two girls leaned in and read silently.
Sirius, you great arse, why couldn't you save me a seat instead of letting you girlfriend sit back there?
Hey, it's not my fault you were late. I thought you and that girl - what was her name? - were still up in the dorms. And she isn't my girlfriend. She just sat here on her own. Besides, you're not exactly one to be lecturing me, are you? (Look next to you.)
What, her? I don't even know her name. And why would you think that there's something going on between us? Look at her. If that doesn't spell geek, I don't know what does.
Her name's Lily Evans - you know, that creepy goth girl's friend. She's the top student in our year. A muggleborn with a clean record.
How do you know that? You haven't shagged her, have you?
No. God, you make me sound like some kind of man-whore. I saw her file when I was in Flitch's office a few days ago. Apparently, she's really good at upholding rules.
You seem interested in this - Evans, was her name? Thinking of going after her, are you?
I'm not interested, really, but there's something different about her. She's not your average geek, you know? I mean, it seems like behind her braids and glasses, there's an actual girl there. Perhaps a pretty one at that. It's funny, she's probably the most mysterious person I've ever seen. (Next to her creepy goth friend, of course.) I suppose that interests me...
Lily and Willow both looked at each other. "They both seem to be giving you a lot of thought," Willow said, handing the paper back to Lily.
Lily frowned. "I don't know. Perhaps they do this to every 'geek' they see."
"Perhaps," Willow said. Then lowering her voice to a whisper, she said, "But you're not just another 'geek', are you?"
Lily surveyed Willow over her glasses. "True, but I think Black was entirely clueless to that when he wrote his reply to Potter. There's no way he could-"
"I didn't mean to imply that he knew anything, I was merely stating that his words are truer than even he knows." Willow interrupted. She sighed. "But quite frankly, I don't believe that he's any bit of a threat to you. He may be clever, but Sirius Black's head is completely filled with saw dust."
"You're right." Lily replied. "However, this situation is potentially problematic. I can't have one of the most popular boys in school nosing around in my business. After all, if he had the nerve to steal my file, he may present a large threat to what I'm striving to uphold."
"Touché," Willow responded quietly, rising to a sitting position. "But I don't really think you should worry about it. If Potter's as angry as you said he was, he and his friends will stay away from you as much as they do every other day. They'll probably stay away from me as well. After all, I am your 'creepy goth friend'." She said, quoting the note.
"Once again, you're right." Lily said, sighing. But something tells me that this isn't the end of it."
Willow sighed. If only Lily knew how right she was…
James returned to his dorm later that night to find his roll of parchment lying on his bed with a note written in thin, neat writing that he recognized instantly. It said,
Stay away from me and my business. Tell your friends to heed that advice as well.
James scratched his head. It looked like Sirius was right - this Lily Evans was a complete mystery. And while just thinking about her made his blood simmer, there was something about her...
Like Sirius had said, the mystery surrounding her was very interesting...
A/N:So...Questions? Comments? Concerns? Lovie it? Hate it? TELL ME!
Like I said before, this one's different. Lily's trying to ward James off on purpose, which is only getting her more noticed. Willow and Dathan (This name is so hot. I'm in love with it!) are twins who are really, really, odd, but you'll learn more about them later.
Yeah, so, please review!
Hugs and fuzzles
MM360