Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. The use of its characters, locations, and universe in general are merely a lend. I only own the plotline and the original characters.
A.N.: Previously, I had stated this is a prequel to "Heartily Surprising". Well, I've changed my mind. It's not. Although there are elements that relate to my other fic, it should do well to stand on its own, and now I already know where this is heading.
Featuring: Confused Lily and Baffled Roommates.
Five Days that Shocked Hogwarts
1. Good Morning, Sunshine
It was a lovely morning. Lily always liked mornings. She'd lay in bed sometimes, usually at lazy Sundays, watching the sky just outside the window through the hangings of her four-post. She'd feel as though time would hold still as the colours would first get darker, then the growing sunlight would slowly start to take over. In some instances, she had watched the full moon, bright and shiny, set on the horizon at same time the sun would be coming up. Being on a Tower that faced west had its advantages other than beautiful sunsets.
This morning, however, was not such an occurrence. Because she was quite suddenly brought back to consciousness from a rather enjoyable dream in a most abrupt manner.
"What the—" she muttered as the hangings of her bed were loud and forcibly pulled open, and the glaring morning light met her face.
"Well, Ms Evans," said a voice she vaguely recognized at the given moment, "let me ask you this: Do you not like the peaceful state of things of our House, by any chance?"
"What?" She asked stupidly, blinking several times. It was a few moments before her eyes adjusted themselves to the different intensity of light and she could make out the person in front of her. Standing there with arms crossed, a dangerously raised eyebrow and a trademark glare on her face was Bel Carlyle.
"Bel, what are you talking about?" She questioned, pushing herself up so she could sit. She did so in part because something told her she'd be able to make sense of what her friend was saying then. Admittedly, her brain was not at its best concerning logic in abrupt confrontations. Another reason was that she was feeling quite intimidated with the brunette towering over her. She figured it would give her some leverage. She was wrong.
"Do you not like the peace in our House, I wonder?" Bel questioned once more.
"Why ever would I not?" Lily replied with uttermost shock in her voice. Glancing around, she noticed her other roommates were still in bed, and had been woken up by this sudden disturbance as well. "Why? What happened? And what time is it?"
"Or maybe," Bel continued, ignoring her friend completely. "Maybe you have a death wish."
"What!" Lily exclaimed, now fully awake, her green eyes widening. "What the hell are you talking about?" She no longer felt intimidated by her apparently very irked friend. She was still confused, that's true, but she was feeling her temper rise again. It had been a while they hadn't had an argument, but it was all coming back to her. It was like riding a bike. Or a broomstick.
"Because, I wonder now," at this, Bel started pacing up and down in front of her bed, gesticulating with her hands. "Why ever would Lily Evans choose to do something as stupid as this? Certainly she must be trying to pick things up a notch, I said, or else she's gone completely insane and is trying to kill herself and everyone else in Gryffindor."
The other occupants of one of the sixth year girls' dormitory were as confused as the baffled redhead. Lily vaguely noticed them discussing it amongst themselves.
"What's happening now?"
"I don't know. What was that she said?"
"Bel's gone crazy again…"
The brunette paid them no attention and continued talking. "Then there's the possibility this is all an evil and ingenious plot she concocted, I thought. In that case," she stopped pacing, and faced Lily once more with a very confused and hurt expression, "why didn't you tell me about it?"
"What?" Lily said exasperatedly, still trying to understand her rather tiresome friend. "What in Merlin's name are you talking about?"
"I could've helped you, if that's the case," Bel said, sitting down on Lily's bed suddenly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Cymbeline Eleanor Carlyle!" Another voice shouted across the room, and the brunette blinked her brown eyes in surprise, turning around. "Tell us what the bloody hell you're ranting about this instant or I'll be forced to hex you into next week and never know what's the insanity of the hour!"
Lily was very thankful someone else had managed to get around Bel in one of her ranting attacks. It was a hard thing to accomplish once the girl got to a state of craziness such as this one.
"I'll tell what's happening, Marlene Evelyn McKinnon," Bel said, once more getting up and walking towards the other brunette while shaking a finger at her. "We're on the verge of disaster, that's what, and it's all Lily Angelica Evans' fault!"
"Still not making sense," Marlene said, also glaring and crossing her arms over her chest. Even sitting on her own four-post, Marlene looked as intimidating and imposing as their crazed friend, Lily noticed. Of course, that could be counted out to Marlene being taller than Lily. Hmm.
"She has just made an action that will possibly turn our House into the terms that defined Slytherin House in our second year," Bel said. "Utter chaos."
