Cosmic Stardust - Jegulus

Chapter 20

Here's pt 2 of the last chapter :))

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My cup had been refilled but I didn't really want to drink any of it. Besides, it gave me something to hold so that I couldn't be dragged into dancing where everyone would be watching me. "Hiya," Lily plopped herself down next to me on the sofa, "uh, hi." I smiled and she leaned in closer to me, shoulders touching. "So," Lily began, "I know we don't talk much, but a little birdie told me that you have a nasty jinx to get rid of," my eyes immediately darted over to where James was standing, laughing with his friends. "Something like that," I grumbled, "well, lucky for you, I enjoy a good challenge. If you don't mind," she nudged me with a mischievous but determined smile. I only just noticed her wand in her hand as my brows rose, "you mean you'll try to get rid of it?" Lily chuckled, "oh trust me, I will get rid of it." Even if she couldn't, what was the harm in trying?

The Gryffindor held out her hand to me and when I put mine in hers she pulled me up and brought me to the staircase. I panicked a moment too late as we took the first few steps and then I slid away from behind her. Thank Merlin there was a party going on and the rest of them couldn't care less what I was doing because otherwise they would have all seen me fall on my arse as the stairs to the girls dorm rejected me. Unfortunately, Lily noticed as I'd almost tugged her down with me. She seemed to stop in shock for a moment, a silence between us as her bright green eyes flicked between me and the stairs that were now re-formed since I wasn't on them. In a panicked haze, I sat up and opened my mouth to give some lame excuse but Lily just stepped down and pulled me to my feet. "Oh, that's ok," she smiled, "we can just use your brother's dorm."

Once we were in the messy room, she sat me down at what I assume is my brother's equivalent of a vanity considering the hair products and various makeup items on it. "I know you're pretty talented at spells so if what you've tried hasn't worked then I assume this will take some more complex spell work, hence why we need space," she explained as she stood behind the chair I was sitting on, looking at me through our reflections in the mirror. I just nodded, not really knowing what to say. Gently, her freckled hand pulled the ribbon away from my hair, letting it fall to settle around my face.

"So," she began, "what length do you want it to be when I get rid of the jinx?" She held it up next to my face so I could see the ends at my chin and cheekbones. "About there," I told her and she nodded. "I'll probably get Mary to give it a trim, she cuts all our hair and I'm not very good at the styling part," she told me, "is that alright?" I nodded and she smiled at me through the mirror again before taking out her wand.

I sat quietly as she muttered some incantations under her breath, focusing intently on the back of my head. Hopefully she wouldn't cut off my head instead of my hair by accident. It took a fair few attempts before I felt anything. Lily gasped in triumph as a lock of black hair dropped to the floor, whatever jinx that was over me lightened its weight a little. She hadn't fully eradicated it, but it was a start. The quiet was both peaceful and awkward, a quiet hum of the party downstairs seeping through the door to the room. Lily and I have spoken a few times, but there were always other people there and so I wasn't really sure what to do, what she was expecting. Did she want me to talk? Did she want me to keep quiet so she could concentrate? I hadn't realised I was watching her in the mirror until she looked up and gave me a smile, "I'm guessing your mum isn't very accepting of your style," she said before trying again with a spell.

Not shaking my head was difficult, I kept forgetting to stay still, "yeah, she wasn't the biggest fan," a bitter laugh followed. "I hope you don't mind that James told me," Lily lowered her wand for a moment, "he only wanted to help you since he noticed you were pretty down about it." Since she wasn't altering my hair, I nodded, looking to my side where the bed labelled J.F.P was. For a moment I wondered how much James had told her, whether he'd told Lily about the fact that I'm a boy. "What... what exactly did he tell you?" I tried not to sound too eager or nervous. She shrugged, "well Sirius has told me all about your lovely mother," we both rolled our eyes, "and so when James came over to ask me if I could break an 'annoying jinx done by an old hag', his words, not mine, and pointed to you, I sort of figured it out from there." I couldn't help the smile on my face when I heard the description James had given, it was pretty accurate.

