Oh yeah?
"Mary, Mary, Mary!"
Spinning around, she sees an out-of- breath James Potter, running towards her at full speed.
Mary let out a loud laugh. "Jesus, James, slow down!"
James, however, doesn't listen. With a wide grin on his face, he runs faster than his legs can take him down the hallway, stumbling and falling. Jumping back up, he runs the remaining distance towards Mary.
"Why were you with Lily last night?!" He asks.
Mary, slightly caught off guard, thinks for a moment. "We were just smoking a bit, hang on- how did you know we were together."
James realises his mistake, Mary may be one his best friends, but she didn't know about the Marauder's map.
"Uhh, trade secrets Macdonald." He winked playfully, coming up with a quick lie. "No, I heard one of the girls talking about it; you guys are friends now?!"
"Um, yes I guess we are?"
"Oh, Mary, this is brilliant!"
"And why exactly is that?" She laughed.
"You can help me get together with Lily!"
"...Oh."
Something about that gave Mary a sinking feeling. "Right, well I suppose that's true."
"Oh, will you Mary? Will you, will you, will you?!" James bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet.
"Umm, sure James." Mary couldn't exactly say no, she didn't have a valid reason, but she wanted to.
"Thank you, Mares! You're my favourite person ever!" James brought Mary into a tight hug, lifting her up and spinning her around.
She giggled, and James continued. "Can you do it right now, I can't wait! She'll be in the library."
"How do you know where she is?"
"She always studies in the library at this time on a Saturday?" He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
She furrowed her eyebrows. "That's a bit stalkery James."
"Oh, whatever." He brushes her off with a wave of his hand, laughing. "Soooo... is that a yes?"
"Fine, come on." She shook her head, amused, as they began walking towards the library.
As they entered the grand room, they walked down a few rows of books and tables, passing other studying students, before James spotted Lily. "There she is, Mares!"
She was sat at the table in the corner, the afternoon sunlight pouring down on her. Her hair looked as though it had been set alight, red like fire. She had her hair messier than usual, her waves less tame, flipped over on top of her head to get it out of her eyes. Her green eyes were brightened by the sun, looking lighter than usual. Her freckles looked more prominent than usual, her face being illuminated by the rays of light. She looked stunning.
Mary paused for a moment, staring at the redhead, her lips parted. She leans up against the bookshelf to the left of her, an unusual feeling in her stomach.
Nerves, maybe? But why am I nervous?
James, oblivious to her torment, playfully pushes her forward. "Go on, Mares, go and talk to her!"
"And what do I bloody say?!"
"Make small talk, then subtly ask if she fancies me!"
"James..." Mary starts, not wanting her friend to be disappointed by the girl's answer, but also reluctant for another reason, though she didn't know what that reason was.
"Go on!" He pushes Mary forward again, before ducking to hide behind a book shelf, watching on.
Mary stumbles forward, alerting Lily to her presence. The girl looks up from her place at the table, her eyes widening slightly. She straightens up, absentmindedly fussing with her clothes, trying to make herself look more presentable. "O-oh, hello Mary!"
"Hey, Lils." Mary said awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.
Lily blushed at the nickname, Mary noticed, and blushed back, but chose not to think too much of it.
"Did we have a study session set up today?" Lily asked, confused.
"Nope, just... saw you and thought I'd say hi."
"Ah, well... hi."
"...Hi."
Lily pursed her lips. "Anything else you needed orrrr?"
"Yes, I suppose I just wanted to hang out for a bit, can I sit?"
Lily blushed harder, nodding a bit too eagerly. "O-oh, yes of course!"
Mary smiled, sitting down beside Lily, not across the table like usual, Lily definitely noticed that. In fact, she seemed to notice everything Mary did.
Lily watched as the warm sun beamed through her dark curls, lighting them up. Nervously biting her lip as she tries not to stare, she said. "So, how's your day been?"
"Good, quiet. I guess I'm just kind of tired after last night."
"Yes, same, I actually slept in for a change."
Mary became a bit more comfortable as time went on, and she did enjoy speaking to Lily. Though, she couldn't help teasing her a bit. Fake gasping, she asked. "Lily Jane Evans sleeping in, what's gone wrong with the world?!"
Lily, instead of getting upset like she usually would've, giggles, playfully hitting Mary. "Oh, be quiet!"
Mary, not realising it, bit her lip. Though before she could get too distracted by Lily, she saw James at the bookshelf behind the redhead, out of her view, waving his hand to prompt her on. Sirius was beside him, trying to drag him away, whispering to him about or something or other.
Mary widened her eyes at James, furrowing her eyebrows. Rolling her eyes, she turned to Lily, without thinking before she spoke. "James wants to know if you like him!"
She mentally slapped herself, not knowing why she had said that instead of being subtle about the matter.
Behind Lily, she saw James getting whisked away by Sirius. James waved goodbye to her, nodding his head and mouthing to her 'keep going'.
Lily, caught off guard by the question, widened her eyes, her mouth agape in shock as she furrowed her eyebrows. "Umm... no, I don't."
Mary nodded, sighing. "I knew you were going to say that, sorry I had to ask."
She felt bad for her friend, of course she did, but some betraying part of herself felt relieved. She almost felt a sense of victory once she had heard those words.
Lily snorted, waving her hand casually. "It's okay, but no, I don't like James. I do feel a bit bad for the poor boy though, it's not pleasant having to turn him down all the time." She furrowed her eyebrows guiltily.
Mary didn't like seeing her like that, because she shouldn't feel guilty for not liking somebody?! She sighed, speaking before she could think again. "I can talk to him, if you'd like?"
Lily's lips parted in shock. "Oh! Yes please, if that's not a problem."
Mary reached out and placed a supportive hand on the redhead's arm, stroking it reassuringly. Her body betrayed her, and she blushed profusely. "I know he asks a lot, but he really doesn't mean anything bad by it, he just doesn't really know how to go about it."
Lily's eyes widened excitedly, biting her lip. "I don't hold any actual ill will for him, I know he's not a bad person, I just don't feel anything for him in that regard."
Mary, unable to help herself, said softly. "Though I can't really blame him, you are gorgeous."
Lily stared back at her in shock, her eyes big and in awe of the other girl. "Oh please, you're one to talk, you're completely stunning." She said breathily.
Mary leaned closer towards the other girl, whispering with a smirk. "Oh yeah?"
Lily bit her lip harder, her voice wavering damningly. "Yeah."
The girls faces were extremely close to one another, Mary resting her chin on her hand as Lily stared at her. The sound of another student dropping a heavy book down on a table across from them snapped them out of their mini trance.
Mary snapped back up into a normal sitting position, entirely flustered and slightly out of breath. She whipped her head around in search of her bag, picking it up in a rush. "Uhm, I've just remembered I have to go and meet Marlene."
A blatant lie on her part.
"O-oh. Okay." Lily would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't disappointed.
Mary, lost for words and refusing to make eye contact with the other girl, falters for a moment as she tries to find what to say, before quickly muttering. "Yep."
She gave Lily a polite smile and a nod, quickly standing and walking out of the library.
What the fuck was that?!