The Marauders: Year Five #Wattys2017

The Little Brat

The Little Brat

"Lily Evans."

It was a couple days after Christmas, and Diagon Alley was bursting with life, so at first it was hard to spot who had called her name when Lily looked up from the cup of hot cocoa she'd just purchased at a vendor cart. Beside her, Frank Longbottom turned, too. He'd just paid for his and Ali's cocoas, but he recognized the voice and his eyes swept over Jasper Odair with a bit of skepticism. He raised his eyebrow as the Hufflepuff quidditch team captain came hurrying over from among the tables, where he'd been sitting with some of the other members of the Hufflepuff team.

"Hello Jasper," Lily answered.

"Hello," Jasper came to a stop before her and nodded to Frank, whose shoulder was being tapped by the seller to remind him to take his change. "'Ello Longbottom."

"Hey..." Frank drawled, then he glanced at Ali, who nodded him to follow her as she walked a ways off from the cart, away from Lily and Jasper, giving them a bit of privacy. Frank seemed reluctant to follow, but a tug on his jacket from her mittened hand and he sighed and turned along.

"How's your holiday?" Jasper asked.

Lily stared at him, unsure how to answer. Her holiday was horrible, saying anything else would be a lie, yet it was only polite to say it's great or at the very worst it's fine and act as though it wasn't an utterly idiot thing to ask a girl whose dad just died how her holiday was. Lily shrugged. It was the safest way to respond. "Yours?"

Jasper realized his transgression and his cheeks burned red. "I... uh... been alright." He paused and looked down at the ground. "So did you, uh, start studying for the O.W.L.S yet?"

Lily nodded, "Loads of revising still to do."

"Yeah, me too." Jasper rubbed the back of his neck. "You're uh... you - you doing anything exciting with the rest of your holiday break?"

Lily shook her head, "Not particularly."

"You... you wanna do something?" Jasper asked. "Like - with me?"

Lily was surprised by his forwardness. He was an awkward boy, it was sort of shocking to her that he'd have the guts to ask. Jasper Odair sort of struck her as one of those people that spoke a high and mighty line but never actually followed through with the things they say that they'll do when they're talking in fits of passion.

"Maybe the cinema or bowling or something?" She forgot Jasper was muggle born too, until he brought up bowling. She'd tried explaining bowling to Ali once and she'd been utterly confused by the concept of throwing a big heavy ball at pins with the goal of knocking them down.

"I don't know, Jasper - I'm sort of going through alot right now and --"

"All the more reason to say yes," he said. "Help you forget your problems, if for just an afternoon." He paused and smiled, "C'mon, Lily, give me a chance."

She hesitated. After all, another boy had said to her give me a chance - many, many times. James's note was still in her pocket, and it seemed to burn and she reached in and her fingers wrapped around it, rubbing the parchment, as though it were a worrying stone and she cast her eyes downward, away from Jasper. She'd given James a bit of a chance - not a full chance, really, she would be the first to admit that James's chance had been very narrow - but what she'd started to see had been alright. Until he attacked Snape (if that was what happened). So maybe... maybe the lesson to take from that was that when people are given chances, they can surprise you.