Author's Note: I absolutely love Lily/James fics. I think I'm becoming obsessed. Ah, well. If I make any mistakes about facts or spelling and grammar or whatever, please don't hesitate to tell me. I don't usually push people to review, but I'd like to know what you think about this one. Also, if this idea has already been thought of and used, sorry. I'm not doing it on purpose; it's just a coincidence. Does anyone even read these?
P.S. I'm Asian and born and raised in America, so don't even ask about British expressions and stuff.
Title: Role Reversal
Rating: PG
Spoilers: There aren't too many spoilers in chapters 1-12. The whole story has some spoilers, but how else do you write a fanfic? The chapter with major spoilers is "Old Friends".
Summary: James and Lily make a bet. Lily has to pull a bunch of pranks and James can't do any.
Disclaimer: I, of course, do not own Harry Potter or its characters. If you're reading this, you should already know whom it belongs to anyway.
Setting: This story is set in MWPP years. If you don't know what that means, you probably shouldn't be reading this fanfic.
!!! = setting change
italics = emphasis
-Back at Hogwarts-
The Hogwarts Express was on its way back to the school it was named for. Going back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after a summer of no magic was a relief to many students. To a certain sixth year Gryffindor girl, however, this meant another year stuck dealing with a certain group of rambunctious boys.
Lily Evans sat in a compartment with her friends and fellow sixth years, Sarah Johnson and Veronica Kent. They heard a muffled explosion coming from another compartment. Veronica rolled her eyes. "The Marauders are at it again."
Veronica was a tall, slender girl with long, dark brown, almost black hair that reached three-quarters of the way down her back. She had startling blue eyes. Lily was a pretty girl with long, straight, dark red hair. She was of average height for her age. Her best features were definitely her stunning emerald green eyes. Sarah was a little shorter than average, about two inches shorter than Lily. She had wavy, blond hair and warm brown eyes that weren't quite hazel.
The redhead of the group sighed. "They're going to come bursting in here right about... now," she predicted, just as four laughing boys ran into the compartment.
"Hey, how'd you know exactly when they would come in here, Lily?" asked Sarah.
"Years of practice."
The girls all laughed at that, then turned to look at the boys known as the Marauders. The boys looked slightly puzzled.
James Potter was a tall boy with black, rather unruly hair and large round glasses in front of his hazel eyes. Sirius Black, James's best friend, also had black hair. His, however, was a bit longer and not as messy as his friend's. Remus Lupin was the serious, brown-haired, brown-eyed one of the group. Peter Pettigrew, the chubby blonde boy, wasn't really liked by anyone. The other three boys only put up with him because they felt sorry for him. He was also involved in the Marauders' biggest secret.
Remus, always the sensible one, was able to stop laughing first and tell the girls about their latest prank. "We blew up Snape's trunk and his underwear flew everywhere..."
James finished for him by exclaiming, "Snape wears boxers with little hearts on them!" (AN: Yeah, I know that's been done before, but hey, it's funny!)
Peter added, "And he has a teddy bear!"
The girls burst out laughing.
Sarah, still giggling at the thought of Severus Snape in his heart boxers clutching a teddy bear, said, "Remind me... remind me to tease him about that later."
"Sure thing," Sirius replied, putting an arm around her.
Sarah, not missing a beat, stepped aside, causing Sirius to fall to the floor. He scrambled to his feet and exclaimed, "Hey! That wasn't nice!"
"Oh, really?" answered Sarah. She grinned. "What are you gonna do about it?"
"I'm gonna do... this!" he replied, pouncing on her. Sirius started tickling the girl, and they crashed into everyone and everything as Sarah attempted to escape from Sirius.
Lily jumped out of the way to avoid the pair and would have been perfectly fine, except the train gave a sudden lurch just then, causing her to lose her balance and fall. Her landing was surprisingly soft. A muffled voice from beneath her groaned and said, "Evans, would you please get off of me?"
"Oh!" Lily exclaimed. Veronica lent a hand and she got up as quickly as she could. "Sorry, Potter," she said, turning to face the boy she had landed on.
"You all right, Prongs?" asked a concerned Remus. Everyone knew that the Marauders had nicknames for each other, but they didn't know what they meant, so no one else referred to them by those names.
"A little bruised, but I'm fine," James replied. "Padfoot isn't."
