PR...Lily
So Lily focused all her attention on that demanding voice. And her gaze locked onto James Potter’s.
The boy had climbed onto a chair on the opposite side of the room, and with just one command, without any further explanation, everyone began rushing to leave the house. They looked like scared little mice, scurrying past Lily with guilty expressions, clearly altered by all the drugs and alcohol they had consumed. They all seemed so... unreachable. Half had cosmetic procedures hidden under layers of smeared makeup, while the other half wore clothes far too cool for Lily to ever feel confident pulling off.
James didn’t move at first. He waited for the house to empty, still holding Lily’s gaze, almost as if he was studying her. Embarrassed, she looked down at her sneakers, hoping that the flow of people would end soon. She was still furious about the situation, but her anxiety overpowered that feeling, and all she could focus on was how to confront those boys.
Once everyone had left, with grumbles, laughter, and winks at the hosts, Lily found the courage to look forward.
James jumped confidently off the chair, and almost instantly, the boys formed a line in front of her. Lily analyzed how each of them was completely different in style and appearance, yet they still seemed like a perfectly harmonious group.
Even though they were altered, each of them exuded an aura that was hard to ignore.
Sirius looked like a rockstar. His piercing gaze at Lily was somewhat intimidating. The boy looked like he could devour her at any moment. Hatred? Curiosity? Lily couldn’t tell.
Beside him was a new figure. Oh, so this is what Remus Lupin looks like. Remus looked like a pretentious guy who’d take you to a museum date and make you feel dumb the whole time. He wore a beige and white sweater and tailored trousers, was tall, and had honey-coloured hair. He could easily pass for French, with skin that pale.
Then she managed to take a proper look at Peter. With his urban style and cargo pants, Peter was clearly the younger brother of the group. Probably trying hard to be cool enough to hang with the rest of them, but with a gentler nature.
And in the middle, a step forward, was finally James Potter. His hair was spikier and shorter than she had seen in pictures, but still, the boy was exactly as Lily had imagined. He wore a white shirt under an open red one, jeans, and Converse. His skin had a golden hue, like a Californian surfer, and his eyes behind the round glasses… they were green, very green. The boy clearly came from a wealthy family, standing even straighter than the noble-looking Sirius Black himself.
There was so much to take in that Lily barely managed to say a word before Potter tilted his head and asked:
"You must be…"
"PR!" Sirius answered with a sarcastic smile.
"Lily," she replied defensively. And then, she remembered that she was furious with those four idiots. She was angry because she was failing at the only task they’d given her on her very first day.
Was it because she was late? Maybe they thought she wouldn’t come at all and decided to throw the party. Damn it, was that what they would report to Slughorn, and then she’d be fired?
She opened her mouth, ready to unleash all her indignation, but before she could shout, James stepped forward, cautiously:
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." As he approached, Lily suddenly felt her senses heighten. "Before you say anything… We’ll explain, okay? Everything." Then James turned to the other three boys. "Right, guys?"
"Yes, everything," Remus and Peter said simultaneously but in different tones. While Remus answered with conviction, Peter seemed scared. Sirius didn’t join in; he was still staring at Lily, motionless.
"That’s it!" James said cheerfully. That irritated Lily. Did he think this was all a joke?
Then the boy stepped closer, and now Lily could even smell his scent. Too close. Woody and citrus notes. Whiskey. Cigarettes. Too close.
James bent down at chest level, extending his hand towards her legs, and looked up:
"Need help with the bags?"
"No!" Lily replied, her voice a bit shrill.
"Oh, c’mon." She saw his eyebrow arch with a cheeky smile. "Peter, take PR… Lily’s bags to her room."
That deeply irritated Lily. How could he presume what she wanted or needed? And with that king-like confidence. She pressed her lips together to avoid saying more than she should.
Peter cautiously approached, and when he bent down to grab Lily’s bags, she didn’t stop him.
Now, with Peter struggling to carry three heavy bags, the room fell silent.
"We should introduce ourselves… right?" Remus Lupin ventured for the first time. His voice was respectful and calm.
"She already knows who we are," Sirius Black protested. His voice was the opposite of the blond’s. Harsh and irritated.
What a pain in the neck.
“Hey, Black, is the brandy making you grumpy?”The boy rolled his eyes and raised an eyebrow when James gave him a playful shove. “It doesn’t hurt.”
Lily said nothing, so James continued:
"The idiot carrying your bags is Peter Pettigrew, the crabby one here is Sirius Black, and we’ve got the English professor, Remus Lupin. And I’m James Potter."
"Pleasure," Lily muttered with a bitter look.
Peter returned, a bit out of breath. Taking advantage of the moment, Remus timidly suggested:
"We should sit down."
