Rumors Fly Like Owls

Hello Jily fans! I know this title is so cheesy and bad, kinda like this chapter.I'm trying to mix it up, though, so let's see how it goes. Disclaimer: JKR owns all

Lily Lily was out of breath by the time she reached the manor. As a kid, she had been a relatively fast runner at her school, but she really hadn't ran since then. James had caught up to her quickly, but she had hexed him again before he could pass her. She had beat him to the manor by only a few seconds.

"You cheated!" James playfully accused her with a smile.

"Since when have you been opposed to cheating?" she asked jokingly.

"Since when have you cheated?" he countered.

"Since I competed with the king of cheaters, James Potter," she said laughing. James opened the front door and lead her into a large foyer area. A chandelier hung from the ceiling 20 feet above their heads. The floors were stone, giving the room a more natural look. Their footsteps echoed off of the walls as they walked to a hallway that branched off from the room.

As they turned onto the hallway that lead them to the living area, a few familiar voices greeted them. Sirius, Peter, Remus, Mary, and Mar stood watching them enter the room. A chorus of greetings were shouted at them. James asked everyone in the room what was up, but the first one to answer was Sirius.

"Prongs, I'm going to kill your girlfriend," he threatened. His voice was annoyed.

James' face fell into a warning look. Lily looked at James in confusion. At first, she thought he was talking about her, so she was about to tell them off like she used to, but James looked at her and shook his head. Was he dating someone? Do I care? Before Lily could question any further, a girl ran into the room with a squeal and threw herself at James.

James looked embarrassed as he tried to pry the girl off of him. When she faced Lily, she became immediately recognisable. Lily had heard of Julie Bray before. She was known as a girl who could care less about her grades, but focused her attention on guys. She was especially known for following Potter around like a puppy. Her short, sleek black hair was perfectly styled, and her makeup would have taken Lily hours to do. Julie seemed to have recognised Lily, too. Julie made a face of disgust.

"So you're Lily Evans. I've heard a lot about you from some of my friends,"  she sneered. Her voice was high pitched and had a natural flirty tone. It fit perfectly with her petite body size.

"All good things I hope," Lily said, trying to keep a friendly conversation with her. Lily had also heard of Julie being very prideful when it came to her pureblood. Lily just wanted to avoid any difficulties between the two of them.

"Ha!" she sneered, gripping James tighter. "I've heard that you're the Prefect girl who sucks up to everyone, spends more of her life with books than any friends, and ruins any fun times."

The room went silent. Even Sirius had nothing to say. James' lips parted as if he were going to say something, but he just shut his mouth. Was he going to just stand there and watch this happen? Julie is his girl. He needs to stop her! Mary and Mar took a step forward, ready to interfere.

"I've also heard," Julie continued, "that you try to get top grades in school and try be best at everything to make up for the fact that you're simply just a Mudblood."

Gasps flew around the room. Lily saw James visibly tense.

"I know that's a touchy word for some people, but it's the truth. Dirty blood is, well, a disgrace. I don't understand why James would ever have liked a girl like you over a girl like me. You'd just tarnish his family name."

Mary gasped and then silence filled the room once more. Anger and hurt boiled throughout Lily's entire body, but she did everything she could to manage to keep her cool. She looked to James for help, but he just kept his eyes on the floor. Where had the spark gone from when he had confronted Petunia?

"Yep, that's me. I'm the unfortunate little Mudblood that people only talk to because they feel bad for me," she said calmly. She managed to maintain her voice to only a slight quiver.

More silence. Everyone seemed to be in shock over what was happening. Lily's face was bright red. Stay calm. Stay calm. Julie stood her ground, trying to make sure she was still holding on to James. Lily slowly turned to Remus.

"Remus," she started, "my luggage is getting heavy. Would you be willing to show me to a room? It's clear I'm not welcome here in the presence of such...pure beings you could say. Do you have a room for me?"

"I can do it," James volunteered, but Lily stopped him. He was not going to just act as if he hadn't seen her begging him for help through the look she had given him. She needed him to know how she felt.

"No," Her tone was angry and annoyed. James looked as if he'd been slapped, but Lily didn't care. She was mad that he'd just stood there and not said anything. He couldn't possibly agree with Julie, so why would he just stay by her side. "Look at who you've chosen to keep company with." she blurted out angrily. James looked down to see that Julie was still holding onto him. He looked more embarrassed than ever. "You were so shocked when I said I wouldn't get close to anyone. At least now you see why. Why defend me from Petunia just to leave me on my own now."

James took a step towards her, but she held up a hand. "Don't try to repair me if I'm just going to be broken again," she said.

James looked as if he were in physical pain, but Lily didn't care. His eyes met hers, and for a moment she realized that she might be overreacting. Again she asked herself why she cared that he had chosen Julie's side.

She was hurting inside, but she did everything she could to hide it. Julie looked smug next to him when she realised he wasn't going to stop Lily. Once Lily had composed herself, she turned to Remus and said, "Remus if you will."

JamesRemus walked over to Lily slowly, took her luggage, and began to walk off to her new room. James avoided his eyes entirely. James was aching to yell for her to come back. In truth, he didn't say anything because he was afraid they would all find out. He was over Lily Evans in their minds, but he wasn't so sure in his own. He couldn't just give that fact away to all of them by doing what he had wanted to do.

He had wanted to rip Julie off of him and yell at her. He wanted to hold Lily until her pain washed away, but it was too late. She was hurting and thought he didn't care.

He had already broken the promise he'd made to not let anyone hurt her. He watched as they walked away before turning to Julie.

"What was that about?!?" he screamed. All of his pain and anger spilled out of him. He'd been holding so still, but now his hands were shaking.

"Look James I know how you used to feel about her and I was intimidated. I just brought up a few school rumors. I'm sorry James! Besides, I was just being honest..."

"Don't apologise to me," he cut her off. "Anyone who talks about people like you just did is unworthy of my time or sympathy. I want you to leave now."

Julie's jaw dropped in shock, but her shock converted to anger.

"Fine! Just know that all of this is only happening because you're to afraid to admit that you still love her. You're trying to hide it, but I see how you look at her!" Tears were streaming down her face. "You'll always side with her, so I won't even fight you on this! Just tell her before everyone around you gets hurt!"

With that, she stormed over to the fire place, grabbed a handful of floo powder, and called out the name of her own home. With a flash of green light, she was gone.

Silence filled the room. More silence. Sirius finally broke it by muttering "good riddance" and turned to lay down on the couch. James started processing what had happened.

Lily was angry with him. I might still love Lily. Julie had left. I might still love Lily. Lily had chosen Remus over him. I might still love Lily. James had hurt her. He had broken one of his promises. Then, he knew. He knew he loved her. He always had. And now, he had no chance of ever getting her to feel the same.

"James," Mar asked from behind him. "is there something you need to say?"

There eyes met for a minute, and James knew he couldn't say it out loud.

"No... sorry," was all he could say to her.

Okay, so I honestly I didn't really like this chapter, so I assure you that the other chapters will be better. My chapters in the future will be more on track, I just wanted to try something new.Leave me a comment so I know what you think!Thanks for reading!