Everyone turned to face Sarah and Sirius. Indeed, Sirius was not fine. The blond girl had managed to get on top of the boy and was pinning him down by placing her knee on his back.
"Sarah?" Sirius asked, wincing in pain.
"Hmm? What is it?" she replied sweetly.
"Well, see... The thing is..." he continued, embarrassed, "You're kind of... hurting me."
She gave a fake gasp then answered, "Really? I didn't know little old me could hurt big, strong Sirius Black." She giggled, then stood up and sat down in her seat.
"Oof," Sirius said as Sarah got up, "You're surprisingly strong."
"Thank you," Sarah replied, bowing to the applause of Lily, Veronica, James, and Remus. Peter was busy talking to the woman pushing the cart full of treats. Apparently, she had come in unnoticed by everyone else during the chaos.
"Anything off the cart?" she asked, smiling.
Peter was knocked out of the way as the others rushed forward to get some treats.
!!!
After the woman left and everyone had gotten what they wanted, Lily turned to the boys and asked, "Why are you four still here, anyway?"
The Marauders looked at each other.
"Well, Snape's bound to be after us to get revenge, so can we stay in here for a while?" Remus asked the girls.
Lily, Veronica, and Sarah gathered in a corner to discuss the matter in whispers. Sarah was pushing for the boys to stay. Lily and Veronica sighed. Sarah could be a bit ditzy at times, but she was really sweet and the best friend you could have. She also had the biggest crush on Sirius, which explained why she wanted the Marauders to stay.
The girls turned to find James and Sirius with pleading looks on their faces, Remus looking apologetic, and Peter ignoring the whole situation while stuffing his face with a pasty.
"Please?" asked the two black-haired boys at the same time, putting on their best sad puppy dog faces.
"Well, all right, you can stay," Veronica told the boys.
Lily added, while ripping open a package of Chocolate Frogs, "But if Snape and Malfoy find you in here, don't blame us."
Remus and James went to get all of their trunks. Sirius sat down next to Sarah, who smiled happily and engaged him in a conversation about broomsticks. Peter sat on Sirius's other side. Lily was across from him, and Veronica was across from Sarah.
!!!
When James and Remus came back lugging four very heavy trunks, they collapsed onto the floor of the compartment, exhausted. After a few minutes, they stood up and quickly noticed that there was a problem. There was only one seat left. Remus glanced at James, then quickly took the remaining seat next to Veronica. James groaned. He didn't really want to stand there for the rest of the ride. "What do I do? I can't just stand here."
"Well, Prongs, looks like you're gonna have to," replied Sirius. "Unless, of course, Miss Evans over there sits on your lap."
That, in fact, was true. None of the girls could handle James's weight (plus, it's kinda weird to have a boy sit on a girl's lap). Veronica would hit her head on the ceiling, and besides, she was much too proper to sit on anyone's lap. All the trunks were in front of Sarah, and James really didn't feel like moving anymore luggage just to sit down. Plus, even if he did somehow manage to get to Sarah, he wouldn't fit because Peter was so chubby that Sarah and Sirius were already feeling a bit squished.
James turned to Lily and put on his most charming smile.
"No way, Potter."
"Oh, come on, Ev... Lily."
"I said no."
"But I'm really tired."
"No!" The others watched, amused, as Lily continued to refuse James's pleas.
"Please?"
"No, no, no!" How many times do I have to say it before you get it through that thick skull of yours?"
"Come on... at least for a few minutes... my feet are killing me."
Lily shook her head vigorously.
"Lily! Please?" He put on a sad puppy face.
"No, no, and how about... no?"
"Please? I'm begging you," James said, getting down on his knees. That was hard for him to do, considering that there were several big, heavy trunks all over the compartment.
"Potter! I said no!" Lily yelled angrily.
"But..."
"No," she said, with a tone of finality in her voice.
James sighed. "Fine," he replied. He stood up and turned around to face Sarah, Sirius, and Peter. Lily, thinking he had given up, relaxed and looked out the window. Suddenly, two strong arms were wrapped around her waist, and she was lifted into the air. Then, she was seated again, but she was now on someone's lap.
"Potter! Just what do you think you're doing?" she shrieked.
"Sitting," James replied calmly.
Lily threw up her hands in exasperation. She elbowed her new "seat" in the stomach before crossing her arms and frowning. He responded by grinning, putting his arms around her waist, and pulling her closer to him so she wouldn't fall off his lap. Sarah giggled at the sight of her flustered friend.