"Bel, small words, finished thoughts, and do make some sense please," Dawn Sinclair called from her bed, where she was massaging her temples. All the shouting and confusion must have given her a headache.
"What happened in Slytherin in our second year?" Heather Redgrave questioned, walking back into the room from the bathroom.
"And what have I possibly done?" Lily demanded, getting up from her bed to stand as well.
"Second year?" Marlene considered it for a moment. "Well, I remember there was some problem with one of the Slytherin prefects, maybe. Or was it…"
"Oh you know what you did," Bel retorted, raising an eyebrow at the redhead. "Unless someone was using Imperius on you last night after doing your rounds, you should know what you did and the consequences it will bring."
"You don't remember, Heather?" Dawn said, stopping her massage. "It really was utter chaos. The Head Girl, who was a Slytherin, had run off and gotten married to her boyfriend on the first Hogsmeade weekend. It wouldn't have been such a big issue if the new husband in question wasn't a Gryffindor. I remember the Houses were fighting the entire year. Well, not that we don't fight normally. What were their names again…?"
"Last night?" Lily questioned faintly. "When did you—How could you possibly know already?"
"Oh right," Marlene said, nodding her head. "Andromeda Black and Ted Tonks. I remember things heated up quickly, Dumbledore had to get her out of Slytherin and give her and Tonks a private chamber or else she'd certainly be murdered in her sleep."
"I just went for a morning stroll and I heard it from the Fat Lady," Bel said, raising her eyebrows significantly at Lily. "And I'm certainly not the only one she told."
"Black? Is she related to Sirius?" Heather asked curiously.
"Yes, they're cousins, I think," Dawn said.
"By lunchtime, the entire Hogwarts will know you asked out one of the Marauders," Bel finished triumphantly.
"Whoa! Hold it right there!" Marlene exclaimed, interrupting the side conversation about their tumultuous second year. "You did what, Lily?"
"She asked out one of the Marauders," Bel answered with a smirk.
"You finally accepted to go out with James?" Heather questioned in disbelief.
"Why?" Dawn added with something like disappointment, disgust and morbid curiosity.
"She asked him out. And no, not James," Bel said, shaking her head. "Worse, actually. It was Remus Lupin."
"Remus Lupin?" Marlene repeated in disbelief.
"Remus prefect Lupin?" Heather asked with surprise.
"Remus one of James's best friends Lupin?" Dawn added in awe.
"The one and only," Bel nodded her head.
The silence that followed was one of the most uncomfortable these five girls had ever endured, at least for Lily it was. When they finally regained their speech abilities, she was not pleased with their reactions.
"And what did he say?" Marlene questioned, attentively watching the redhead's face.
"Well, he said yes," Lily replied, glancing around at each of her friends.
"You're right," Heather said quietly. "Your crazy moment was justifiable, Bel."
"Oh you're all insane," Lily said exasperatedly. "What's wrong with that, exactly?"
"You truly do not comprehend the consequences of your actions, do you?" Bel said in slight disbelief.
"This is bad," Marlene said, shaking her head slowly. "This is really bad. You have to tell me what happened exactly. You asked him out? Not him?"
"No, I'm sure I asked him out," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "And I don't see why I should tell you anything. It was a private moment."
"And I, for one, simply adored that you did it," Dawn said, jumping up from bed and walking to the bathroom. "That will finally be the end of those irritating self-called Marauders."
"The end?" Lily questioned, utterly confused. "How Remus and I going out on date in Hogsmeade will end the Marauders?"
"You mean you didn't plan it?" Dawn asked, her blonde head appearing on the doorway. "Dear Lord. What is to be of this world when our most intelligent girl of the year is a complete daft?"
"Hey! I resent that!" Lily exclaimed, putting both hands on her waist.
"Good. You should, as I meant it as an offence," Dawn replied, shutting the door behind her back.
"In my opinion, you're all blowing this completely out of proportion," Lily said, turning her back to them and going about her early morning affairs.
"No you will not get out of this so easily!" Marlene exclaimed, stopping her friend, dragging her back to her own bed. "Please, Lily. You have to tell me what happened."
"Laney, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you fancy Remus and that you, in fact, are bothered that I asked him out," Lily said with an arched eyebrow.
"Don't be silly," the brunette said dismissively, rolling her blue eyes. "I just want to know what led you to do it."
"That's true," Heather said. "You never told us you fancied him."
