Wolfing Around

Chapter 2: Lilies

I've told Lily everything that happened in the common room and now it's her turn to scream into a pillow. She calls James a few choice words and says Remus is a 'flame-headed dingbat.' We tire ourselves out by talking discussing literature and our hatred for James's group. I wake up to Bianca, one of the other girls in our dorm, shaking me awake.
"Holy Hufflepuff what is your problem?" I whine as I sit up groggily.
She giggles. "I have a gift for you! Well, not a gift from me, I'm just the deliverer."
"Isn't that usually my owls job?"
Bianca breaks into a brilliant grin and shakes her head, causing some of her long hair slapping my face. "This is special. It's from a secret admirer." She lowers her voice as she says it as though she's telling me a great tale.
"A- a what?" I say because my head is still pretty filled with early morning fog. "Sorry Bianca, can you give me a second to wake up?"
"Ughh, fine. I'll talk to you as you get ready for the day." She concedes. That's not really what I meant, but whatever. I roll off my cot and walk to the bathroom as she chatters behind me. I glance at Lily's bed but she seems to be elsewhere. Next I check the clock.
"God Bianca! Eight am on a Saturday? This better be good."
"Ohh, it is." She says as I begin brushing my teeth. "So you know James and Sirius and Remus and all those guys right?"
I nod.
"Well, they sent Lily flowers!" I choke on my toothpaste. "Lilies to be exact." She giggles. Oh they're so clever. I know Lily will hate this. James is always flirting with her and messing with her, and no matter how much she expresses her aggravation at it she doesn't seem to be able to get him off of her. But I still don't see how this situation warrants waking me up two hours before I planned to on the weekend. "And they sent you a bouquet!" Oh.
Of course they did. I don't know how a bouquet of flowers could be evil, but if they're from those guys then they definitely are. God why can't they just find other people to embarrass and mess with? I finish brushing my teeth and cuss under my breath.
     "What's wrong?" Bianca says, because she doesn't really seem to realize how much those boys annoy Lily and I. She treats them almost like celebrities.
     "Nothing. Where's Lily?" I say, quickly cleaning my face. I'm a little too nervous to ask for the flowers, just in case they blow up in my face or something. Knowing Remus and his friends, that bouquet will spray some weird potion at me or something.
     "I think she's with Willis in the common room."
     "Okay, thanks." I rush out of the bathroom and run to meet Lily and Will.

     "Ugh, guys what is going on?" I say as I flip onto the couch beside Willis.
     "Good morning to you too. It's just a few flowers. I don't know why everyone is making such a ruckus about it." He says.
     Lily coughs. "A few?" Will shoots her a look I don't understand and turns back to me.
     "I know, but it's just another thing they've done to play with us somehow." I groan.
     Lily glares. "It's more than just a few flowers."
     "What?"
     She hops off the couch and Willis and I follow her to the common room door. What I see outside makes me want to barf. Although maybe that's from the intense smell. It looks like they've practically made a red carpet with roses and tiger lilies that my friends and I step onto with no concern for the flowers. They bounce back up after we've stepped on them anyway, but I wish I could stop them into pulp because of who put them here. Floating above us is Lily's name written in large letters with the flowers she was named for. Bianca definitely made this little prank sound a lot less large scale. And beside Lily's, my name was written. I notice there's also a little note on the carpet of flowers that say 'from the marauders' which I guess is how everyone knew who did it.
James appears from behind a column of roses and grins. Remus walks around from the other side with Sirius and Peter stumbles along with them. I realize my mouth is still open and snap it shut.
"You like our little display? We made it just for you." James says, walking up to Lily and reaching a hand out to touch her hair, which she bats away.
"You wrote our names in flowers?" I ask.
"Ah- not just any flowers. Trumpet lilies." James gestures to Lily's name.
"And lilium amoenum. They're rare." Remus offers.
"Yes, and sweet pea flowers." Sirius waves an arm at my levitating name and my stomach drops. How did they know my favorite flower?
"What is your problem?" I meant to mutter it but it kind of came out as a yell. I'm just so done with them.
     "What do you mean? We set up a nice surprise for you." Sirius says.
     "Sorry about her, she is just very- er- surprised. Y/n isn't very good at handling her emotions." Willis interjects. He always treats their group like a box of TNT that will explode if you look at it the wrong way. "Good job though."
     "You never do anything nice for us, though. It's always a trick. Always a dumb prank."
     "Which is why we thought we might do something nice for you! Look, we even have..." He pauses, gesturing to his friends. Peter and Sirius hand James and Remus the flowers bouquets I'm guessing Bianca was referencing earlier. James brings his to Lily and Remus brings his to me. I'm suddenly aware we're drawing a small crowd. Sirius casts a spell and a classical song begins emitting from his wand. I want to die. I'm guessing my feelings are apparent because James is grinning like a cat. Remus has a little more of what I think is a coy smile on his face.
"Lily Evans, will you go to the Fall Dance with me?" James says, offering her the lilies.
"Y/n y/ln, will you go to the Fall Dance with me?" Remus says, handing me my sweet pea flowers. A gasp escapes me against my lips. I can barely speak with all the emotions warring inside of me. I'm so mad at them, embarrassed, and saying I'm surprised is an understatement. I'm also painfully aware that I'm still in my PJ's and there are at least 10 kids watching this play out. How am I even supposed to respond to that?