!!!
Lily refused to talk to James and Sirius for the rest of the ride. She refused to talk to James for obvious reasons, and Sirius for suggesting the idea in the first place. She wished she had kept her wand with her instead of putting it in her trunk.
!!!
When the train finally stopped at Hogsmeade station, Lily ran as quickly as she could off the train and into a horseless carriage. Veronica and Sarah followed, chuckling at their friend's ridiculous behavior. When the three girls were seated in the carriage, the redhead gave a sigh of relief. "They can't follow us in here."
"Oh, come on, Lily," Sarah replied. "They're not that bad."
"Well, Remus isn't, but Potter and Black certainly are."
Veronica said, "Lily, you're just being silly."
"I really don't see what the big deal is," Sarah put in.
"You're just saying that because you fancy a certain Mr. Black," Lily retorted.
Sarah blushed. "Well, um... Okay, I have nothing."
The two other girls laughed as the carriage started moving.
!!!
The Marauders and the three girls were seated at the Gryffindor House table in the Great Hall, waiting for the annual Sorting to begin. Lily sat next to Veronica, who was sitting next to Remus. Peter sat across from Lily, next to Sarah. Sarah was next to Sirius and across from Veronica. James sat on his best friend's right side. This arrangement worked fine for Lily, as she was the farthest one away from James.
Professor McGonagall read the names of the students to be sorted. Each nervous first year went up to the Sorting Hat and put it on, awaiting his or her fate.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The large, old hat shouted out the name of the house that the student wearing it was best suited for. The students in each house cheered and applauded as they welcomed a new student.
When the Sorting was over, the Sorting Hat and the stool it sat on were taken away and Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster, stood up.
"I would like to remind our new students... and some returning students," he said, pausing to cast a meaningful look upon the Marauders, "that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits. And now, enjoy your meal!"
Everyone dug into the delicious food that suddenly appeared on the plates. After everyone had eaten their fill (Sirius and Peter would have eaten more, but James and Remus pulled them away from the table), the prefects led the newcomers to their respective houses. For the Gryffindor first years, this meant following a bickering Lily and James the whole way up to Gryffindor Tower. The others had gone ahead with the other students.
"It wasn't my fault there weren't any seats left!"
"But you still didn't want to let me sit!"
"Oh, excuse me if I didn't want you to be my seat!"
"Look, there was a problem. I handled it."
"Well, you didn't have to handle it like that."
"What other way was there? Like Sirius said, that was the only way I could have gotten a seat."
"You could have moved to another compartment!"
"No, they were all full!" James yelled.
"We're here."
"What?"
"We're here!" Lily said, gesturing to the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Password?" the Fat Lady called.
"Well, go ahead, Evans. What's the password?" James asked Lily expectantly.
"Don't you know?"
"Oh, no..."
"Don't tell me that we can't get in!"
"This is just not a good day."
The two prefects just stood there, racking their brains, trying to remember the password, while a whole bunch of first years waited impatiently behind them.
James was about to run to find someone to tell them the password when the portrait suddenly swung open. Sirius, Remus, and Veronica were standing just inside the portrait hole. Sarah and Peter had gone up to their dorm rooms already.
"Hey, Prongs," Sirius said, "we were just about to go find you. Thought you might've killed each other."
"We—"
Lily cut James off by saying, "We forgot the password so we've been standing here for a while."
"Oh, it's 'acrylic,'" Remus informed them as the first years crowded into the common room.
"Girls on the right, boys on the left," Veronica said to the new students as she pointed out the dorms.
"Finally," she heard one boy mutter.
Sarah came down the stairs then. "Hey, what happened?" she asked. "Where were you two?"
"They forgot the password and were stuck outside until we," Sirius explained, gesturing to himself, Remus and Veronica, "came to the rescue."
Sarah said, "Really?"
"Yes," Lily and James answered in unison. They looked at each other in disgust.
Lily stomped up the spiral staircase to her room.
James groaned and said, "I have a headache. Dealing with that girl for longer than ten seconds is enough to give anyone a migraine." He crossed the common room to the boys' dorms and slowly climbed the spiral staircase.
The others looked at each other and shrugged. They walked up to their rooms after their friends.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's Note: Review and tell me what you think! Give me suggestions if you have any. Thank you for your time.