PLOT SUMMARY: What if James Potter was yet again UNSUCCESSFUL in asking the ever beautiful Lily Evans into going out with him in his last chance? What if their Hogwarts career was already over and all they were able to develop was a friendship? What if that friendship got shattered? All I'm saying is, James is losing hope in his pursuit for Miss Lily Evans.
A/N: Hey guys! It's Liloony here again. This idea just came onto me and I just had to write it down. I was listening to the song Nothing by The Script and badabing badaboom badabang, I got the idea. I did a lot of thought into this one so I hope you guys like it. By the way, this is an AU.
AU Pointers for this Story:
1.) NO VOLDEMORT, he remains as Tom Riddle and is now working as a salesman in Honeydukes. (I know, he is the complete opposite of Voldy since he is the sweetest* man in Hogsmeade and won the Most Charming Smile award in Witch Weekly) He never thought of ever being Voldemort because he accepts the fact this his dad is a muggle. Or maybe, he'll change his mind? Just kidding! :D
*notice the pun?
2.) There are other things for the AU, but I will be introducing it later on, it'll spoil the story if I tell you now.
So after I say, "Disclaimer: J.K. owns, J.K. owns" I now present,
NOTHING
Chapter One: Making Dreams Happen
by: Liloony12
Wizard hats were soaring into the air. The students were cheering happily and catching their hats, crying and hugging each other. One particular group of rather quite handsome seventeen year olds (except for a small blonde one), were trying to put on fireworks.
"Come on, Moony." The most handsome of all with long rather elegant black with grey eyes said. The boy with mousy brown hair, Moony, was scratching his head.
"I don't get it, Padfoot." He said thoughtfully while raising his wand. "This is Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start No Heat Fireworks but I already did the Aguamenti charm on it but it won't work."
"Maybe you need to hit all of them." Padfoot said. The bespectacled one with messy jet black hair and bright hazel eyes frowned.
"Where did you get these, Wormtail?" He asked the short blonde boy. The boy tensed.
"I told you, Prongs. I bought it in Zonko's." Wormtail said, "Nothing ever goes wrong with Zonko's."
"Apparently, that quote is wrong, Pete." Padfoot growled at him.
"I'm sorry, Sirius." Pete said. Moony patted his back.
"It's okay, Peter." Moony said. "We could graduate without fireworks."
"But Remus!" Peter whined, "I wanted the famous Marauders to leave with a bang not quietly with tears in their eyes."
"It's all the same Pete," Prongs said, "We still are going to leave with tears in our eyes. Imagine, us being separated after seven long years. That'll be hard on us."
"Yes, yes, James, very touching but Miss Lily Evans told us- no, ordered us to set fireworks." Sirius said. "Imagine what would happen when we messed up with a simple task when after all those great pranks we never messed up in those. Evans'll kill us."
"Shh, Lily's coming." James said and smiled at the beautiful red head that was coming towards them.
"Well? What's the hold up, James?" She asked her now former partner in Head duties.
"Well, you see Lily, the fireworks won't start. We tried everything but it won't work." James answered as Lily studied the fireworks.
"What charm did you use?" She asked as she studied the fireworks.
"The Aguamenti charm." Remus answered.
"Erm," Lily said standing up and picking up the fireworks and tilted it a bit. "Here's your problem, it's expired." She pointed to white letters that said, 'Expires On: February 15, 1977'. She sighed. "I hope you have extras." James turned to Sirius.
"Do we?" He asked. Sirius shrugged. Sighing again, Lily turned to the Staff Table, Lily caught sight of Dumbledore. He gave her a meaningful look and smiled slightly. Lily gasped.
"Oh, right! We're supposed to give our speeches now, James." Lily grabbed his arm, James' eyes grew wide.
"What?" He exclaimed.
"Our speeches; come on!" Lily said hurrying off. "See you later, guys!" She called to the rest of James' group. Seeing both of them coming toward the stage, Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat. Still, no one stopped talking. Suddenly a loud bang erupted around the Hall.
"Oi! Listen to Professor Dumbledore, will you?" Sirius called out. A few girls giggled. Everyone finally shut up.
"Thank you, Mister Black." Dumbledore said with an amused twinkle in his eye. Sirius bowed. Lily and James arrived and smiled at Dumbledore. He gestured to them. "Students, your Head Boy and Girl are now here to deliver their speeches. Give them a big hand." Everyone clapped hard and Sirius wolf-whistled. James gestured to Lily to go first. She looked at him nervously and nodded. He leaned in and whispered.
"Don't worry, I'm here." He said. Lily blushed and stepped forward to the podium.
