Author Note: Okay, I know it probably isn't the best, but I've wanted to write a Lily and James forever. They are, in my opinion, the perfect couple and because they are so undeveloped in the books, these stories allow for the most creative reign. I just started writing, and the words and stoy followed. I'm not exactly sure where this is going, but we definitely all know the famous ending. I can't promise that this will follow a perfect description of Lily and James' story, so if these kind of stories irk you, you might not enjoy it. It won't be terribly out-there, but this is how I saw them. I assure you that long author notes, or author notes in general, will not be a frequent thing, and I do not blame you if you have stopped reading by now. I'm not going to beg for reviews, but constructive criticism will be answered I promise as well as suggestions. Thanks for reading!~ Gracelyn
'What was I doing here? Really, I did have an adept ability to find myself in the worst places possible at the worst possible times.'
A howling, crisp fall wind blew through my auburn tresses and nipped at my face and bare arms. The sound of that particular gust reverberated throughout the...well you couldn't exactly call it a house now could you? No, it was definitely more like a shack.
"Come on, Evans! Get a move on!" I heard. I turned around to see the annoyingly taunting face of Sirius Black looking up the path at me. Along with him was Alice, Sirius' unfortunate girlfriend as well as my best friend, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, and Emmeline Vance, my other best friend. I took a tentative step forward as a few more encouraging sentiments and catcalls were sent my way. I looked over my shoulder once more to see a crowd gathering behind the Marauders (Aka: the four boys previously mentioned), as well as my two best friends.
'Oh lovely. A crowd. Just what I want when I'm about two seconds away from most probably embarrassing myself,' I thought darkly to myself.
See, I was dared to do this utterly stupid and preposterous stunt. I'm supposed to go up to the abandoned, out of bounds "Shrieking Shack" as I have from this moment christened it. "Shrieking" obviously because of the sound the wind makes when it goes through there.
Anyways, I digress, as Professor Slughorn would say. As I was saying, I was dared by James Potter to go up the shack, open the door and stay in there for more than thirty seconds. Now I am not one to back down from a challenge, but don't get me wrong, I'm not usually one of those girls that goes sneaking around trying to find trouble. Most of the time, it just finds me.
But I am not a Gryffindor for nothing! I would never let James-ruddy-Potter get the best of me. He and I compete for and in everything: quidditch, popularity, marks, points, Gobstones, Exploding Snap, Wizard Chess, etc. We aren't exactly enemies, but we just aren't friends. We both hang out in the same group currently, though, because of Alice and Sirius' current fling. That was exactly how I ended up at the Three Broomsticks this nice, Fall Hogsmeade weekend with the Marauders, and that explains how I have currently ended up in front of the Shrieking Shack, freezing my arse off in the frigid cold, with a huge group of students with obviously no lives watching my walk up to a building! Fascinating, I know.
"Evans! We don't have all day you know! Some of us actually have dates we're putting off to watch you embarrass yourself!" James Potter shouted up at me. I swiveled around the see a few people in the group snickering and him with a conceited smirk on his face. I scowled and turned back around.
'What's so scary about this place anyways? I mean the stories I've heard were probably just to scare us right? Oh gosh, I hope so…'
The Shrieking Shack has been rumored lately to be where Voldemort, or You- Know- Who as he is coming to be known as, has tortured many young students. I highly doubt that, but just the thought of Voldemort made me shiver. That was the newest rumor about this particular building though, no doubt invented by the Marauders as a joke, but still. I'm a muggle-born. I don't take those things lightly anymore. Again, I'm digressing.
A few more steps and I would be up to the sturdy-looking, plain wood door. I turned around tentatively one last time, infuriated by that arrogant smirk still on Potter's face once again, and swirled around.
'I can do this. I mean it's really no big deal, right?'
I strode up to the door and put my hand on the handle. A heard a few surprised gasps sound from behind me, as well as a few worried words from both Alice and Emmeline, but I was too close to wiping that twisted grin off of James' face and I couldn't stop myself. I pushed the door open and stepped in, shutting the door behind me.
"Lumos," I muttered, pulling my wand from my jeans pocket. My wand illuminated the pure darkness that had just enveloped me, and I gasped in utter astonishment. Everything was completely torn apart. I saw a couch thoroughly destroyed into two separate pieces, wood bits strewn about the room, and what appeared to be claw marks all along the walls and indented into the floor.
