I Hate You, I Love You

Chapter 8: It's a stag

Present-Day
{Lily Pov}

"Today we will be presenting our Patronus'." Do we have any volunteers to go first?" Professor Merrythought asks. Sirius raises his hand. 'Wow, that's a first!' His Patronus is a dog, which looks very similar to the Grim.

People come up one by one, eager to share their Patronus to the class. I'm less eager, though I don't know why. It gets down to two people left- James and me. (A/N: Yes, it would be 'James and me' because if you take out the 'James and', it would make sense as 'me' and not 'I'. Just saying before the comments overflow with people trying to correct me.)

James walks to the front of the class, and my jaw drops when I see his Patronus- a stag. That is the counterpart to my doe. I can't go up in front of the class and show them that! "Miss Evans, it's your turn." Professor Merrythought tells me. "I'm sorry, Professor, but I can't." "Of course you can! Go on." "No, I can't produce it. I haven't found my happy memory." "Well, Lily, this will be counted for, so I hope you find your happy memory soon."

"You lied!" Marlene accuses me after class. "What makes you think I would do that?" I ask "Because you, Lily Evans, failing to master a spell-it's unheard of!" "There's a first time for everything." "This isn't over! We are continuing this tonight, but I have plans right now." Marlene tells me. "Tonight?" I ask. "Yeah, James invited us all to your common room." Marlene shrugs. "It's a school night!" I protest. "Lighten up, Lily!" she calls as she walks away. 

Present-Day
{James Pov}

"C'mon, Evans; it's one night! There's no harm in a little bit of fun every now and then." "One night, and it doesn't last long." she gives in. "Deal." I hold out my hand to shake, and she shakes it firmly.

"The party is here!" Sirius says as he makes it through the portrait hole. He is followed by Peter and Remus.

Seconds later, Marlene comes in with Alice and Frank. "Anything happen yet?" she asks. "Not yet, although I'm not entirely sure what is supposed to happen." Lily replies. "I was told we were playing some sort of game." Alice says cautiously, as if this was a trap. "We're playing Truth or Dare. It's a muggle game." Sirius announces. "Yeah because you're the one to talk about muggle games." Marlene comments with an eye roll. "I'm actually very interested in Muggles, mainly to bother my family. I will admit that some of their party games are amusing." Sirius shrugs. "So, how do we play?" I question.

"Basically, someone chooses a person and asks them to pick either truth or dare. Depending on which one the person chooses, you either get to ask them a question or give them a dare. They finish, then they get to ask someone; It's fairly simple." Sirius explains.  "Alright, everyone! You heard the rules! Now let's play!" I exclaim.

We all sit around the coffee table. "So, who wants to go first?"

                       Present-Day
                         {Lily Pov}

"I'll start us off." Sirius offers. We all chorus an agreement. "Alright, Marlene– truth or dare?" "Dare." she replies with a smirk. "Alright. I dare you to figure out that thing we were talking about earlier."."Will do." she says, "Lily, truth or dare?" "Truth." I say cautiously, knowing how ruthless Marlene can be. "What is your Patronus?" she asks. I hesitate, "Can I switch to dare?" Sirius is about to protest, but Marlene stops him, "Alright, Lily, I dare you to show us your Patronus." I stop and frown, "Only you, Alice, and Mary." "C'mom, Evans!" James protests. I shake my head, "Only them."

We all walk out into the hallway, and I make sure none of the others are trying to peek out of the portrait.

"Expecto Patronum." I say, and a silver doe comes from out of my wand. Alice gasps while Marlene acts as if it is no surprise. "You know what this means, right?" Mary asks? "I know, but maybe it's mistaken. I can't stand him, Mar. There's no way!" I reply desperately. "But Lily, this is a good thing. He likes you. You're meant to be." Alice says dreamily. "No, this isn't a good thing; It's the opposite of good– it's absolutely horrible. You both need to swear on your lives that you won't tell anyone." "Our lips are sealed." Marlene promises, holding her hand to her heart dramatically. "I'm just so confused right now. I swear, I don't like him." I tell them quietly. "Just let him into your life, and see where it goes. You never know; maybe he will surprise you." Alice replies.

                      
                    Present-Day
                    {James Pov}

"What is it?" Sirius asks Marlene the second she makes it through the portrait hole. "I can't tell. I'm sworn to secrecy." she replies. "But what about your dare?" he whines. "I did find out which is what you dared me to do. You never told me I had to tell you once I did."

"Do you think she'll tell you?" I ask Remus thoughtfully. "Not if she thinks I'll tell you." Remus replies. "I'll figure out somehow. But the full moon is in a few days, so we have other things to worry about." I say.

We all talk for a while; people begin filing out, until it is only Lily and me. "Any chance you'll tell me what your Patronus is?" I ask her. "No." she replies, before walking into her room and locking the door behind her. I knock on her door. "No, Potter. Go away."

I go to my room and get ready for bed, when I hear Lily crying. Not worrying about putting a shirt on, I rush into her room. "You should knock." Lily tells me. "What's wrong?" I question. "Nothing's wrong, Potter. Go to sleep." she replies. "Obviously, something's wrong." I move to sit beside her. "I'm fine; it's no big deal." "Please tell me– I can keep a secret." "It's not important, Potter. Please, just leave it at that." "Is it your sister?" "Partly..." she admits quietly. "And the other part?" "Not saying." "Do you think we could be friends, Evans?" I ask. She looks into my eyes, "Well, you could start by calling me Lily". I can feel the comical smile on my face. I pull her in for a hug; much to my surprise, she doesn't jerk away. "Lily?" "Yes?" "Do you think we could hang out sometime...as friends?" "I don't see why not." I honestly can't wait to tell Remus that he was right.