"Good morning, everyone. Of course, all of you know who I am, Lily Evans, Head Girl, and The Girl Who Had Twelve Outstanding N.E.W.T.S." A few people chuckled and Lily continued. "I know most of the speeches by past Heads are on saying goodbye and the like but mine will be about raising our chins up high. This last year was a big challenge. What with the N.E.W.T.S exams breathing down our necks but we've finally made it. We're finally standing here, in our graduation robes and our diplomas in hand. It's our biggest achievement yet. Graduating from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the best Wizarding School you'll find in the world," she turned to smile at Hagrid who grinned back, "is our biggest achievement. All those painstaking headaches, all those crazy hair pulling, those vigorous writing 4 feet essays, all those things were worth it." She raised her diploma. "This is what we get back. This is our ticket to the new world, the outside world – as we used to call it in first year." She grinned. "Of course all of us will be missing the train rides, the Hogsmeade visits, the fun nights in the dorms, the Quidditch matches!" The others roared. Lily laughed. "But we have new experiences to see, new experiences to feel, new experiences to partake in. So, guys hold your heads up high, puff out your chest and shout to the world "I GRADUATED FROM HOGWARTS!" Come on, say it with me."
"I GRADUATED FROM HOGWARTS!" The students roared. Lily grinned, "That, my dear fellow graduates, is the phrase we'll be saying proudly forever and ever." Lily bowed and everyone clapped hard. "Now, give a big hand for my little Head Boy. James Potter, everyone!" Everyone cheered for their famous Head Boy/ Quidditch star/ Eligible Bachelor. James grinned.
"Thanks, Lily. Well, Lily-flower's ("Don't call me that!") speech was all about holding your chin up high, my speech will be about the past experiences. I'll be dwelling in the past for the duration of this speech, okay? So, in first year, we were all shy and timid at first. When the Sorting happened, it was the scariest moment of our lives. I remember Peter wetting himself in fright when Professor McGonagall called his name for Sorting." Everyone laughed. Peter blushed as red as the Gryffindor colors. "That was when we meet the people who would become our friends, our family. They became the people who would be there for us for the seven years of our stay here. In second year, we were still adjusting a bit and then our pranks started. Those were our glory days, the first year of our reign in Hogwarts." James grinned to himself reminiscently, "That was also the time Lily here started hating me." Everyone chuckled. "The next few years were fun, the funniest ever. We became so famous we had our own fan girls." A lot of girls squealed. "Then in our fourth year, I decided to ask Lily to be my girlfriend. The look on her face was priceless!"
"And the hex I did on you was priceless too." Lily interrupted. "You were in the Hospital Wing for weeks." Everyone laughed. James stuck his tongue out.
"Very mature, Potter." Lily muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Anyway, as Flower pointed out, I was in the Hospital Wing for weeks. But still I didn't learn my lesson and in fifth year, Lily announced that I was her enemy for life. Apparently, she was wrong." James grinned and wrapped his arm around her in a friendly gesture but let go immediately. "At that year, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and I finally found the perfect name for our nameless gang, The Marauders!" He raised his wand in the air and made lights burst out of it and so did the other Marauders. As if right on cue, the faulty fireworks finally flew into the air and looked like the best firework display too. James continued. "The only bad thing about fifth year was O.W.L.S. It was like N.E.W.T.S with much easier difficulty than compared with N.E.W.T.S but I must confess I found it quite an easy breeze. The D.A.D.A exam day was also the day I made my worst mistake. Snivellus – I mean, Severus, I'm sorry for what I had done." Everybody was quiet but Snape just stood there, rooted to the spot. Lily sent him a glare mingled with a hurt look. She would never forget what he did to her. James continued, "Then sixth year, rebellion stage. More pranks with even more destruction in the wake. That was also the year we learned to fall in love."
"AWWWEEEE!" Everyone chorused.
"Who could forget the famous couples, such as Sirius and Rachel, Marlene and Robbie, and of course, the best of them all, ALICE AND FRANK!"
Everyone cheered as they watched Alice and Frank blush deep red.
James laughed, "Who could forget the Marauders best prank ever? Who could forget when everyone was drunk for weeks after the said prank? Who could forget the big brawl between the Marauders and rival group, the Mega Boys! But still, they disbanded in the end because they couldn't match the Marauders total awesomeness. And then, seventh year, the biggest shock of our lives – or more so, Lily's life. I, James Harold Potter, leader of the Marauders and Chief Troublemaker, was appointed Head Boy! Some of us swore that Professor Dumbledore was – forgive me Professor – was off his rocker to appoint me as Head Boy. Then again, Lily's reaction was priceless!" Everyone laughed at the memory of their Head Girl having a screaming fit all through the ride to Hogwarts.
