Fifth Year:
"Oh for the love of Merlin, Alice! Get your ass down here already!" I yelled from the common room, with Fred, Teddy and James sitting around me.
"Alright, alright!" She came down the stairs, skipping a few stairs on the way.
"What?! Why is everyone wearing skirts?" Fred asked. "Hey Lils? Do you have any extra skirts I can burrow?"
I could feel my eyes widen. "Yes. Yes. We are totally doing that this evening."
He chuckled and gave me a thumbs up.
"All good to go, then?" Roxanne asked, getting up from the arm chair.
I nodded and got up.
Both Alice and Roxanne looked really hot in their outfits.
Alice was wearing a red skirt with small red mushrooms on it, with a white sweater on top. Her hair had two braids with purple crystals hanging down as earings.
Roxanne was wearing green. Green skirt, with a lighter tone of blue shirt. With brown boats under it.
And I was wearing black skirt with back tights under it. On top, I wore a simple green sweater with my hair up in a ponytail.
I like those girls who do messy buns, but doing messy bun to my curly hair... That won't work.
*****
"Hi, Max. Missed me?" Alice gave his brother a tight hug and they both said good bye to their parents as we stayed behind and watched.
Max was wearing a blue hoodie with a giant green dinosaur on it, matching with his blue pants that also had small dinosaurs on it.
I can't even remember the last time a saw him. It almost been a year.
"Hello Alice, Roxanne."
Awwwe! I forgot how bad he was with 'r's. Haha!
"And... Lily! Wow Lily, your hair looks exactly like a-"
"Ah!" I cut him off. "This time, I don't want to know which dinosaur poop my hair looks like, thanks."
"Hi, I'm James." James held out his hand for Max to shake.
Max looked at him up and down before clearing his throat in the most disgusting way possible and spitting on his hand to shake James'.
James' expression changed and after the hand shake he took out his wand and did a cleaning spell three times in a row.
"Max, you already know how much of a good sister I am. So," Alice turned to us and smiled. "Instead of wasting your time with me, you can hang out with Lily and James."
Max looked at her and some kind of energy passed between them. Like they had sibling telepathy.
He shrugged and looked at us. "Okay."
Alice and Roxanne did a high five. "Great. Okay then. Have fun. Bye."
They both disappeared before I could ask what time they would be back, or what he likes to do and all that stuff.
"What would you like to do Max?" I asked, kindly smiling to make him feel better.
"Wanna go get some butterbeer?" James suggested.
"Yes, please, please. Please!" He jumped up and down.
"Okay great- Wait are you allowed to have butterbeer?" I asked.
He let out a small laugh. "Duh! I'm four, not two. I had loads with my dad."
I considered it and looked at James. He just shrugged and pointed towards Three Broomsticks.
"Our first stop is Three Broomsticks, then."
"Yeah baby!" He didn't wait for us and started running.
I pulled James' arm to make him move. "Come on" We ran after him.
He disappeared in the crowd of people walking around the alley.
"Excuse me- I'm sorry. Can I-" We passed everyone, pushing a few students on the way.
Finally we stopped in front of the Three Broomsticks. Max was leaning on the door with his arms crossed in front of his chest with a bored look on his face. "Finally."
James muttered something under his breath and got in to Three Bromsticks to get our butterbeers.
After fifteen minutes of waiting -with Max telling me everything he knows about dinosaurs, James came out with three plastic cups full with butterbeer.
I took the biggest and the smallest cup, lessening the smallest cup's beer and putting it to the big cup without Max realizing.
"Here." He took the small cup and continued walking.
"Did you know my favorite animal is dinosaurs?" He asked James.
"No, really? I had no idea." He answered sarcastically, taking a long sip from the butterbeer.
Max gave him a disgusted look and turned to me. "What do you see in him? Really?"
James chocked on his butterbeer as I opened my mouth to answer.
Max raised his arm and pointed at James before raising on of his eyebrows at me. "See? He doesn't even know how to drink. He's still alive because he's lucky, not because he's smart enough to survive."
And that... that is another reason kids scare me.
"Well, dinosaurs couldn't survive either. And yet they are your favorite animal." James answered. More like hissed.
"Are you saying you are an animal?" Max asked.
"Are you saying dinosaurs are dumb?"
I elbowed James as Max rolled his eyes.
"He's four." I whispered.
"He's the devil himself!" He whisper yelled back.
Max burped and looked at me. "I'm full." He threw the empty cup to me.
"Joke shop!" Max yelled, making me jump. "I want to go to joke shop! JOKE SHOP!"
He really is the devil himself.
He entered the joke shop so we had to follow him behind.
