Quick A/N: So I went from 300 views on chapter 7 to 90 on chapter 8. WHAT HAPPENED? Please try to get this story out there. Recommend to your friends, comment, vote, whatever. I thank you! Love ya, thanks for sticking with me!
Lily's P.O.V
You could say I was conflicted. I wanted to go home, but I didn't want to kill my mum and my sister. I wanted to talk to Severus and confine into his secrecy, but I also wanted to kill him. I wanted to strangle bloody James Potter, but..
"Miss Evans, you seem out of it today," Professor Slughorn commented as he walked past my desk in the middle of class. "Your potion is more violet than purple, my dear. What's wrong?" Ugh! That stupid crow's foot! I knew my calculations while cutting were wrong. Marlene gibbering away next to me wasn't much help, but normally I was able to channel her out while I was working. Today I had too much on my mind between my family, James, and Sev, that I couldn't even prepare the most basic of potions without a small flaw.
"Nothing, sir!" I chirped, giving him my best smile. "Just feeling a bit faint, you know. Didn't get much sleep last night." Well, it wasn't a complete lie. Just that I don't get much sleep any night.
Slughorn didn't seem very convinced. "If you need anything, ask," he commanded before continuing to supervise the rest of the class. "These potions are looking sluggish!" He shouted. "We want purple, not blue, people!"
Today the class was much quieter than usual, probably because James and his gang weren't here. They got free passes to skip class every month, for whatever reason, I had stopped whining about it in first year when McGonogal wouldn't budge, and today was one of their days off. I was always a bit relieved when this happened because James would return too tired to annoy me. I never had to deal with his reckless shenanigans. But then there was a weird feeling that something was missing. There was an absence in the classroom where the ever screaming foursome usually was. It was like that stupid puzzle piece you dropped under the sofa ages ago and the puzzle is done except for that, and it looks pretty great other than that stupid piece under the couch that didn't really make sense with the rest of the picture anyway. And then months later you are vacuuming and you find the piece and you laugh because it's really stupid but you're also annoyed because where was it when you needed it months ago? No? Too much? Okay.
"Earth to Lily!" Marlene shouted, shoving my shoulder. "You almost dumped your tea into our potion! What planet are you on today?" She asked, taking the thermos from my hand and putting it on the floor beside her.
"Mars," I muttered, running a hand through my heavy hair. "Sorry, Mar."
"This is a potion that's supposed to make food taste better- not make everything taste like-" She paused to pick up my tea and figure out what kind it was "-Herbal Lavender Blueberry! Bloody hell, Lily, you're in some weird teas."
I grabbed the thermos from her. "Don't judge my tea!"
James' P.O.V
I felt like she was teasing me. Did she like me or not? And if she didn't like me, who did she like? How could I win her over? I wasn't even sure if I was asking the correct questions. Should I be winning her over, or should I lay low and let her come to me. What if she didn't come to me? Ever? Ugh! All of this wondering about girls (or... girl) was giving me a headache.
"Woof!" A deep bark snapped me out of my thought. Sirius, in the form of a black dog, nodded towards the frozen Womping Willow. Beside him, Remus was sweating and trembling. We never cut it this close. With one glance toward the school, I leaped after them, nudging Remus along with one of my antlers. He gave me a quick, grateful smile that was quickly replaced by a grimace of pain and trembling. Sirius and I met eyes and exchanged nervous stares. Being animals meant it was nearly impossible to communicate, but it also was much easier to read each others' body language. For example, it was a lot easier to tell when Peter was uncomfortable when he was a rat. Rats are particularly bad actors, or maybe just this rat.
There was a nudge on my side as Sirius rubbed up against me to avoid a low crawling branch. His doggy mouth gave me a grin. On any other dog, bared teeth would make me want to run away.
Darkness was everywhere as I slid into the low, earthy tunnel. I had done this hundreds of times, probably. My long antlers scraped across the top of the tunnel and it shoved me into a belly crawl. We always came out of this all covered in mud.
