Jily Oneshots (pt2)

With Little to No Help From Friends

The only problem with that was that there was no possibility that he liked her anymore. She'd seen him move on, date other girls. He'd even told her he was so glad she was his "friend," with more emphasis on the word than would ever be necessary. Lily plastered on a fake smile at that, and returned his sentiment.

But the worst of all was at a pizza and pool party that summer. Sirius joked about the two of them getting together, wondering if one of their babies would be redheaded, to which James laughed and clapped Lily on the shoulder, like one of the guys, and said, "Me and Lily? Ha! Good one, Padfoot!" Lily had laughed weakly and excused herself to the pizza.

Now, it was even worse to be so close to James, since they had been chosen as Head Boy and Head Girl. She didn't know how many times she'd be able to handle James sitting so close to her, close enough for her to smell his hint of cologne, as they wrote up patrolling schedules for the prefects or tabulated house points. She wasn't certain she could pass by so many broom closets with James walking so closely to her as they patrolled late at night in the dimly lit, romantic hallways of the castle without bloody pulling him into a closet and getting on with it.

At night, she dreamed of what it would be like to kiss him or be his girlfriend. She was glad they had the Heads' dorm to themselves only because her friends wouldn't find her crying her eyes out randomly before she went to sleep. She told herself she was being stupid, and over a boy, no less. But she thought of how many times James might have felt the way she now did, and she felt even worse.

She'd missed her chance, she knew, and now the whole year was going to be painful.

Her friends did notice, however, the empty look in her eyes that lingered. They noticed she slumped so much more than usual, and, though she kept her grades high to distract herself from thinking of him, she'd lost much of her enthusiasm for her classes. More and more, they observed, she'd pull away from any situation without warning, and have a look of utter disappointment on her face.

Lily dragged her feet on the way back to the common room until her friends distracted her enough from thinking about James. For the first time, Hestia was certain she'd seen a quick change in Lily's mood. Lily went from less than enthusiastic to her usual happy self in just a few minutes after she'd been drawn into conversation with them.

But what could have her so down in the dumps? Gryffindor had won the match, after all. It must be something class-related, Hestia reasoned. Lily never cared about much else. Or maybe she'd read a bad book that had upset her? No, that couldn't be it.

She didn't figure it out until that night. All the of-age wizards had set out to the Hogsmeade bars that night for a celebration. The girls found themselves in The Three Broomsticks Pub, and Sirius was buying all the ladies their drinks of choice. Lily, aware that she should be careful but still wanting to have a bit of fun, placed her order with Madam Rosmerta.

"Gin, please. Whatever you've got."

"Oooohhh, Evans! Let's hope you've got a high tolerance! Oi, everyone!" Sirius announced to their group, "Evans is getting daring with her drinking!" Lily laughed and wrapped an arm around his neck, too tightly, on purpose.

"Best not get your hopes up that you'll get lucky with me tonight, Black! I've got an unbreakable tolerance, I'll have you know," she said as he wriggled out of her grasp and caught his breath.

"Damn," he said wistfully. "I'll just leave you to James, then. Be a pity for you to go your whole life and not share with one of us." Lily smacked him on the arm, and he cackled. "I'm kidding, Evans. No other blokes in this place are worthy of you! Except, maybe Peter." Lily's mouth dropped open as she continued to hit him, while he laughed like a twelve-year-old. "Drink up," he said, lifting his glass as Lily took her drink from Rosmerta and clinked it with his, then they drank. A lot.