Disclaimer: Characters and world were created by JK Rowling.
A/N: This is a genderswap Jily fic featuring Juliet Potter, Liam Evans, Sagittae Black, Reina Lupin, Petra Pettigrew, Marcel McKinnon, Allen Prewett, and Sevannah Snape. I took so much pleasure in making this, you don't even know. I had made another but scraped it. I hope you like this second attempt!
"Oi, Prongs, stop staring at Evans!"
Juliet Potter was snapped out of her daydreams about a certain handsome red-head when her best friend, Sagittae Black waved a hand in front of her dazed face.
"Wha- Huh?" Juliet said, shaking her head and turning away from the object of her affections.
"You were staring at Evans." Sagittae said before stuffing her mouth with some toast.
"Like always." Petra Pettigrew added with a smirk. Juliet scowled.
"I do not always stare at Evans." Juliet argued, but she knew this was a lie. Ever since last year, Juliet had developed an annoying crush on Liam Evans, unfortunately for her, since he hated her guts. Of course, that didn't stop Juliet from asking him out or staring at the handsome boy whenever she got the chance.
Liam was best friends with Sevannah Snape, otherwise known as Juliet's number one rival. She could never understand the weird friendship, what with Liam being a Muggle-born in Gryffindor and Sevannah being a Slytherin and Dark-Magic-lover.
"Yeah, and You-Know-Who's my best friend." Saggitae replied dryly to Juliet's last protest. Juliet was about to retort when their other friend spoke up.
"Aren't we supposed to be studying?" Reina Lupin interjected without looking up from her book. "We have OWLS in a couple days…"
The four Gryffindor girls were in the library, supposedly studying. Of course, the only one actually doing what they came there for was Reina.
"I don't need to study." Sagittae said flippantly as she stood up on the table in hopes to look over the bookcase.
"Get down from there! You're gonna get us kicked out!" Reina cried, finally putting down her book to try and get her energetic friend down.
"Alright, alright, Merlin, don't get your knickers in a twist!" Sagittae complained, getting down because Reina started hitting her.
Petra, breaking the library's rules, retrieved a chocolate bar from her cloak pocket. She waved in Reina face, taunting her, and their bookish friend sighed deeply.
"I can't work with you people." She said resignedly. She picked up her books and turned to leave. But, she seemed to have changed her mind about something because then she spun back around seconds later.
Without warning, she snatched the chocolate bar out of Petra's hands and stuffed it in her pocket for later. Her friends snickered at her evident chocolate addiction as she stared going in the direction of the Gryffindor boys' table, which consisted of Marcel McKinnon, Allen Prewett, and Liam Evans.
Juliet, seeing her best friend's destination, ran after Reina for a chance to chat with Liam Evans. She conveniently missed Sagittae and Petra exchange smirks in her haste to get to the table.
"What d'you want, Jules?" Reina sighed once Juliet reached her.
"To study!" She replied, now very conscious of everything she said. Reina sent her a look.
"You didn't want to study before…"
"I had a change of heart." Juliet chanced, running a nervous hand though her messy hair, only serving to mess it up more. Reina recognized the gesture – Juliet always did that when Liam was around. She looked around at the table of their fellow Gryffindors, silently asking for permission for Juliet. Marcel and Allen smiled and nodded but Liam pointedly looked away.
"…Fine." Reina sighed. Juliet grinned and sat down in a seat.
"How's it going, Jules?" Marcel asked. He and Juliet have been great friends for a long time. The Potters and the McKinnons have always been well acquainted with each other.
"Fine. Reina, here, really enjoys making me do work when it's a wonderful day outside…" Juliet said wistfully and Reina scoffed.
"You didn't have to come. I didn't force you…"
"Are you kidding, Moony? I made it perfectly clear I didn't want to be here and you, as a matter of fact, pulled me and Padfoot by our hair to get us here." Juliet retorted.
"I thought you had a change of heart?" Reina smirked and glanced at Liam, who kept his head in his book.
"Er… Yeah…" Juliet said sheepishly, running a hand through her hair.
Suddenly, they heard a loud crash and a feminine yelp from across the library.