'What on earth happened in here?' I thought to myself. The windows were boarded up and a wretched smell of wet animal and blood perforated the room. Just then the door burst open and four disheveled looking Marauders came running in. I looked at them superiorly, obviously proud of my thirty-second-and-beyond survival of the shack. James looked alarmed but Sirius just roughly grabbed my arm and pushed me back out through the door. Remus looked much paler than usual and even a little angry, which was completely out of character for him. Peter looked just as baffled as I felt.
"What the hell, Sirius?" I ripped my arm out of his grasp an turned on all four of them, "What's going on?"
"Nothing, Lily," Remus answered hurriedly, "Don't worry about it I just got worried about you and made James and Sirius come up with me to get you. You never know about these kinds of childish antics that these guys pull, someone might actually end up getting hurt one of these days."
"Yeah, it's nothing Evans. Congrats, I didn't think you had the guts to pull something like that anyways," James said, draping his arm around my shoulders and steering me down the path, away from the Shack.
"Oh yeah, and why wouldn't I, Potter?" I spat back at him, shaking his arm off of me. I walked over to Alice and Emmeline, both inviting me to Honeyduke's with them. I turned back around to face Potter, my arms crossing in a defensive position.
"Well because honestly you're too much of a priss, to risk ruining your perfect student record by actually doing something fun for a change," he shrugged and started walking away with the rest of his friends.
'Ugh! He can always find the worst ways to completely and totally piss me off!'
"Yeah, well I think that I proved that I not only can break rules, but I can also beat any challenge you throw at me easily."
He stopped.
"Ha you think you can beat me, huh? In anything?"
"Yeah, you heard what I said. I can beat any challenge better than you. Easily."
"Would you be willing to make a bet, Evans?"
"Would you be willing to lose that bet, Potter?"
"Aha okay well how about this. Starting now, I bet that I can beat you in getting more detentions than you by the end of the year." He stared at me, daringly. I couldn't breathe.
'No, no, no, no! This can't count! Ugh! I have to win, but I've had this perfect record for my entire Hogwarts career! I'm trying to Head Girl material for next year!'
"Um, well…uh…what are the rules exactly?" I managed to stutter out. He was obviously relishing in the fact that I was somewhat surprised.
"Well, I say starting now, we have to see who out of the two of us can manage to rack up the most detentions until June, or the end of finals at least. Pranks are totally acceptable, hurting anyone else, including each other, don't count if detentions are handed out," James stated simply. I just gaped at him. He had so much more of an advantage! I mean he, being a Marauder, just had to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to get a detention! I, however was a prefect!
"Come on, Evans. This might actually be fun. Have you ever actually heard of that word, or is it not in that huge vocabulary you achieved while spending your weekends in the library?" He was just taunting me now. I was mad. No, I was seething. My fists clenched.
"Wait, that isn't fair James, getting detentions for you is as easy as Lily getting points from Slughorn. It's just not fair," Emmeline interjected coming up behind me.
"Well what do you suggest they do then, Vance?" Remus replied coming up behind James.
"Let us help. Lily, Alice, and I, we'll be able to rack up enough to beat James for sure!" Emmeline said. I smiled. This was why they were my best friends. Alice was looking just as apprehensive as I was about the detentions part, but I guess we decided to take one for the team together.
"Ha there is no way in hell I'm letting Prongsie here compete by himself in this," Sirius piped up with his signature wolfish grin, "I think this is gonna be war."
"Alright so Alice, Emmeline and I against you and Sirius?" I said pointedly to Potter.
"And me," Remus cut in, "These guys are my brothers," he smiled at me. I couldn't help smiling back. Despite the whole detention detail, this was actually fun, like Potter said it would be.
"That seems fair to me," Potter agreed, "How 'bout you, Evans? You in?" He looked at me hopefully, flashing what he probably assumed to be a charming smile at me. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm in. I guess."
'What was I getting myself into?'
A/N: Oh. Boy. Well here's the first chapter. Tell me what you think, even if you hate it! I promise not to be a bratty author! I will try to update whenever I have time, and I will constantly be writing/brainstorming. Thanks!~ Gracelyn