Chapter One

In which a girl and a boy are locked in a train car, and it is decided James will never get Lily

Melissa POV

The first time I met James Potter was the time he locked me in a compartment on the train at the beginning of my fourth year with Sirius Black, who might I add, is just as much of an arrogant toerag as James. I was looking for my friend Lily Evans when I found Black in the train car looking utterly lost. I stepped in, about to ask if he was alright, when the door slammed shut behind us.

"Dude!" I heard a boy say from behind the door, "Awesome! You shut him in with a Slytherin girl! Victory!"

"Yes!" Another voice replied, "Best. Prank. Ever."

A third voice sounded concerned. "Guys, we have to consider her feelings. No one deserves to be shut in a compartment with him. Not even a Slytherin."

The third voice, who I later learned was Remus Lupin, was right. So, so, so right.

"I am going to kill your friend!" I shouted through the door, "And then I'll get you too!"

"Ooh. She's feisty. I bet she can't come up with good nicknames though." First voice. He'd end up being James. Yeah, Lily's never gonna marry him. No way.

"I can! I'm great at nicknames!" I screamed. "You're- um, you're- Voice Number One!"
Yeah. Not my best moment. But I was trapped in a train compartment with a guy that looked like a future killer. Let's just say I was almost ready to climb out the window.

Sirius POV

I've been locked in a train car with a cute girl.

Best, and simultaneously worst, day of my life.

"Um, hi?" I said, "Are you done screaming at my friends?"

"Nope." she said, "Not even close."

Then she went back to screaming at them, saying a lot of stuff that I'd rather not think about right now. But man Slytherins can have some serious curse words. Very creative ones, at that. Suffice to say, I thought she was even cuter because of this.

Merlin, I've never fallen for a girl. Well, I suppose Evans was pretty. But then James ruined our chances with her forever. Yeah, he's never gonna get her to marry him. I bet you anything.

When the Slytherin was finally done yelling at the wall (and the people behind it), she kicked the bench and sat down across from me.

"You have mud on your robes." The Mystery Girl Who's Absolutely Magnificent said.

"I know. It's there for a reason." I responded. Way to go, Sirius.

"Is it?"

"Isn't everything?"

"Knock it off!" Yelled James from the other side. "You're supposed be killing each other, or snogging each other, or something interesting!"

"That," said the mystery girl, "Is disgusting."

I sighed.

"Though," she continued, "I wouldn't mind killing him."

Melissa POV

After saying this, I winked at the boy across from me. He got the idea. So we set to work.

James POV

"Guys, I think they're actually killing each other." Remus said. There was some evident fear in his voice.

I put my ear to the door. It seemed the girl was screaming, and Sirius was too. There was a loud crash, and then-

"It's silent." Wormtail said in awe.

Remus put his ear to the door. "Maybe we should check on them."

Melissa POV

Whoever this boy was, he was good at fake-dying. I heard one of the voices suggest to come and check in us.

"They're coming in!" I whispered, "Quick, get on the luggage rack, while I make some fake blood."

He nodded, smiling, while I grabbed a potion vial from my robes and mixed it, uttering an incantation. Lily'd taught me this recipe. She planned to use to if James ever got too crazy. I watched as the liquid inside changed to the same shade and consistency as blood. Then, I opened a window and smeared it on the glass, before jumping on the luggage rack with Sirius.

Sirius POV

The girl's on the luggage rack with me. The girl's on the luggage rack with me. The girl's on the luggage rack with me. THE GIRL'S ON THE FREAKING LUGGAGE RACK WITH ME!

James POV

"Oh crap." I said. "I think they actually killed each other."

Let's get this straight: Sirius is one of my closest friends. The only reason he's on my pran list is because of a stunt he pulled last year in the library. I can't say what- we swore never to talk about it again. But that doesn't mean I want him dead.

"They probably threw each other out a window! Look! There's blood!" Peter shouted

"It would have been so much better if they had chosen option two"
"That's still disgusting" The girl's voice said from above

The next thing I knew I was lying on the ground with someone on top of me. I quickly realized that I could pick her up easily. She was very light for a fourth year. Then again she was kind of short compared to us. Except for Peter she was probably only one or two inches shorter that Peter.

"Hey!" She said as I lifted her off of me.

"Sorry," I responded, "I'm a busy guy. Got, like, twenty more people on my prank list."

"Yup," said Remus, "Then he's gonna go propose to Lily Evans. Again."

Melissa POV

LILY! I HAVE TO FIND LILY! SHE MUST BE WORRIED SICK! … AND SHE MUST BE WARNED!

"Yeah… I gotta go find Lily…" I crept out of the compartment.

James Potter (who turned out to be Voice One), heard this. "Wait- you're friends with Lily Evans?! You, Girl Who Is Terrible At Nicknames, are friends with LILY EVANS?!"

"Hey! I'm not terrible at nicknames!"

Remus POV

Yeah… the girl ran out of the compartment. I don't blame her. Even I don't wanna be around James when he starts talking about Lily Evans. Soon, James and Pettigrew were chasing after the girl, and it was just me in the compartment with Sirius. I looked at him, and he seemed strange. Almost in a daze. The same daze James had when he'd first seen Lily.

"You like her, don't you?" I asked him.

"What!? No! Where'd you get a crazy idea like that? I am Padfoot, lone wolf of Hogwarts. Complete player. I don't fall for a girl."

"Uh-huh."

"Yup."

A few minutes passed. Then-

"Her name's Melissa, you know." I said. To this, Sirius nearly jumped where he was standing. His eyes were completely lit up.

"Melissa?! I have to find her-"

"Crazy, did you say my idea was?"