"Damn it, Wormtail!" Sagittae's voice rang noisily throughout the library. Reina sighed again – she seemed to be doing that a lot these days.
"Please don't tell me you left them alone…" She said, pinching the bridge of her nose in irritation.
"Um…" Juliet hesitated and sent a sheepish smile to her friend. "…Sorry, Moony…"
"MISS BLACK, MISS PETTIGREW! GET OUT MY LIBRARY!" Mr. Pince's shout was even louder than Sagittae's previous complaint. Juliet winced. "NOW! YOU'RE BANNED FOR THE REST OF TERM!"
Reina glared at Juliet. She opened her mouth to scold her for leaving the girls alone but was interrupted by a new voice.
"What are you doing here, Potter?" A sneering female voice started, with the loathing pouring from her voice. Juliet turned around in her seat to find Sevannah Snape looking at her with intense black eyes. She visibly tensed.
"I'm studying. That's what you do in a library, is it not?" Juliet said cheekily. Reina's lips twitched but she didn't say anything.
"I didn't know the great Juliet Potter studied." Snape mocked.
"Even the best of us have to study sometimes." Juliet said with mock seriousness, placing a hand over her chest. Snape snorted unattractively.
"If you're the best of us, I'm afraid to see the worst."
"Well, I can get you a mirror, if you please…" Juliet smirked. "Although, you're right, you should be a little afraid." Snape whipped out her wand, ready to curse her.
"Hay, now, put that away. You're not allowed to use magic in the library. It'd be a right shame if you got in trouble…" Juliet's smirk broadened as Snape looked around nervously and put away her wand.
"Well, this has been a fun chat, but I think I should be on my way… See ya, Snivellus." Juliet said, and started to walk away so she wouldn't have to look at the infuriated look on Liam's face.
"Oh, grow up, Potter." He remarked and Juliet faltered. She quickly covered it up with and hoped to Merlin and beyond that no one noticed. Unfortunately, Snape did.
"That's not the only reason she should grow up…" Snape started in an obvious whisper. Juliet stopped in her tracks and spun back around. Everyone at the table was regarding Snape with wide-eyes. "I mean, just look at her – she's almost a wall!"
Juliet made an affronted noise that didn't go unnoticed by the group. Despite what it may seem, Juliet wasn't too confident about herself. Her chest was just one of those things that made her very uncomfortable. All her friends had suitable sizes and there was her, with nothing there at all. She was frightfully skinny and had no curves whatsoever. Her hair was terrible and stuck up everywhere – it was mortifying – and refused to be controlled. Her glasses were big and ugly and somehow found a way to always be crooked.
"And that hair – it's ridiculous!" Snape continued. She somehow knew how to hit the right mark. Juliet covered her embarrassment with a scoff.
"That's rich coming from you! Ever heard of shampoo? It's this strange phenomenon that you can use to wash your hair in the shower – oh, wait, you're unfamiliar with that concept too…"
"How 'bout those horrid glasses? They're so big and ugly…" Snape continued on, as if she wasn't interrupted. Self-consciously, Juliet's hands flew to her face and Snape smirked, pleased that her words had hit their mark.
But before she had the chance to come up with a retort, there was yet another crash somewhere in the library.
"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU GET OUT!" Mr. Pince yelled at the troublemakers and then the offending girls took off at a run to where Reina was sitting.
"Moony, I think it's time to get out of here…" Petra started with a nervous look towards where they just cane running from.
"What'd you even do?"
"We – um – we kinda knocked down a bookshelf… And then three more." Sagittae said sheepishly. Reina cast a glace to where Juliet was standing with a flushed face.
"Um, okay, let's go." Reina said before shooting up out of her chair and running towards Juliet.
"We're leaving, Jules." She announced loudly before grabbing her friend's arm and interlocking her own with it. Together they start walking off towards the door.
"Wait… What just happened?" Sagittae asked. Her questioning grey eyes landed on Snape and promptly narrowed in suspicion. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything." Snape said in a falsely sweet voice. Sagittae's eyes – if possible – narrowed further.
"Look, you slimy little-" She stared but was interrupted.
"MISS BLACK! GET OUT!" Mr. Pince screamed as she appeared out of nowhere. Petra panicked but Sagittae only shoved a finger in Snape's face threateningly.
