𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐄, j. potter

── 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍
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LILY EVANS IS ASHAMED TO admit that the first thing she did upon entering the Great Hall was to search for a mess of jet black hair and the chocolate locks that's always beside it. The two people she hasn't seen at all the whole day whether it be in breakfast or their classes. However, all she found was three fourths of the Marauders sitting with Katherine Summers and the first year Lucas Morgan. The two she had been searching for were nowhere to be found.

Tucking her red hair behind her ear, she allowed her gaze to go through each faces again, her eyes lingering on the unlikely group James Potter and Olivia Kinsley is often with. She convinces herself that the reason she chose to sit next to them had nothing to do with wanting to hear their conversation.

"Eavesdropping is bad, Lily," Marlene Mckninnon whispered with a manic grin as the group of five Gryffindor girls sat down.

Lily's face flushed at being caught, but she played it off by shaking her head in denial. "I'm not eavesdropping."

"So you're telling me that we're here, sitting three feet away from the marauders, has nothing to do with the fact that James Potter and his lady friend is nowhere to be found?" Dorcas Meadowes prompted.

Lily's face seemed to turn as red as her hair as she shook her head once more. "Of course not."

"Sure," Alice Fortescue teased.

"Oh leave Lily alone, girls," Mary Mcdonald, always the voice of reason, scolded.

"Thank you," said the redhead gratefully.

And yet as her friends laughed it off, she couldn't help but glance back at the tightly knit group, hoping the one she was looking for was there.

"So, Lils," Marlene started. "What were you and Potter talking about last night?"

Lily's face flushed again, thinking back to last night. "Not much."

"Oh, come on, there has to be something," Dorcas persisted. "Are you telling me James Potter got you to dance with him without having a heart attack?"

"Why would he have a heart attack?" The redhead asked. "We just talked and danced a little."

"The boy's been in love with you since second year," Alice says. "And now he's suddenly not?"

Lily simply shrugged.

"I doubt James cares about Lily anymore," Mary, always the blunt one in the group, said honestly. "He's been fawning over Olivia for the past couple of months."

She thought back to how James seems to manage to involve Olivia in every topic they talk about, whether it be her favorite food or how sometimes when they're doing homework and he's sat by her leg, she'd absentmindedly play with his hair, not at all realizing that she was doing it. Whatever James Potter felt for Lily Evans no longer held any romantic intentions. It was as clear as day. So painfully obvious, in fact that Lily wonders how the girl herself has not seen it yet. A woman has a strong hold on James' heart, and that woman was not Lily.

"The Slytherin?" Marlene scoffed. "Her parents are deatheaters."

"Lower your voice," Alice scolded. "Remember she's still related to our professor."

Marlene rolled her eyes in a way that made Lily's skin crawl. She's gotten used over the girl's unfiltered mouth, but there were times where she'd just love to use the silencing charm on her.