Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. I own nothing.
The silence was heavy with shock. No one spoke, moved, or, it seemed, even breathed.
"Seriously?..Uh...Al-alright! Well, yeah...So we have twenty galleons for the dashing Mr. Potter. Do I hear twenty five?"
Lily Evans was absolutely beside herself. What had she just done?! She chanced a glance to the stage and saw him standing there, staring at her with that goofy grin he always wore. Bright red with embarrassment, and a little excitement at her own nerve, Lily heard some stupid bimbo from Hufflepuff shout out, "Twenty five!"
Never to be out done, Lily's hand shot into the air and was shortly followed by a confident "Thirty Galleons!"
The school was going wild. Lily Evans? Bidding on James Potter? The noise that erupted was overwhelming.
It was a Marauder idea. One of their better ones, in Lily's opinion, because it didn't involve embarrassing her or cursing an innocent student. The Gryffindor quidditch team needed new uniforms and they had already blown their budget on useless training equipment and certain mischievous duo insisted on having. So the idea came about to hold an auction. The things being auctioned off?
Boys.
Gryffindor boys.
A winning bid gets the lucky lady a day of her prize's undivided attention and whatever else she can contrive to gain from the situation.
Lily suspected it was Sirius' idea. He had a penchant for muggle movies.
A week before the event, posters went up all over school and leaflets advertising the event happened to fall from the ceiling of the Great Hall one day earlier that week. All the publicity really wasn't necessary though, because once word got out, the well practiced gossip mill kicked into overdrive and every girl in the school had the date and time marked on her calendar. Not usually one to be distracted by things like this, Lily's attention was only caught when she heard, in the list of boys being auctioned, that fateful name: James Potter.
Of course she was supposed to hate him. She knew that. She had been doing it wonderfully for the past six years. But then again, Lily had never been one to deny herself and upon realizing the full extent of James' maturation over the summer after their sixth year and, more importantly, how he had grown even taller and his hair looked even softer and his arms even tanner and stronger-oh...wow...well, yeah. So she realized that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't so bad after all. He had stopped picking on her and he was actually taking his Head Boy responsibilities very seriously. Although she still caught him staring at her all the time, she had come to like the attention and was no longer creeper out by his devotion. It was rather endearing, really. The only hitch in this poorly thought out plan, was that James Potter still truly believed that Lily hated him. And so did the rest of the school.
Which explains why James Potter, Mr. Suave himself, looked like he had just been hit in the head with a bludger. That goofy grin turned even goofier and Lily rolled her eyes. Mid roll, Lily noticed her competition, that stupid blond Hufflepuff raise her hand frantically. Looking over, Lily made eye contact and shot her a death stare. Visibly shaken, the poor girl pushed on valiantly and shouted in a voice tainted with fear, "Thirty one!"
Oliver Oldham, a Gryffindor fourth year who happened to be hosting the auction, looked delighted. "We've got thirty one! Thirty one Galleons for our very own chaser, James Potter!" He glanced over to Lily, "Do I hear thirty five?"
Furious that the stupid Hufflepuff couldn't understand the fact that Lily Evans always wins, Lily decided to take matters into her own hands.
"FIFTY GALLEONS!"
A hush fell over the crowd. The competition jumped up from her seat and, glaring viciously at Lily, stormed out of the hall.
James looked as if he had died and gone to heaven. His grin was a little slack jawed by now and Lily began to wonder if she had bought herself a broken one, when the glazed look in his eyes suddenly vanished.
"Going once! Going Twice!"
Lily looked around, daring anyone to raise a hand and make an attempt at her new investment.
"Sold! To our Head Girl, Lily Evans!"
A look of wild victory graced her pretty face and she stood up to collect her prize when a sickening thud, once again, caused the hall to fall silent.
James had fainted.
a/n: first fic! I wrote this at work. There's more to it but I got tired of typing. Review and it'll get a proper ending!