Limerence | A James & Lily Story

No Denying it

      Lily won't look at me or speak to me. Oddly enough, her silent treatment gives me hope. She cares some what about what I'm doing with Jenna. Or, says a voice in the back of my mind, we've gone back to her not liking you at all. The thought of that causes a drop in my gut.

       "Moony," I tug on his elbow, as we make our way to potions class. "I need you to partner up with Marlene today."

        He turns to give me a quizzical look- eyebrows raised and lips puckered. "Why?" His voice suspicious and eyes appraising me. He stares at me without breaking his gaze. Remus has always had an exceptional ability to make me spill my guts under his unwavering stare. He runs a hand through his light brown hair, waiting patiently for my response.

        "Cause," I say, averting my eyes from his. "I need to talk to Lily, and this seems to be the only way. Wormtail and Padfoot are pairing up, you pair up with Marlene, leaving Lily with me."

       "Prongs," he says carefully, tugging on his tie. "Is that the best idea?"

       "Please, Moony, I can't have her hating me again." He must hear the pleading in my voice because after a moments hesitation, he nods reluctantly, and we enter the room just before Slughorn starts his lecture.

       I zone out as soon as Slughorn's voice fills the room, my eyes glued to the back of Lily's head. Several thoughts and emotion bounce around in my head as he drones on, and an anxious feeling begins to spread through my veins. Lily sighs as Slughorn relies solely on her to be able to answer a question that probably came straight from a textbook.

     "It's amortentia," her soprano voice echoes. "The most powerful love potion there is. It's distinct by it's mother of pearl sheen and spiraling steam. It smells different to every person based on what attracts them." 

       "Maybe, you should give a love potion a try," Sirius mutters, leaning close to my side.

       I aim a kick at his shin, but he dodges it smoothly, throwing up his arm as he does so with his middle finger raised. "I want you to get with a partner and work on it. I don't expect any of you to get it today, but I would like you all to try your best," Slughorn says, clapping his hands together excitedly.

      Lily looks around, avoiding my eye contact. I watch Remus pull Marlene to the side, convincing her to be his partner. He throws me a look, so I give him a thumbs up. Lily has her back to me and seems to have no intention of looking my way.

      "Lily?" I  prod. She turns to look at me but quickly averts her eyes, sidestepping me. "Please?" I know my voice sounds whiny and pathetic, but I can't seem to help it. This girl does strange things to me.

       "I'll be with Marlene," she says, her voice conveying no emotion, eyes glazed over. 

       "I think she already has a partner," I say with a slight twinge of guilt in my gut of manipulating her like this. She quickly turns to see her best friend paired with Remus.

       "Fine," she spits. "Go get the ingredients." I immediately do as I'm told. I make my way to the cupboard and begin pulling things we need from the shelves, trying to be as fast as possible, not wanting to keep her waiting.

       When I arrive back at our table, she has the cauldron going and seems to be having an internal argument. I set the ingredients on the table and look at her, slightly scared. She rolls her eyes, annoyed, and huffs. "Do you expect me to do everything?"

       My eyebrows shoot up, and I say very carefully, "No, I just figured you would want to take charge." That, and if I tried to do this, I'd probably blow something up.