Disclaimer—everything that you recognize is JKR's, and everything that you don't recognize is mine : ) "You Know What to Do" was written by George Harrison and performed by the Beatles.
"When I see you
I just don't know what to say.
I like to be with you every hour of the day.
So if you want me just like I need you,
You know what to do.
I watched you walking by
and you looked alone.
I hope that you won't mind if I walk you home.
And if you want me just like I need you,
You know what to do.
Just call on me
when you're lonely.
I'll keep my love for you only.
I'll call on you if I'm lonely too.
Understand I'll stay with you every day.
Make you love me more in every way.
So if you want me just like I want you.
You know what to do."
The Beatles
The Train Ride
Clink clink.......clink clink........That was the solitary sound that Lily Evans and Anneliese Stevens heard during their ride to Hogwarts. Boredom set in and the two seventh year Gryffindors were lost in their thoughts.
At the onset of the journey
Amidst weeping parents and children begging to be released from their grasps, two figures could be seen weaving in and out of the seemingly stationary crowd. The girl in the lead, a strikingly attractive red head, kept whipping backward in order to talk to the girl behind her...an equally lovely girl with dirty blonde hair.
"Come on Anneliese! We're going to miss the train!" Lily Evans shouted, vainly trying to make herself heard over the stampede of late Hogwarts arrivals in addition to the shrill noise of the train.
"Alright woman! Are you blind? Can't you see I'm going as fast as I can?! It's not like I can bewitch the trunk to become feather-light Evans....we have to wait until we get on the train for THAT!" Anneliese retorted angrily, pushing her dirty blonde hair out of her line of vision while struggling to keep up with Lily's much larger strides.
Luckily the girls got on the train with a few seconds to spare and barged right through the hallway of the train looking for the Head Compartment. Lily knew it was against school rules to have Anneliese join her, but at the moment all rules vanished from her mind, as the only thing she wanted to do was find a warm, comfortable compartment to sit down in.
"Ah! Here it is!" Anneliese exclaimed, seeing a door with "head compartment" marked on it.
"Finally!" Lily said as she shoved the door open. Unfortunately, instead of seeing a lone figure who could only be her professional counterpart for the school year, she was faced with four boys--the group of boys that Lily and Anne hated more than anyone else in the school: The Marauders--James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.
"POTTER!" Lily screeched, "What are YOU doing HERE?!"
However, just as James opened his mouth to respond Lily continued with, "NO! I don't care why you're here...just get out! GET OUT! All of you! I've had a hard day and the last thing that I need is to see you four! GET....OUT!!!!!"
James, deciding to make love and not war, complied with Lily's outburst and told the Marauders to leave. He had done some thinking over the summer. Instead of spending time with his partners in crime, he decided to use the summer to be alone. Sure, he went out with his friends from time to time just to keep them from getting suspicious, but he had really wanted to seriously think about the owl that he had gotten at the beginning of the summer. It was the owl that informed him that he was to be Hogwarts' Head Boy. Any person with a properly working brain would conclude that Lily Evans would be the natural choice for Head Girl, and James, being the bright boy that he is, knew that this year and this position of Head Boy would be his last chance to ensure a relationship with Lily Evans. During his previous years at school he had tormented her and pestered her constantly for a date. He realized that this attempt wasn't working and understood that a different tactic would have to be put into use.
He began to look at his possible relationship with Lily as a Quidditch game. James, being the Quidditch captain, knew quite a bit about strategies. He was using a very aggressive strategy during his earlier years and decided that he should begin a more passive one. It seemed that Lily didn't like him when he was arrogant, when he hexed people for no reason, when he thought he was superior to everyone else....basically a lot of the things about him that he didn't mind so much. However, he did know that he liked Lily enough to be willing to compromise his person so that he could be the kind of man that she would want to be with. What he didn't know was that he was transitioning from an immature boy into a respectable man. His push was just different from most other males—he changed for love.
Keeping with this state of mind, before shutting the door of the head compartment he kindly said, "Nice to see you again....Lily."
Lily was too puzzled by the his sudden kindness that she remained mute for the rest of the journey, only stopping her muffled thoughts to repeatedly bang her knuckle against the window....clink clink clink clink
Lily still didn't come out of her trance as the carriages led her and Anne to the castle. Who WAS that guy back at the compartment? Potter would have never listened to me and gotten rid of his friends. Plus, he didn't even ask me out on a date. This has to be a new record for him, Lily snorted in amusement. Still...why was he in the Head Compartment? I'm surprised that Remus would allow his friends to come into the compartment...but then again he was never very strict when his friends were concerned. I wonder what brought about the sudden change in James though. Maybe this year he finally decided to grow up....she mused.
