June 20th, 2011

Monday, 10 October 1976

  • Jun. 20th, 2011 at 9:46 PM
lilium_evansiae: (distracting/distractable)
Lily, brushing her hair Monday morning, stops, focuses on her reflection in the mirror, and smiles.

It's one of those rare, lovely days when her hair falls exactly as it's supposed to, the way neither mechanical or magical means can ever quite achieve. It just has to happen. And it has.

She leaves it down, over her shoulders, even though she has Potions later today, and it'll mean making sure she doesn't accidentially drag her hair into a cauldron or anything like that. Because rare, lovely days when her hair falls exactly as it's supposed to are not to be wasted on plaits.

She leaves Gryffindor Tower in a good mood, which she is not going to let anything change, she decides, not even Perdita's ongoing whinge (three days and counting) about Black 'abandoning' her Friday night to go off with his friends and then spending most of Saturday 'hiding' in his room instead of making it up to her, and then telling her on Sunday to just leave him bloody alone for fifteen minutes, would she?

(Lily had looked up at the huge, round moon hanging in the sky on Friday, and remembered the discussion she used to have with Severus on a near monthly basis -- he's ill; they say he's ill -- and said nothing.)

In short, she feels pretty and witty and bright, on Monday morning, and she takes it as a good sign for the coming day and week.

The mood lasts through breakfast, even when Perdita and Black have a terribly overdone 'reunion' and Cliona rolls her eyes so hard Lily half-expects to have to take to her the hospital wing because she's somehow sprained them.

And then, in Charms, Lily freezes, for just a second. It's the feeling that her mother talks about as someone having walked over her grave. Lily looks around the room, wondering what out what caused it, and then decides she's being silly.

She can't quite shake the feeling, though. The hairs on the back of her neck are ever so slightly on end.

It isn't until lunch that she figures it out.

Well, more correctly, Glynis figures it out.

"Severus Snape is staring at you," she says, frowning, as she passes Lily the pitcher of pumpkin juice.

Cliona looks up, eyes narrowed. "Yes, he is," she says.

"Maybe he's just looking in this general direction," Lily says. She has sat with her back to the Slytherin table at every meal this year.

"No, he's definitely staring," Cliona says.

"It's creepy," Glynis says.

Lily, without really meaning to, turns to look over her shoulder.

Her eyes meet his -- he looks neither down nor away -- just for a second, and then she turns back to her friends. "It's nothing," she says. "Just ignore him."

It makes her skin crawl, though.

He's staring at her like ... like he knows exactly what she's thinking.

(But then, he probably does. They were good friends for a long time. She hasn't changed that much since she last spoke to him, has she?)

It's almost a relief when Perdita drops into the seat on the other side of Mary's a moment later, completely oblivious to anything involving anyone at the Slytherin table, having un-reunited with Black and in the mood to talk about it.

Lily excuses herself from lunch earlier than usual, and locks herself in the girls' lavatory, which is such a cliche she's almost ashamed of the decision, but he can't follow her there.

(Not that he really has been following her -- Charms is as much his class as hers, everyone has lunch at the same time. What's she supposed to do? Tell him off for looking at her?)

She thinks about staying there through Potions -- it's such a small class, and he'll be there -- but she's not the sort to skive off classes. Besides, she's not about to let Severus Snape keep her from attending her best class. Not today, not ever.

She's very nearly late, though, arriving just as Slughorn is closing the door, because she doesn't want any time to hang around waiting for something to happen. She barely responds to Slughorn's cheerful greeting. She responds less than that to the one from Potter, just sets up her things at the other end of the work table they've been sharing for the last month, and gets to work.

She does not turn around to look and see if Severus is in his usual spot, at the back of the room, with the other Slytherins.

She doesn't look around at all.

And she's very glad she left her hair down this morning.

It gives her something to hide behind.