Remus shoved past me the second he saw the light of the room, almost crushing Peter, who was leaping in front of me. He screamed as he plunged out of the darkness and began to tremble even more. Sirius rolled his eyes as if to say "Drama queen!". I huffed. Had it gotten to the point that we could joke around while our best mate turned into a bloody werewolf before our very eyes? Apparently so.
Lily's P.O.V
"You seem chipper today!" Alice commented. She looked weird without Frank Longbottom attached to her hip. Perhaps I had gotten used to it already. "What's the occasion?"
Marlene gave her a playful shove. "Have you noticed who's here... or who's not?" She asked with a smirk. "Looks like we've got a Marauder-Free few days ahead of us. No boys for once!"
The more she said that, the more empty I felt. I knew it was dramatic and I knew it was stupid, but I almost felt bored without something to worry about and nag over. In fact, all I wanted to do was sit down and watch a stupid Romantic Drama film where the protagonist is an idiot who has to choose between to boys that both try to win her over and in a quest to battle some poorly portrayed mental illness and fix whatever's happening in her family, she chooses the boy who no one likes. Someone probably dies, her best friend probably leaves her, and there might be a crazy ex involved. Mum always called those kinds of films the "Heartbreak Healers" because you only ever watched them when you felt like it wasn't worth it to treat yourself with anything better. Marlene loved to watch them with me so she could randomly scream out things like "WELL THAT'S A BLOODY PLOT TWIST!" or "When does the dog die again?".
"Let's watch a film!" I said finally.
"I need to re-watch all of the Toy Story films before they come out with another sequel," Alice decided as if it was more of burden than watching a film.
"And I know just where to do it!" Marlene told us with an evil grin.
—
I fidgeted with my fingers as Marlene set up. "I don't think this is allowed, Mar!" I chirped, looking over my shoulder to see if anyone was coming. Of course, no one was, but it was always good to check.
"Shut up, I've done this loads of times! Look around you, this is the British Muggle History section. No one comes here, that's why it's in the back!" My friend explained. Alice looked at me and shrugged. "Madame Prince can't even hear back here. She's too busy look for kids sneaking into the Restricted Section. Sirius and I come back here all the time."
"Ew! I don't think I can watch a child's film knowing you shag Sirius in the same spot!" Alice cringed.
Marlene hit her in the back of the head with the book she was using to figure out how to convert her wand into a projector. sure she stunk at academics, but she was tip top at finding ways to use magic to make her life easier. Need a potion? Marlene will probably kill you by accident. Need a magical hairbrush that does any hairstyle you want? Mar's got you covered! Suddenly, there was a pop and the film crackled to life.
Perhaps this is what I needed to keep my mind off James.
A/N: I'm soooo uninspired it's depressing!
So I actually wanted to ask you some questions to help me write and to help you stimulate your reading or something. Everyone who answers will get a chapter dedicated to them and a shout out!
1) What do you like about the story and how the characters are portrayed?
2) What don't you like?
3) What would you like to see more of in the upcoming chapters?
4) What would you like to see less of?
5) How do you feel about my updates? Should I update more steadily? Faster?
6) Sirius and Marlene, Sirius and Remus, or Sirius with no one?
7) *OPTIONAL* Anything else you'd like to add or tell me about.
I think I'm going to start putting questions in my Author's Notes, but it will be more trivia on the chapter and I'll have one winner who the chapter is dedicated to.
You know the drill, thank you! I love sooooo much! Keep reading!
Lily
P.S ANYONE WHO SAW THIS WITHIN A FEW HOURS AFTER I FIRST POSTED, I'M SO SORRY! I FORGOT TO EDIT AND I REALIZED THERE 1000000 SPELLING MISTAKES AND THE TITLE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CHAPTER! SORRY! IT'S ALL FIXED NOW! SORRY FOR THE DIFFICULTY.