As Lily mused over James, Anne found herself quite preoccupied with a different Marauder. My, Remus sure has changed. I mean, he was adorable last year and I especially loved our time together when he would tutor me...wait....what AM I thinking? He's just a friend....oh, but such a CUTE friend...... She continued fighting with herself as the carriages continued to carry the girls ever closer to Hogwarts.
Each girl had no idea that the two boys would change their lives forever.
The sudden stop of the carriage jolted the two girls from their reveries, practically falling out of the carriage in the process. After regaining their composure, they walked up the stone steps and into the Great Hall. The enchanted ceiling was full of twinkling stars in a deep velvet sky and Lily couldn't help but be ecstatic. She was where she truly belonged....this was her home...her world....her life.
While Lily took in the atmosphere that only the Great Hall could bring, Anne looked around at all the tables. The Slytherin house table all the way on the left, the Ravenclaw table next to them, then the Hufflepuffs, and lastly the Gryffindor house table on the far right side of the Great Hall. The teachers, sans McGonnagall, talking merrily amongst themselves, were situated at the very front of the room in front of the Hogwarts banner. Anne looked behind her, noticing McGonnagall coming through the large double doors with the little first year students, and grabbed Lily's arm as the two raced to the Gryffindor table. They sat at the end like every year, and were anxious for the sorting ceremony to begin.
After the first years had been sorted, Professor Dumbledore rose to make his yearly speech. As soon as he stood up from his chair the chatter that had merrily buzzed around the ancient room suddenly ceased. The students (even the new first years) could feel the power and serenity radiating from the elderly man and knew enough that when he spoke it was to enlighten them.
"Welcome boys and girls to another year at Hogwarts. I trust that you all had a wonderful holiday and are looking forward to all the work that your teachers have set aside for you," (moans, especially from The Marauders could be heard) Dumbledore chuckled and continued, "yes well, what's a school without homework? Nothing! That being said, I would like to introduce the hardest working students in the school. These young people ho have proven themselves time and time again to be intelligent, studious, and exemplary young people. May I introduce your new Head Students Miss Lily Evans and Mr. James Potter!"
The Great Hall erupted in tumultuous applause (except for the Slytherin table, for obvious reasons) and Lily stared at James, dumbstruck. i How could James Potter, mischief/prankster extraordinaire POSSIBLY become Head Boy? /i Lily questioned. I thought Remus was a sure bet! I suppose Dumbledore saw something in him that no one else did. Plus, James DID seem to genuinely act differently today when I saw him in the compartment....maybe he is capable of being responsible and taking this position seriously and with the respect and attitude it deserves... As Lily continued to reason with herself, Anne yanked on the sleeve of her robe.
"Lily!" she hissed, "sit DOWN!!!"
"Whaaa?" Lily looked around and saw that while she was consulting her "inner voices" James had already seated himself and she was the only person standing up in the Great Hall....even Dumbledore had sat down in order to wait for his brilliant Head Girl to come to her senses. As a steady blush crept up into her pale cheeks Lily squeaked out a "Sorry" and plopped back down into her seat, utterly embarrassed.
Dumbledore stood up once again and continued his speech, "Quite alright Miss Evans, quite alright. Now, if everyone will note that the Forbidden Forrest is indeed as its name implies, and that for a complete listing of all outlawed jokes/joking apparel to please see our care-taker Mr. Filch, I believe that this feast should be underway," as the students began to look at their plates, expecting foot to pop up at any moment, Dumbledore began to speak, "but before the feast starts," groans could be heard, "I would just like to point out to the first years, when the start of the year feast is finished, please follow your respective prefects to your common rooms, and I would like a word with my new Head Students after the Great Hall has been emptied. Enjoy!"
The Great Hall was once again, filled with applause and the appeasement of many hungry stomachs as food appeared out of nowhere and the student indulged themselves.
Lily, however, wasn't really eating because she was too busy thinking about what Dumbledore could possibly want to talk to her and James about...she would have to wait until the end of the feast...and the end couldn't come soon enough...........
The feast finally ended and students began to trickle out of the Great Hall. Anne, however, didn't want to leave her best friend alone with James Potter. James Potter, of all people, is the Head Boy! I CAN'T believe this!!!! Anne thought to herself.