"This isn't over!" She said before swaggering off with Petra to join their other friends. She wrapped a protective arm around Juliet's waist and Petra latched onto Reina other's arm. The four friends walked out as Sagittae pinched Juliet's cheek affectionately.
It was after curfew, but Juliet didn't really care. On days when she was upset, she'd usually go to the kitchens and that would be where you'd find Juliet right now.
In all honesty, it had taken Liam along time to track her down and had to beg it out of the Marauders to figure it out.
There, in the back sitting at a table, was Juliet scowling at the room in general and eating ice cream. When she saw Liam, her expression softened slightly but she was still scowling, no less. Liam frowned, not used to anything other than her arrogant smirk, and sat down next to the sour girl.
"Why are you here?" Juliet asked as she tried to get as much ice cream as possible from the, now that Liam was closer, noticed, empty ice cream bowl.
"To talk to you, obviously." Juliet raised a questioning eyebrow at this revelation.
"Not that obvious. You usually don't seek me out." She said, putting the ice cream down, realizing that it was a lost cause.
"Uh… Yeah… I guess not…" Liam said awkwardly. Juliet looked up.
"Who'd you have to kill to figure out where I was anyway?" Juliet said, catching Liam's eye. They stayed locked on each other before Liam averted his.
"Black. I was dogging her for hours before Reina came along."
"Ah, yes, the sane one." Juliet sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "What did you want to talk about?"
"About earlier today… In the library…"
"…Uh, what about it?"
"I just wanted to apologize on Sev's behalf-"
"I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate you being here right now, though."
"Well, technically I'm apologizing for both of us." Liam scratched his head nervously. "I'm kind of embarrassed that I didn't do anything to stop her… Not that she was completely alone in the fight but I feel like she instigated it… And I didn't try to stop her or anything…"
"Look, it's fine, alright… It's not your fault or anything." Juliet offers Liam a weak smile and, to her delight, he returned it. All of a sudden, a house-elf appeared with a pop and looked at Juliet with big yellow eyes. Liam gave a little start but Juliet remained calm, as if she was used to it, which she was.
"Does Miss Jules want something more?" The elf asked. Juliet took the bowl from behind her handed it to the house-elf.
"Could I get some more ice cream, please?" Juliet requested and the elf blushed. She turned to Liam.
"Does Miss Jules' friend want something?" She asked. Juliet turned to Liam, as if asking the question herself.
"Uh, I'll have some ice cream too." Liam said.
"Thanks, Binkie." Juliet said before the elf left. She blushed and then Apparated away. Juliet smiled and turned back to Liam who was watching her curiously.
"My mom says that we should thank the house-elves whenever possible." Juliet explained.
"You have house-elves?"
Juliet looked sheepish and light blush spread across her tanned cheeks. "…Yeah…" Liam was surprised; Juliet Potter not relishing in an opportunity to show off? It was practically unheard off for her to be modest.
As Liam was about to reply, Binkie returned with two bowls of vanilla ice cream. She handed them to Juliet and Liam.
"Thanks, Binkie!" Juliet acknowledged and started eating her ice cream. With an obvious blush, the elf left, once again.
"…Listen, Juliet, do you, uh, wanna be friends?" Liam asked, seemingly hiding behind her ice cream. She had seen a different side of Juliet today and she couldn't help but think the girl could probably be like this at other times.
Juliet beamed.
"Of course! And you can just call me Jules." Juliet said in an airy voice. This day had certainly taken a turn for the better.
"Alright." Liam said and started to eat his ice cream. The duo fell into a comfortable silence, filled with their thoughts of the other. Once finished with his ice cream, Liam rose to his feet.
"I'll see you later, Jules. I have to study for OWLS." He said.
"Alright, but you'll probably do brilliantly, anyway."
Liam chuckled. "Thanks. See you tomorrow!" Liam left the kitchens. It was a little surreal for him. Juliet Potter wasn't a complete prat and they were friends now. Maybe things won't be so bad. Liam thought on his way back to Gryffindor tower.
Unfortunately, things would go exactly back to the way they were after they took their Defense OWL, but for now, Liam Evans and Juliet Potter were actually friends.