ONE
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and this story is based off of the manga Hana Yori Dango. Please read and don't forget to review.
Is there anybody going to listen to my story,
All about the girl who came to stay?
She's the kind of girl you want so much,
It makes you sorry
Still you don't regret a single day.
--The Beatles
I don't remember much of the first time I saw you—what should've been an epic prologue to a tear-jerking love story is epitomized in the ashes of a crimson howler. What marks our first intimate connection is deeply imprinted in my memory and heart by the contact of your fist onto my face. I am the first to admit that you are not feminine, uncouth, and sometimes I think you a bit of a brute.
But then you turn to look at me with those green eyes and that self-righteous smirk, and suddenly, I feel jittery and I hate you because you make my insides flutter. And I, James Henry Potter, do not have frequently have issues with fluttery insides. Figuratively speaking, if I had any weaknesses, that would be it and that's why I keep you around.
I guess.
ACT I: OVERTURE
Alice Prewitt was a peculiar young witch with a particular love for breakfast. She did not like order--routine to her, was dumping milk into her cereal and watching as the milk changed colour, complementing her choice of fibre intake each morning. Although a pure-blooded witch, Alice did not take Muggle maladies lightly and always prattled on about the importance of daily vitamin and calorie intakes.
Alice Prewitt woke up promptly at 7:30 am every morning to ensure ample time for consumption and digestion of breakfast goods. She welcomed this little bit of constancy in her daily chaos. It was now 8:00 am and Alice Prewitt was not sitting at her usual spot in the Great Hall and meditating over mouthfuls of salt-and-peppered eggs but rather, sitting and fuming at a large lump underneath blankets.
"If you do not get up right at this second, I will be forced to take desperate measures." Alice said through gritted teeth, anger building as every second slipped by from her beloved breakfast.
The lump grumbled as it shifted and snuggled deeper into the blankets.
"Five more minutes, Mum... Fi..." it mumbled while waving its hand dismissingly before succumbing to an incoming wave of slumber.
The pretty brunette groaned and shook her head in annoyance. They were never going to leave Gryffindor Tower at this rate. She looked at the clock and gasped—it was already ten past eight. They were going to miss breakfast. Her eyes narrowed and glinted coldly.
"Lily Marie Evans, you leave me no choice," she whispered guiltily while whipping out her wand.
A piercing scream rang throughout the girls' dormitories.
A barely awake redhead was seen, being dragged out the Gryffindor portrait hole by an anxious Alice Prewitt.
"Oh bugger, Lily. I swear to Merlin if you had made me miss my daily morning intake of calcium, fibre, and vitamin C... I don't know what I'm going to do with you! You know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that it generates energy for all of your other daily activities. I've got Quidditch practice tonight, run by that twat James Potter. And now I am absolutely going to die on account of the fact that I haven't got enough calories and vitamins and calcium and things in me! Oh bugger..." Alice sighed while ploughing her way to the Great Hall.
Lily yawned and rubbed her eyes.
"If you only gave me five more minutes, I swear I would've been up. You didn't have to hose me down with jets of icy cold water. You're far too uptight about this vitamin business, Alice. You're not even a Muggle..." she mumbled sleepily.
Alice dropped her hand in shock.
"How can you even say that? Because you are Muggle-born, I thought that you, of all people, would understand the consequences revered by failing to consume a hearty breakfast. Do you or do you not remember that incident when we were little and were in Ireland and you spend so many hours in the bathroom retching because of that..."
Lily sighed as she took in yet another lecture about the importance of breakfast and yet another recall of that awful memory of the stomach bug she had caught n her childhood. She looked around at her surroundings. So this was Hogwarts, the legendary and most prestigious school of magic in all of England. It only opens its doors to the purest of blood and the talented... Yet she, Lily Evans, was nothing but a mere Muggle-born. Talented yes, but her familial lineage leaves much to be desired, especially with the beginning of a blood-war looming. Lily shrugged; she was not going to think about such grim things and pushed the nasty thought to the back of her mind.
Alice noticed that Lily wasn't listening and poked her, "Hey, are you alright?"
Lily put on a smile. "It's just a little overwhelming how I'm here. I mean—"
"Oh, pssh. You are the most talented witch I know and you can send whomever says otherwise to me. I will give them a piece of mind, having eaten breakfast or not!" Alice stated forcefully while swinging her arm around Lily's shoulders protectively.
Lily laughed; it was good to have her best friend around. She had missed Alice and all of her craziness while she was studying abroad in France.
"But listen to me, Lily. You still have to be careful. With what's going on nowadays, it's best to keep your Muggle heritage a secret. As sad as it is to say, there are those at this school who condone the admission of Muggle-borns, no matter their talent. If they were to find out about you, then..." Alice trailed off, "Never mind. Don't worry about it. No matter what, you've always got me and I would never let those blood-sniffing bastards lay a finger on you!"
Lily squeezed Alice's hand and met her best friend's eyes with a determined gaze.
"Don't worry about me, Alice—I've got enough hexes and curses in the back of my robes than in a Defence against the Dark Arts textbook. I won't let those twats get to me." She had meant it.
"Oh Lily..." Alice hugged her best friend tight but she couldn't help but feel worried.
"Now let's go get those vitamins that are oh-so important to you in the morning."
The girls linked arms and sauntered down into the Great Hall only to be met by mass chaos. Students were hiding underneath the tables as food was flung everywhere: an all-out food war. Amidst this chaos, Lily found her eyes being drawn towards four tall boys, surveying the damage from the sidelines, all of whom were impeccably clean. The tall one with unruly brown hair turned in her direction, as if responding to her curious gaze. As hazel met green, he smirked at her—a haughty and self-righteous smile and watched, as a majestic owl flew past the girls and carried a crimson envelope, already smouldering at the edges.
Alice's heart stopped.
"A crimson howler..." she whispered.