Anne, like Lily, had noticed the drastic change in James' demeanor while they were on the train. Anne, however, was aware of other changes that James had been making last year. It began with a conversation that she had with Remus during one of their study sessions. He was going on and on about how much he couldn't stand James talking about Lily. He explained that while James knew the exact colour of her hair and every fleck of green in her eyes, he knew nothing about her as a person. Anne was intrigued by this and every time the two would have a study session, Remus would update her on James' progress.
Anne had taken to watching the two Marauders during sixth year and it soon became clear that James was progressing drastically. He no longer hexed random students (although Remus did tell her of countless occasions when James lost it and hexed Snape into near-oblivion), and he seemed to become serious about his role as a student. He was slowly becoming the things that Lily would want in a man, but his problem remained that he could not talk to her with the maturity that he showed to all other areas of his life. At their last study session, Remus told Anne that James said he was going to be spending some time with himself this summer to "sort things out". Remus and Anne could only assume it meant that James wanted to tackle the last facet of his being—his maturity in conversing with Lily. As Anne (and Lily) saw, it seemed that James tackled that part of his personality as well. Now all Anne really had to do was wait around to see when Lily finally realized how mature and responsible he had become.
However, Anne was pulled out of her reflection by the sudden realization that she was truly all alone in the Great Hall. Now what am I going to do? I can't wait here for Lily, that would be intruding on Dumbledore's orders...but I can't just leave by myself...even though I am a seventh year the castle gets CREEPY at night,she thought, involuntarily shuddering at the thought of traveling around the cold, damp castle. She began to fiddle with her locket but dropped it as a gentle touch on her shoulder snapped her back to reality once again. She whipped around, and was suddenly looking into a pair of sparkling amber eyes. Remus.
"Hey, Rem," Anne breathed, "how was your holiday?"
"Eh, it was alright...I wasn't feeling so great at times..but...erm...on the whole it was enjoyable," Remus said with some difficulty. Suddenly, his eyes brightened and he noted, "You know, I seem to notice that our friends have been given the honour of being the Head Students, and that leaves us alone."
"You mean that leaves me alone," Anne softly corrected, "you still have Sirius and Peter."
"Look around you Liese," Remus said, using his special nickname for her, "the boys disappeared right after the feast ended...said something about cheesecake and Slytherins...however that works together," he added with a smirk.
"Ah," Anne said, feeling quite foolish. I shouldn't have said that. Of course they're not here, you'd think that I could use my eyes and notice that! Why do I have to get so flabbergasted whenever he's around??! What IS it about him? Anne asked herself. Upon not finding a good answer she looked at the brown-haired boy, then down at her locket and decidedly said, "Well, we're both alone, why not walk back to the common room together?"
"Definitely!" Remus exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Lily and James were waiting for Professor Dumbledore to finish talking to Professor McGonagall about a Transfiguration theorem of some kind. With Transfiguration not being her best subject, Lily amused herself by looking around the now empty Great Hall. Some movement caught her attention, and she widened her bright green eyes in surprise. Is that Remus and Anneliese?! Wow! I knew that he tutored her and they were friendly, but.....whew! I'll have to make her spill later tonight after this meeting with Potter, she decided.
As James was watching the lovely red head take in the surroundings, he too noticed his werewolf friend walk off with none other than Anneliese Stevens. He let out a low whistle and muttered to himself, "Way to go Moony!"
Lily turned around and asked James with interest, "What did you just say?"
Before James could reply, Professor Dumbledore answered instead with, "Oh my dear, I was just speaking with Professor McGonagall about a very complex theorem....don't tell her, but I really wasn't listening...I was thinking about my new socks. Do you like them?" Dumbledore raised his robes to reveal rainbow-coloured socks that, in Lily's opinion, were absolutely adorable!
"Erm..yes, sir....they are....well....they are something," James stuttered.
Lily laughed out loud and turned to the Professor, "Sir, you requested a meeting with us?"
"Ah yes Miss Evans, always one step ahead," Dumbledore observed, "but yes, the meeting is quite important. As you both know, being the Head Students is an incredible responsibility and I expect you both to take these roles very seriously. You are the role models of the school and the epitome of what the perfect Hogwarts students should be. So that means, Mister Potter, that you will have to try to put an end to executing the pranks..however, you can still be a part of planning them," Dumbledore said, with an extra twinkle in his clear blue eyes.