The shop was full of people, making it hard to find Max.
"Max?"
"Max?"
"You go that way, I will go this way." He nodded and we separated.
"Max?"
Not here.
"Max?"
Not here either.
"Max, you have to stop-" I bumped into someone's back and stepped away. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
"Alice said you would be here." The boy turned around. It's that blonde Slytherin again!
Is he following me like a creep? Cause that's not comforting.
"Hi, yeah. I'm Lily by the way."
He smiled. "I know. And I'm Elijah."
I kindly nodded. "Nice to meet you. Look, I really have to go now."
"Before you go-"
"Too late, she's already gone. And won't be back." James appeared next to us -fake smiling to Elijah, with Max sitting on his shoulders, licking a blue lollipop.
I let out a deep breath. "You found him?"
"Hey Lily, can I ask you something?"
Max was pulling James' hair as he tried to pull me out of the shop. "No you can't."
We left the shop and the fresh cold air hit my face.
"Max you really have to stop running away." I warned him as we found a big rock to sit, with a clear view of Shrieking Shack.
"I got candy."
"How did you pay for that again?" James asked, putting him down from his shoulders.
"I didn't."
Great, we are babysitting a thief. How lovely is that.
"Hey who was that bleached hair? His hair looked like a t-rex puke."
"Hah!" James laughed and Max gave him a high five.
"I just met him. El..." what was his name again? Oh yeah. "Elijah."
Max started jumping around on the soil and looking at the Shrieking Shack.
I let out a breath and relaxed. When I opened my eyes, both James and Max was gone.
"Oh come on! Where did you go now."
I heard small giggles behind me. I turned around and walked towards the giant tree. "James? Max?"
"Look out!" Before I could lift up my head, something fell on top of me.
I could hear Max laughing from somewhere above.
I lift up my head from the ground and opened my eyes.
James was on top of me, touching the back of his head with one hand, while the other one was next to my head.
"Soft landing?" I asked.
"Yeah, thanks."
I rolled my eyes and pushed him off me.
Max was sitting on the tree with a wand in his hand. "Whose is that?" I asked, touching my skirts pocket.
"Hey! Give it back!" James tried climbing on the tree when something lift him up.
"He's using the wand!" I yelled.
"Yeah I can tell!" He yelled back, floating in the air.
"Max, come on! Give it back."
He jumped down the tree and ignored me completely. "Should I make him a dinosaur or a dragon?"
"If you pit him down," I started, slowly walking towards him. "I will show you a real dragon."
He quickly gave me the wand and James fell on the ground again.
"Little sh-"
"SHOW ME THE DRAGON!" he screamed, pulling my sleeve.
"No!"
"BUT YOU PROMISED!"
"I didn't promise. I will show you a picture of it the next time I see you."
"THAT'S NOT FAIR!"
James sat up. "Well yeah, life is not fear, it sucks. You will get use to it."
Max sat on the ground and wrapped his arms in front of his chest. "Huh!"
Oh my God! I'm never having kids. Ever.
I sat down on the rock and James sat next to me, we were both out of breath.
We all sat there without talking for a good twenty minutes before I heard a snore.
"Did he just fall asleep?" James whispered.
"Well, he's four, He's out of energy." I got up and gestured James to do the same. We lifted Max up and James started carrying him like a baby.
We sat down, our backs leaning on a tree, while Max's head was on James' chest and his legs were on my lap, still snoring.
"What do we do now?" He whispered.
"We have a chance to rest. So we will use this chance." I exhaled and closed my eyes.
I'm never doing this again.
*****
"There you are! We have been looking for you!" I opened my eyes and looked at Roxanne and Alice standing in front of us.
Max was still asleep on James, and James' head was on my shoulder.
"Alice, I love you." I started with my just woken up voice. "But if you ask me to babysit your brother once again, I will end my friendship with you."
Roxanne laughed and helped me up.
"Had fun then?"
"He's a bloody psychopath!" I whisper yelled as she grabbed Max off from James.
James opened his eyes and yawned.
"Sleeping beauty, good morning." Roxanne made fun of him.
I held out my hand for him to get up. He got up and stretched, looking to all of us one by one. "We're not having kids in the future."
I let out a nervous laugh. "Bloody hell right I'm not. Kids are freaking scary."
Alice was holding Max as he was still asleep. "I can understand Lily. But James, what if your wife wants five kids or something? What are you going to do."
Five kids? Does she want to start a colony or something? I already don't like James' imaginary future wife.
We were now back in the alley.
"I'm sure that won't be a problem."
"You have high expectations from the poor woman." I answered.