James And Lily Potter: Third year

Chapter 9: Third year

"God save us from these idiots," mumbled Lily, tipping an armful of books onto a table. James was teasing her particularly that day and she couldn't stand any more of it any longer.

"I'm breaking it up with Sirius if he ever does something like that again," growled Arabella, as she followed suit and dumped her books onto a chair.

"Come on, guys, you know they were just joking," said Jennifer optimistically, trying to lighten up the dark mood. "I mean, most of the time they're really sweet, caring, and funny, and you know..."

"Yeah, Jen, that's the perfect description—of Remus," said Arabella, scowling.

"Oh." Jennifer blushed. "Sorry."

Just then, the four Marauders burst through the portrait hole, Sirius and James in the lead. Remus and Peter were walking calmly behind, smiling slightly at their friends' worried faces.

"Bella," gasped Sirius. "I am so sorry about—the prank—and I want to—apologize." Then he fainted to the floor.

"SIRIUS!" exclaimed Arabella in alarm. She rushed to her boyfriend's side and started to mutter a spell with her wand under her breath. A jet of water squirted out from her wand and onto Sirius' face.

"Blah!" he spluttered. Arabella giggled.

"I accept your apology, Sirius," she said, grinning. "Oh, and try to calm down next time; it's not like I was going to eat you up or something."

"You were actually going to break up with him," informed Lily.

"You were?" asked Sirius worriedly.

"Er—" Arabella shifted uncomfortably. "I was thinking of...but I'm not now, of course!" she added hastily, seeing Sirius' face.

"Good." Sirius grinned and led Arabella to a nearby couch. Lily groaned.

"Here comes their snog session," she said, making a face.

"What a great source of entertainment," said Jennifer sarcastically. Violet was silent the whole time.

"I feel so alone," said James, sighing. "Come on, Lily."

"What?" she asked, annoyed.

"I want to show you something."

"Fine." Lily followed him, grumbling about idiots and snogging.

As soon as they reached the boys' dormitory, James rushed to where his four-poster bed was and took out a clear ball. It was about half the size of the crystal balls in Professor Trelawney's room, and it was glittering purple at the moment.

"Wow," Lily breathed. "James—it's beautiful."

"Isn't it, Evans?" James smiled. "It's sort of like the Mirror of Erised, because it shows your heart's desire. It also shows if the person you love is nearby. If they are nearby, like maybe in this room, then it flashes pink. If the person isn't nearby, like maybe downstairs in the common room, it flashes red."

Lily reached up and touched the ball. It showed herself holding a baby—Harry! And James was also standing behind her, along with the Marauders and her own friends. They were all smiling, and waving at her. Then the ball flashed pink and Lily's cheeks reddened. James peered over her shoulder to see why she was blushing and saw the pink ball. He also immediately flushed bright scarlet, but was secretly grinning that Lily didn't totally hate him.

"What did you see when you touched it?" asked Lily quietly, handing him back the ball.

James' face immediately turned redder. "Er—it turned the same thing as yours did," he admitted, wishing he could just curl up and freeze.

"Really?" Lily's face looked surprised and relieved.

"Yeah." There was an awkward pause, until Sirius and Arabella burst into the dorm. They exchanged evil grins at each other when they saw Lily and James, but looked curiously at the ball in his hands.

Sirius' grin, if at all possible, widened. "So—Jamie. I see you decided to show Lils your ball thing. I heard that yours turned bright pink when you touched it..."

"Sirius!" exclaimed James in alarm, glancing at Lily.

"What is it?" asked Arabella curiously.

Sirius whispered something in her ear and her grin turned identical to his. "How cute," she mocked. "Lilums and Jamsie are in l-ove."

"Bella," they both muttered.

"Well, why don't you two go get a room, then?" asked Sirius, winking. "Then Snape will be really sad once Harry is born right here at—"

"SIRIUS BLACK!" shrieked Lily. "STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"

Sirius was startled. "Professor McGonagall?" he said, looking around the dormitory. Lily, James, and Arabella burst out laughing.

"Wow, Siri-boy, I didn't know you'd be this thick ever in your life!" James was howling with laughter.

Lily smiled, and brushed back a stray lock of her red hair, revealing her bright green eyes. James was laughing and suddenly caught her eye, and gasped. She had the most beautiful eyes in the world. They were like deep pools of shimmering green, dazzling, brilliant, and startling. James thought he could see the whole world in those eyes, since they were so deep. Now he knew why Snape "loved" Lily so much...Wait a minute! What was he saying? He shook his head, determining the fact that he had certainly gone mad at that point.