"Even though she hated it, we had to share one dormitory, and that was the year, Miss Lily-Hates-James-Potter Evans finally became a friend of mine. But now, looking back at all the past experiences, I can't help but feel my heart sink." James' voice started to crack and he wiped his eyes. "Friends that we have now grown to love and become our large extended family, we might not see them again." James wiped his eyes behind his glasses. Everyone started crying again too. Lily's tears ran down her cheeks. "But nothing could replace them," James continued, "Nothing can replace them. They already have a large spot in our hearts." He gestured to his chest. He turned to the teachers "To our very patient teachers, thank you so much for being patient. I remember when Professor McGonagall saying after a really nasty prank that we were the worst batch ever." James smiled. McGonagall wiped a tear in her eye and smiled one of her rare genuine smiles at James. "But even so, you never lost your patience with us. You acted as our second parents with Hogwarts as our second home." James couldn't hold back his tears. He had to wipe his eyes repeatedly to continue. "To our dear friends and classmates, thanks for everything. And please keep in touch. To Hogwarts, we'll miss you and your magical glory, your protection, and your secret passages." James smiled. "But no matter, we'll always remember our dear Alma Mater and it will always be in our hearts. Thank you." Everyone clapped hard as James finished his speech. Sirius wolf-whistled and more fireworks went up in the air. Dumbledore stood up and smiled at them all.
"Now, if you'd like, you should sing your batch song." He said, the students nodded. They scrambled up the stage and formed four horizontal lines, like a how a choir would form. With a wave of Dumbledore's wand the instruments started to play. Lily went over to where Rachel Morrigan was standing, tears in their eyes. They hugged but said nothing as the song was about to start.
"Where are we going?
We're leaving this life.
Where are we going?
We're saying goodbye.
All through these years
we've had each other.
We're onto the future
we'll have to carry on.
Do you remember
the times we shared?
Smiles with each other
and tears we shed.
All through these years
we've grown much stronger
Heads held up higher
higher than…
But the sky's not the limit,
we've reached farther than that.
Stars getting closer to where we're at.
Stumbled and scarred,
on this path we're on,
Reaching for that star.
Someday, somehow we'll be better,
making a difference,
beating the odds.
Showing the world what we've got.
Showing the world who we are.
You'll never know
what the future holds.
When things like these happen
don't lose hope
'Cause the sky's not the limit
we've reached farther than that
Stars getting closer to where we're at
Stumbled and scarred
On this path we're on
Reaching for that star
Someday, somehow we'll be better
making a difference,
beating the odds.
Showing the world what we've got.
Showing the world who we are.
Making dreams happen.
Making dreams happen."
Not able to hold it in any longer, Lily hugged Rachel again. Everyone cried halfway through singing the song.
"Rachel!" she cried. "That was the most beautiful song I've ever heard and sung."
"Naw, it was nothing, Lily." Rachel said through her tears. Lily pulled back and turned to the crowd.
"Making Dreams Happen, ladies and gentlemen! The song was written by our very own Rachel Morrigan!" She shouted. Everyone clapped while wiping their tears.
"Thanks guys." She said. Sirius came over and had a very serious look on his face. He pulled her into one big bear hug. Rachel burst into tears and hugged him harder. Sirius pulled back and kissed her full in the lips. Everyone roared and a few wolf-whistled. Lily laughed and clapped. They pulled apart but still hugged each other, tears running down their face. James came over to Lily and wrapped his arm around her. Lily smiled tearfully as she replayed the song in her head. She closed her emerald green eyes in happiness and smiled to herself.
"I can't believe it's over." Lily said dazedly to herself. "It's all over."
A/N: Thanks for reading guys! The song Nothing by the Script will come in a few chapters.
Some parts of James' speech were part of the Valedictory Speech by the coolest male Valedictorian in the world. His name is Al, by the way. Special thanks to Al for letting me borrow his small gang, the Mega Boys, actually spelled like this, "Mega Boiz". In my brother's high school graduation, Al mentioned in his speech that a teacher called them the "Worst Batch Ever" and we laughed our heads off. My brothers second year was supposed to be their rebellion stage but I decided since Lily and the others were only twelve at the time, I made it sixth year.
Making Dreams Happen was my brothers batch song too. He still has the piece of paper they used to practice for their graduation. It was written by a classmate of his whose name I forgot. All I know is, he may be fat but he could sing like it was the end of the world. Thanks to whoever wrote it for letting me use the song.
By the way, please read my other fanfiction by the name of "Tribute to Lily; Remember Her?". It doesn't follow the storyline I've planned for this fanfiction.
Anyway, tell me what you think, and please please review guys!
With Love,
Liloony12 xoxo