Lily looked at the spot the boys were offering. A couch so messy that she could hardly believe it. The brown leather was almost hidden under coats probably left behind by the guests, red plastic cups, and empty bottles.
Remus, with an awkward smile, pushed all the clutter to one side of the couch and offered the other side for Lily to sit. They sat on the opposite sofa, leaving the mess right on top of it. Boys are such slobs.
"Hmmm..." Remus began, and then Lily realised he was high. Or at least trying not to be, since he seemed like the responsible one who would have to give the speech. "I think there’s been a bit of a mix-up with the timings."
Oh, crap. They’re going to bring up my being late.
"Yeah," Peter mumbled, looking awkward. "We thought you were arriving at eight tomorrow morning."
"What?" Lily said, both relieved and confused.
"Yep," said James. "All Slughorn, the other PR, said was: She’ll be there at eight." He showed her his BlackBerry. Sure enough, the email from Slughorn didn’t specify AM or PM.
"He must’ve forgotten to mention," Lily replied, still puzzled as she looked at the screen. "But even so..."
"We know," James cut her off again. "We shouldn’t have thrown the party."
Lily took in the scene and felt a surge of satisfaction. The four of them now looked like guilty puppies. Even James and Sirius seemed uncomfortable, losing that confident posture.
"Look, this puts me in a tough spot, you know?" Lily said, her tone becoming more assured, almost professional. "I’m here to report on exactly this kind of thing."
"We know," Remus nodded, eyes wide with seriousness. His eyes were almond-shaped, she noted. "It was the last one... We thought we’d have one final party before you arrived."
"As a send-off!" Peter squeaked, looking frightened.
Lily thought it over. If she reported the party, she’d also have to mention that she’d arrived late and thus hadn’t been able to stop it.
But they didn’t know that.
"Well... I can be nice to you guys," she said, shrugging in a relaxed manner.
Sirius lifted his head, surprised. "Seriously?"
"Yeah. As a peace offering," Lily said, locking eyes with him. "But I need you to cooperate from now on. For real."
The boys exchanged glances, smiling in relief. James laughed and then, while the others were still looking at each other, shot Lily a surprised and grateful look.
She quickly averted her gaze to stop a smile from creeping onto her face. Their relief was kind of contagious, enough to make her forget, for a moment, that they were total troublemakers.
- - -
Later, Lily was unpacking in her new room. She was putting away her clothes, but it felt like the pile would never end. She regretted being so indecisive while packing.
The room was simple. White walls, a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk with a chair that she planned to personalise soon. She couldn’t handle staring at all that white for long without losing her mind.
Speaking of losing her mind, Lily was exhausted. After all the emotions from walking into the party and then giving that temporary "let’s be nice" speech to the boys, she still had to go over all the new guidelines the headquarters had sent her to explain to the group. There were about fifty items with ridiculously boring clauses, and clearly none of the boys had the headspace to take it in. They were in a mix of being hungover and still half out of it, and Lily could see in their eyes all they needed was sleep. Especially since they had a shoot the next day, and she’d have to be there with them.
Once she finished reading everything, the boys quickly thanked her and rushed off like zombies. Since then, Lily had been organising her stuff, with the clock nearing midnight.
Halfway through tidying, she decided to just call it a night. She’d deal with the rest later.
Lily glanced at herself in the mirror. She liked this summer pyjama set her parents had given her last Christmas. It was a soft, light green with abstract white patterns, and the colour made her orange hair stand out.
That was something that had always made her stand out, and attention wasn’t something Lily always enjoyed. When she was younger, the girls in primary school used to call her "matchstick." It wasn’t the worst thing ever, but it did bug her a bit. In her early teens, Lily considered bleaching her hair and going blonde. She would definitely blend in more.
But after a while, she just got used to the way she looked. Being a redhead stopped being an issue in high school—there were a few other gingers around anyway.
So that’s what Lily saw now. Her hair, still a bit choppy from her last cut, as orange as ever, her freckles scattered randomly here and there, and her nose, which she liked when she looked straight on, but not so much from the side.
Pretty ordinary, with a splash of colour.
Lily checked to see if everything was ready for bed. Then she realized she needed a bottle of water. It was still warm in London. She decided to head to the kitchen to find something she could grab for herself before resting. God knew how much she needed it.
Lily slowly turned the doorknob, trying not to wake the boys. She glanced at the phone in her hand. Twelve forty-eight. The carpet didn’t make much noise, so Lily made her way to the kitchen, which was still a mess, and began rummaging through the cupboards—Remus had assured her that the cleaning lady, Myrtle, would show up the next day.
When she finally found where the glasses and mugs should be, there was a vibration. And a buzz. A loud buzz. Petunia?
Lily rushed to grab the phone that was resting on the counter, her hands shaking with excitement.
But when she saw the name flash across her screen, it was Sev the one calling.