"Well," at this, the girl blushed slightly. "I've always… liked him. I just never really considered him because he's a Marauder, for Merlin's sake! But, I thought, he is a prefect for a reason, right?"
"Yeah, to try to control his idiotic friends," Dawn shouted from the bathroom.
"And he's not very successful at that," Bel added.
"Nonetheless," Lily glared slightly at the bathroom door and at her friends, "I've never had what should be called good relationships with the opposite sex, make them platonic or not. But Remus is someone I can talk to, strangely enough. And last night, after we did our rounds, I just felt I should go with the moment. So I asked if he had any plans for the Hogsmeade weekend, and he said, "Yes, I'm going to Hogsmeade", with a cheeky little grin, and I proposed we went together."
"Did you clarify it was a date?" Marlene questioned in a business-like tone.
"It is a date, right?" Bel asked.
"Yes, it's a date, and yes, he knows," Lily answered. "I do admit he seemed a bit surprised, but he recovered quickly and said he'd love to." She paused, looking at the girls. "So I don't know what is the problem here. I asked him, he agreed, end of story."
"The problem is not you asking Remus out," Marlene explained as if she would to a very small and dense child. "What matters is that he said yes."
"And that he is one of James's best friends!" Bel exclaimed exasperatedly.
"I know who he is," Lily said, quite impatiently. "You're all just repeating facts we all know, and it's getting tiring. Do make your point, please."
"Oh for the love of Godric Gryffindor," Dawn called, yanking the bathroom door open and storming into the room. "He is James's best friend! They're mates! Remus agreed to go on a date with you, and James is desperately in love with you!"
The redhead blinked her green eyes twice before this sudden outburst. Then she started laughing. She laughed until she was rolling on top of Marlene's bed, banging her hand on the mattress and gasping for air. She continued with this fit of laughter till she nearly fell out of bed.
"You're joking, right?" She exclaimed, wiping away the tears in her eyes. "James big-headed Potter? In love with me?"
"Oh Merlin," Dawn simply said, raising her left hand and again massaging her temple. "I can't do this anymore. You deal with her now." With that, she walked straight back into the bathroom.
"She's delusional!" Lily continued, her tone one of deep disbelief. "She's gone off her rocker, hasn't she?" She asked, turning to the others.
"I'm thinking you did," Marlene said archly.
"What?" She said, enormously surprised.
"Lily, what she said is quite true," Heather said. "We all know James is horribly in love with you."
"Oh and he certainly demonstrates this nicely enough, using me as the receiving end of his pranks and embarrassing me in front of the entire Hogwarts," Lily huffed in annoyance.
"My dear, that's what boys do when they're infatuated," Marlene said. "They act even more stupid, and immature, and rude. They're idiotic to the extreme because they don't know how to act, how to deal with their feelings."
"That's all very psychological, I believe," Lily assented. "I would even buy what you're selling if not for the fact that Potter is one of the biggest prats and Casanovas of this school. I mean, honestly! Only Black dates more girls than he does!"
"One more reason for him to act like this," Bel said, and all girls turned puzzled eyes to her. "I imagine what he feels for you is different than for the other girls. But he only knows how to treat girls… well, like he usually does. And I think he realizes you are much more than just one more girl. He doesn't want to use you like the others, and doesn't know how to act, and so ends up being a stupid git."
"Like when he asked me out in front of our entire year after hanging Snape upside-down?" Lily said sarcastically.
"Precisely," Bel nodded her head.
"This is stupid," Lily said with a final tone in her voice. "I'm sure Potter does not even fancy me, less alone to be desperately in love with me. He only asks me out because he knows I'll say no (and he can't stand that), and so he chooses to humiliate me in front of everybody. Now, I will not let your overactive imaginations ruin what could be my first decent chance at a good relationship with a boy I like."
Lily stood up after saying this, and walked back to her trunk. Bel turned an indignant expression from the prefect to Marlene, who only shrugged in response. She then glared at the redhead with annoyance and stalked into the bathroom as Dawn came out, muttering about denial, disaster, and murder.
The girls went about their morning affairs as normally after that. Only Lily was distracted, thinking her friends were probably insane. Well, she always knew they weren't exactly normal.
James Potter fancying me, she thought. Imagine that! I'm certain it's all wishful thinking on their part. I'm positive nothing disastrous will happen. For Merlin's sake, it's only a date in Hogsmeade!
As they walked to the Great Hall for breakfast sometime later, she still had no idea how wrong she was.
A.N.: So here is the first part! Please, tell me what you think of it.