AN: A special thanks to my very special friend and beta, Otherwise Known as Persephone, for revising (well, more like rewriting!) this story. Trust me, it's a great improvement over what I had before!
Don't Call Me Lilypad
"Hey, Lily! Wait up!"
Lily turns and it's Marlene McKinnon, running to catch up as Lily saunters out the marble hallway and out of the castle.
"What'd you think of the exam?" asks Lily, casual words hiding deep anxiety - she's never been particularly good at Transfiguration. Marlene knows her too well, though (four years is plenty of time to get to know your best friend as well as you know yourself).
"Shut up, Lily, you did fantastic. If you get anything else than a bloody O, I swear I'll hex the examiners until they sprout polka-dotted wings."
Lily giggles nervously. "You'll get yourself carted off to Azkaban in the process."
Marlene's about to come back with a smart retort when something whacks Lily in the back of the head. It's small and black and explodes with a truly terrible odor - a Dungbomb.
"All right there, Lilypad?"
Lily smacks herself on the head when she hears James Potter's voice. How could she have forgotten the Marauder's signature prank? Beside her, Marlene is clutching her wand with a death grip, and Lily grabs her best friend's hand, lest Marlene give in to the urge to hex the Marauders into oblivion (not that Lily wouldn't like that, but they would get into serious trouble).
Sirius Black is standing beside Remus Lupin, choking with the effort of not laughing. James Potter fidgeting with his wand, trying to avoid Lily's look of death, and is acting like he had nothing to do with it, while Peter Pettigrew is trying to sneak out of sight. Lily muses on how uncannily ratlike he can be at times.
"Just let me at him!" Marlene hisses, but Lily gives an almost imperceptible shake of her head. Instead, she walk purposefully over to the gang, her demeanor dangerously calm.
She barely glances at any of the others, but simply stands silently and stares at Potter. She ignores Remus' feeble explanations and apologies. She stands there, and stares at him, and then…
SMACK!
James reels back from the force of her slap. Peter has an expression of utter shock on his face. Sirius is backing away slowly, before she can get at him. Remus, however, has a faint smile on his face, as though he's enjoying what just happened – although surely he is, since he predicted something of the sort would happen sooner or later.
"Don't call me Lily-pad, Potter." She spits the name out as though it's a curse, a stain, something nasty on the sole of her shoe.
She turns and leaves with all the dignity of an empress, walks back to the castle with Marlene (whose expression suggests that if Lily hadn't restrained her, they wouldn't have gotten off so easily), and are on the marble steps when James Potter finds his voice.
"Oi, Evans! Will you go out with me?"