Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 171: An Invitation from James
"Hogsmeade?" Lily looked at him with curiosity.
"Yes, I thought of inviting you for lunch in the village," James told her.
This earned the attention of everyone else present at the Gryffindor table, since they were all having dinner now.
"You mean… just you and me?" Lily asked.
"Yes? Unless you want to invite more people."
James felt someone tugging at his robes.
"Mate, what are you doing?" Sirius whispered in his ear.
James had previously made it clear to him that he didn't wish to pursue a relationship with Lily, particularly now that he was engaged to Bella.
This made Sirius very confused when he suddenly heard him ask Lily for a date.
James glanced at Sirius. "I know what I'm doing." He whispered.
There were only a few Hogsmeade weekends left, so this was a good chance to speak with Lily and clear things up. This may actually be the last chance to do this, since he could be asked to leave the school at any moment.
Sirius didn't look too convinced that this was a good idea, judging by the face he was making. "I hope you do…"
"So, what do you say?" James turned his attention back to Lily.
A light blush appeared on her cheeks. "I would love to…"
"Hold on, James." Charlie Bell joined their conversation. "Tomorrow is the Quidditch match."
"I have not forgotten about it. But the game is during the morning. There will be time to get lunch at Hogsmeade after it's done," James explained.
"That will only be the case if the game ends quickly. It could potentially go up to three hours if w—"
"Trust me. It will end quick. I am the Seeker," James responded.
"Oh? I love the confidence." Charlie grinned.
"Is that okay with you?" he asked Lily. "We can go after the game is concluded."
"Of course." Lily had a wide smile on her face.
Murmurs erupted all over the Gryffindor table as the students began to gossip about what had just happened. By the end of dinner, the entire school knew about James's date.
During the course of this year, James's infamy had grown to the point that everyone knew about him, either for his Quidditch skills, his squabbles with the Slytherin seniors, or because he blew up the castle with his secret laboratory.
This earned him a lot of hatred and envy among the students, but also a lot of fans. Much like he had experience in his previous life, although this time it was a much more earned reputation, instead of being famous for something he did as a baby and had no way to even remember.
But regardless of the reasons, any gossip about him would spread as fast as wildfire.
At the Slytherin table, Malfoy, Lestrange, and the other seniors had just heard about it.
"Malfoy, come on..." Lestrange insisted.
"I am considering it," Lucius responded. "We cannot rush things…"
"We won't get another opportunity like this one. Potter rarely leaves the castle," Rabastan said.
"Mmm…" Malfoy was hesitant for several reasons.
One of them was that he didn't see the Potter boy as a priority to target. He would have rather gone for a member of the Black family instead.
Malfoy knew that the reason for Rabastan's sudden urge to destroy Potter was due to what they had just learned the other day… James was now engaged to Bella, who used to belong to his brother Rodolphus.
They had kept this quiet for now. And it was not out of desire to protect any of the Black sisters, but because it would also be humiliating for them if everyone heard that Lord Black would rather have his granddaughters married to a family of blood traitors than to one of theirs.
"My brother will not rest in peace unless I crush Potter… I cannot let this go," Rabastan said.
Lucius's eyes moved to Severus Snape.
The boy had been a lot more shy since the day when he almost died while trying to destroy Potter's laboratory.
"What say you, Severus? Potter is going on a date with that mudblood you like. Don't you want to do something about it?"
Snape was clutching his fists with enough force to stop the blood flow to his fingers. "Of course I want to…"
"Then?" Rabastan glanced at Lucius.
By this point, Lucius Malfoy had become the unofficial King of Slytherin House, and they could not make a move like this without his permission.
A cruel smirk appeared on Malfoy's face.
"Yes, I believe it would be a shame to let this opportunity go to waste. We will have to make sure to set an example that others will remember."
"Yes!" Rabastan said with excitement. He was well aware that they couldn't exactly kill Potter, but leaving him a cripple would not be out of the question.
On the other side of the table, Bella and her sisters were glancing at the other boys.
"Those idiots are plotting something again," Bella pointed out. "They don't learn."
"When are they not plotting something? It's all they do… honestly, it gets boring," Andromeda added.
"Don't speak badly about Lucius," Narcissa complained. "You're also doing the same all the time. But more importantly…" The blonde girl glared at her other sister.
"Are you okay with your fiancé going out with that know-it-all mudblood?"
"Lower your voice if you wish to keep that tongue…" Bella grumbled.
Narcissa gulped. She had always been wary of Bellatrix when she was upset, and this was clearly one of those occasions.
"James is not like that… he must have a reason for…" Bella furrowed her eyebrows.
"Well, there is one way to find out." Andromeda leaned closer and whispered, "We can follow them to Hogsmeade."
"What?! I will not lower myself to do that," Bella responded.
"What's lowly about it? I follow Lucius all the time," Narcissa said.
"Ugghh…" Bella rolled her eyes.
"Even if you have a lot of trust in James… I can tell that you are going to be in a permanent bad mood unless you see it for yourself," Andromeda added.
Bella sighed. Her sister was correct this time. "Fine…"
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