Alright, for this story I am going on my assumption that the students who were to be the future Heads of their Houses in their seventh year were informed of this during their sixth year; so that they could prove themselves or something. I realize that this isn't the way it is done in the books, but for arguments sake, it is the way I am writing it. Therefore, both Lily and James, starting their sixth year were informed that they are in the running to be Head Girl and Boy in their next year. Chaos ensues.
I don't own the characters. As much as I wish I did. I am not rich enough to buy them, nor will I ever be. Such is the life of a suffering student. Enjoy regardless!
September 3, 1975
Lily Evans was mad. No, she was furious. She was consumed by an entirely unhealthy rage that she had not experienced since Petunia had pulled the arms and legs off of her favorite teddy when she was five (jealous crow that she was). It was really just ghastly some of the things that Dumbledore did.
Just ghastly.
She knew that she was the expected choice as Head Girl, she had therefore, not been surprised when Dumbledore had arrived during the summer to inform herself and her parents of the coming honor. But for him to pick that conniving, pranking, idiotic, egotistical prat….Well it was beyond her.
She glared at him from across the warmly lit common room, as if expecting his head to burst into flames on the spot. How he had even been considered for Head Boy was beyond her, but she was going to figure out how he did it, even if it killed her (meaning even if she had to force herself to be nice).
She peered into the closest mirror to her left and smoothed her shoulder length, curly red hair and cleaned her teeth in a quick run over with her tongue. Satisfied with her appearance she smoothed her school skirts and prayed to anyone who was listening that she had enough patience to manage civility with the boy wonder of Gryffindor. If niceties were going to get her her answers, then she would force herself to remain pleasant. If she was Lily Evans (which she most certainly was) and if Lily Evans was anything; it was determined.
With a deep breath she walked over to the fire and settled herself gingerly, if not a little awkwardly beside James Potter on the Gryffindor couch. Silence fell around her as she plastered a smile on her face. Remus Lupin stared in bemused wonderment out of the corner of his eye while Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, both notoriously known for
their lack of tact, gaped at her in pure bewilderment. Only James remained stoic, his face lined with an easy going smile and his eyes concentrating firmly on the fire in front of him.
"Hello Remus. Peter. Pot-…James. Black" She gave Remus and Peter slight nods and daren't glance at Sirius. Her bright eyes however remained on James. Remus murmured out a quiet hello and Peter squeaked something nonsensical. Sirius grinned a grin of pure insanity, baring his teeth and James simply nodded his head absently in her direction.
"Wotcher Flower!" Sirius barked out from the floor, lying on Remus' feet. How this lot had ever become friends was beyond her, but that was not what she was particularly concerned with at this point.
"So James, I've been thinking-" the four troublemakers were strangely silent. "…I've been thinking that perhaps we should go over a few rules and regulations that we really want to push this year. You know, as possible Heads of our house we should be very honored to be considered for such an important recognition. I know that when Dumbledore informed my parents and I, he commended me on my excellent grades and my acute attention to my prefect duties." James stared intensely into the fire but she could see confusion written in the others' eyes. Time to go in for the kill. She leaned forward as casually as possible and tilted her head to the side, eyes widening in curiosity.
"…What did he say to you when he informed you and your parents that you were in the running for Head Boy James?" Perhaps it was the way she drawled his name at the end of her sentence in a Malfoy worthy way that would make Lucius proud. Or perhaps it was the way the smile she had plastered on her face was a little too bright, a little too curious. But when James turned to face her she saw something in his eyes that she was not used to seeing from the doe eyed boy that had shadowed her every move for years. Pure, unrestrained, amusement. James Potter often looked at her with devotion, obsession, reverence, lust and sometimes, admiration. Never with amusement. Lily Evans was never what the Marauders found amusing. Never. However as James used the height advantage to look down on her, she finally saw what every other student in Hogwarts feared; James Potter when he was about to swoop down and pounce on an unsuspecting student and wreak havoc of unimaginable proportions.
Realizing that she had been found out, she felt an intense blush spread from her chest up her neck and to her face and ears. James lowered himself to her eye level and grinned in a slightly maniacal way. He abruptly leaned back and put his arms behind his head.
"He commended me on my wholesome attitude, my stupendous Quidditch skills, my extraordinary talent in all things I attempt, my friendly, becoming mannerisms, my unrestrained contempt for all things Dark, Slytherin and most importantly, Snivelly-ish; my rugged good looks and my unmatched talent at getting any girl I want. At any time." He finished in a low, husky voice and a smirk in her direction, accompanied by a flourish of his hands. Sirius had cupped his hands around his mouth (as if he wasn't loud enough already) and was shouting "Potter for King" while Peter pretend swooned on the floor next to him. Only Remus looked slightly apologetic for his friends' actions; however even as he shook his head she could see the tell-tale smirk around his lips as well.
Thoroughly put out and more then a little enraged (she never had liked being laughed at), she jumped out of her seat and mustered the most venomous glare possible in his direction. He smirked at her again and she felt herself flush in anger.
"Fine, just because you think your all high and mighty and the king of all Hogwarts doesn't mean that I don't think that Dumbledore made the right choice! And if you think for one minute that because you might be Head Boy, you and your little friends can get away with your troublemaking, you can think again Potter! In case you've forgotten, I am also being considered as Head of this house, and I plan on making sure you do not receive that position!" By this point, her infuriation had yet to make any of the boys quiver. Instead Sirius and Peter were screeching on the ground (well Sirius was howling really) and Remus was doing his best to hide his chortles from the arm chair. Only James sat still, with that smirk plastered across his face. Oh, what she wouldn't give to slap that smirk right off….
"You may not tell me right now Potter, or tomorrow, or the next day, but I will find out how you of all people got considered as Head Boy and I will inform Dumbledore why you do not make a good choice. You have my word on THAT!" With that she turned on her heel and marched purposefully towards her dormitory, making the second and first year spectators scatter in fear. She froze in absolute fury when she heard his voice call out after her.
"I expect you to take that challenge very seriously." She turned barely to glare at him through a curtain of hair and let out a muffled scream of frustration. If Potter thought that she was joking, he had another thing coming to him. Lily Evans never took her challenges lightly. Never.
"I should expect that you should be ready to go to Dumbledore with such an…accusation, after exams. And if you can convince the blind old bat that he made the wrong decision and he takes away my title and all other benefits that come with it, I will confess to every prank and stunt that I have pulled over my many years of terrorizing Hogwarts." Sirius had stopped howling by this point and looked thoroughly enraged at this suggestion.
"Prongs! Are you mad?! They'll take away our chance at graduating and make us become Flich's cronies for the rest of our lives, never to perform magic ever again!!" James waved his hand in Sirius' direction and she noticed that even Remus looked distinctly uncomfortable with this proposition. She narrowed her eyes and watched them closely.
"You're on Potter." And she turned to march upstairs but was once again stopped by his drawling voice behind her.
"And if you can't come up with a suitable list, you will have to go out with me. As in on a date. A real one" She said nothing but stood frozen at the bottom of the stairs. "Good night Lilykins." His low voice drew out every syllable of his sentence and she huffed before storming up the staircase. She had 10 months to figure this out, and damn it all if she wasn't going to.
If she was Lily Evans (which she was) and there was one thing that Lily Evans was, it was determined.
And she was determined to bring Potter and his band of flaming merry men down to the ground in a show of the most Marauder worthy talent.
James Potter was a dead man.