"Professor!" Lily exclaimed in shock, scandalized.
"It's alright Miss Evans, really," Dumbledore responded with a slight chuckle, "I just want you, especially, to remember that will all this responsibility you must also remember to have fun. All work and no play is not a way to live. I believe this is the end of the meeting. I just wanted to stress the importance of your positions, and if you wouldn't mind, please gather the prefects together for a meeting at the end of next week so that I can announce our yearly plans and you can begin to divvy up the work. Have a wonderful evening!"
"Good-bye Professor," chorused Lily and James.
"Well, Lily, I suppose that leaves just you and me to get back to the head dormitories."
"You mean, just you. I'm not staying in the head dormitories. I don't want to leave Anne alone," Lily explained looking past his silver wire-rimmed spectacles and into his hazel eyes, "we're just too close, and besides, I don't want to share anything, least of all a dormitory, with YOU of all people!"
"Ouch, that hurts Lily," James said in mock-sadness, "I guess that means that if you won't stay in the head dormitories, then neither will I. Us head students ought to stick together."
And before Lily could protest, the messy haired boy had already grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the Great Hall, headed for the Gryffindor common room.
Anneliese and Remus had just entered the common room when they heard a commotion. Honestly, I finally get Liese to myself and there has to be a problem? Why can't I just get her alone?? I was going to try and tell her the truth tonight. If she can accept my condition, then maybe she could possibly give me a chance with her...or never speak to me again.... Remus miserably thought to himself. But before he had time to reprimand himself even more, the cause of the commotion came into full view.
On a table in the middle of the Gryffindor common room stood Sirius Black, decked out in full Renaissance-style clothing with a cowering Peter Pettigrew at the table's legs. Remus, with his excellent hearing (a beneficial side effect of his lycanthropy) was just able to catch what Sirius was saying.
"....and we shall therefore execute a prank greater than any other on the Slytherins tomorrow morning before breakfast," Sirius stated like a true king. "Here here!" supported Peter.
"Huzzah!" exclaimed the Gryffindors, first through seventh years alike.
"We will make them cower! We will make them beg! The cheesecake will rule supreme............FOREVER!!!!! " barked Sirius, full of adrenalin.
"Cheesecake forever!!!" chanted the Gryffindors.
Remus didn't have a clear thought inside his head. Cheesecake? What the HELL is he going to do with....cheesecake of all things?
Anneliese grabbed her locket and began to run her fingers over it as she thought, Cheesecake??? CHEESECAKE?? Oh just wait until Lily hears this one!
Suddenly, the sounds of "Cheesecake forever!" were abruptly cut off by a flash of red hair and blazing bright green eyes. The Gryffindors knew that they had done it. Even the first years knew that their Head Girl was not a force to be reckoned with. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Lily shouted, her voice magnified by the high ceiling and complete silence. "James and I are gone for all of one hour and chaos ensues? I think not! I am Head Girl and I REFUSE to have this kind of ruckus occur whilst I am in charge."
"Um, excuse me Lily?" James asked meekly.
"What?" Lily shot.
"Did you just say 'whilst'?" James inquired.
"AAAH, Potter, don't start. You're supposed to be on my side, not against me!" Lily reprimanded.
"Yes, yes, of course," James said hastily, "let's see...everyone who participated in this...this...well, THING, you all will only receive a warning. No, no you're not in trouble. But, trust me, if Lily or I ever catch you breaking any kind of rule, any SMALL one, it doesn't matter which, you will land yourself in a lot of trouble. And if you think Lily is bad now, this is her on a GOOD day," James finished off, with a few snickers from the older students.
"James is right," Lily agreed as an afterthought, "now, off to bed, we have classes tomorrow."
As the students stomped off to bed, Lily ran over to Anne and gave her a look that simply said 'you-better-tell-me-everything-about-your-walk-with-Remus'. Anneliese just said, "I'll tell you tomorrow, it's been a long day. First, we nearly miss the train. Then, Potter does a complete three sixty and is nice to you. THEN, I find out that cheesecake will rule supreme at Hogwarts. I think I'm done for the night," Anneliese said, exhausted while putting her locket underneath her robe.
"Yeah," Lily replied, "I couldn't agree more."
Without another word, the two girls walked tiredly up the staircase to the seventh year girls' dormitories, not noticing amber and hazel eyes following them the whole way.