"That's all he said," I asked and Lily nodded before giving me a look. Uh oh. "Was there something else he should've said? Or something you're hoping he didn't say?" Remus was right when he said Lily Evans was smart. If only she was a little bit stupid. "No, no, nothing. Just," I tried to come up with something quickly so I wouldn't have to explain to her that I was scared James might have outed me to her, "didn't know he ever thought about me when I wasn't actually with him." Ok, maybe that was a bit of a dumb thing to say. I always think about people who might not be physically with me at that moment, but it was the best I could come up with right then. I should work on that. To be fair, I do sort of feel like James just sees me as his best friend's brother. He'll hang out with me when I'm around and maybe talk about me if Sirius brings me up but other than that it's all Sirius. Which is fine, it's not like my friends and I talk about Sirius all the time.

To my surprise, Lily laughed as she ran her hand through the ends of my hair that still reached my waist. "You're kidding right," it was rhetorical so I just looked at her in the mirror as she looked back up at me, "after you left for your parent's house, he wouldn't shut up about you, constantly worrying." I gave her a look and she held her hands up in surrender, "I swear to Merlin. I think he brought you up more often than Sirius did. Although... Sirius was more of a quiet worry-wort, James, oh Merlin, he wouldn't shut up." She laughed and I wasn't too sure how to feel about that so I just looked down at my hands in my lap, picking at the black nail polish Dora put on me last night to try and cheer me up after another failed attempt to get rid of the stupid jinx.

"Don't be embarrassed," she teased as she patted the top of my head playfully, "he likes you, that's a good thing," and I think the way I whipped my head up to look at her made her laugh even more. "I just mean that he cares about you. Before Sirius moved in with him, he was the same over the holidays. He's nice in the way that he worries, albeit a little annoying sometimes."

Lily sighed, "if he liked you in that way, you'd know. Believe me, he's not very discreet. I'm glad he doesn't fancy me anymore. He's too much like my little brother for me to like him back, even if sometimes he can be quite charming." My heart thumped in my chest as if it were trying to crack my own ribs, "ok, good," I found myself saying as I laughed awkwardly, not too sure why this was such a big deal. The last person who fancied me was Max and I really don't want to experience that again. I suppose the suggestion of anyone liking me in that way just reminded me of him.

"Anyways," she regained her posture, "shall we try again?" I mustered up a smile and a nod before sitting up straight. It wasn't long before she'd managed to get my hair to my shoulders and lift the remainders of the jinx. "Shall I go and ask Mary to come up?" Lily pointed over her shoulder towards the door and I nodded. Just before she left the room, "thank you," I told her, "it means a lot." She smiled, "of course. Friends help each other, and we are friends after all, right?" I gave her a smile in confirmation.

Not but a minute later, Lily re-appeared with Mary in tow. "Heya," she waved to me, "I heard that you require my expertise." I gestured to my hair, "Lily said you could help fix this mess," the curly haired girl nodded, "that I can do." Lily perched herself on the side of Sirius bed, watching as Mary took out her tools. "Have you cut short hair before," I couldn't help but ask and Mary gave me a confident look, "y'know Alice?" I nodded, "I cut her hair, and it's rather pretty, if I do say so myself." Alice was a girl in their year who sometimes would hang out with them and knowing Mary had cut her hair made me feel a lot more confident about her hairdressing skills.

Within no time, my hair was back to how it looked when I got it cut in the summer, it might even have been better. Getting rid of the jinx also meant my hair was a bit curly again instead of almost pin-straight, making it look even nicer. After I'd thanked them both, they excitedly dragged me back down to the party, wanting to show off their skills. 

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hehehehhe I love Lily, I hope you liked this chapter where Reggie makes more friends :D

Have a nice day/night <3