They had finally made it to the castle, and most students were thankful, especially Lily. James and Sirius, and sometimes Remus, had been creating 'Head Girl' songs the entire way there, each one more and more inventive.
A particularly fantastic one (in James' opinion of course), was 'Lily, Lily, the silly billy, Became Head Girl, and made our hair curl, We tremble at her regal feet, Oh how she makes our hearts beat.' Lily, however, didn't really appreciate their attempts at humour, and by the end of the train ride was ready to throttle them.
When the train stopped they all bustled out, bags bumping, teachers attempting to yell over the bustle, particularly when Peter finally awoke and exited the cabin, much to the delight of the hundreds of students lining up to get off the train.
His hair had finally turned the perfect pink, and Lily noticed Sirius and Candace share a quick smile and high five, before Candace blushed and moved to stand next to Lily.
"Ugh, he's such a prat," she whispered to Lily, staring at Sirius with a small smile on her face.
Lily giggled and nudged her, "A prat that you can't stop staring at."
Candace stared at her, then regaining her composure, stuck her nose in the air and stated, "Lies, Lily Evans, lies. You know better than that, Oh Lady Head Girl." With that she curtsied sarcastically, and then was weaving through the crowd easily, leaving behind a trail of perfume for Lily to attempt to follow.
Samantha stood at Lily's other side, and simply smirked at the two's antics, quietly making her way through the crowd.
When they finally made it to the Great Hall, the Sorting had already begun, and the gang only had to sit through Garenza Walfee to Petrilla Zanxia before the feast gloriously appeared.
By the time the feast was ready, stomachs were grumbling everywhere There was mountains of food as usual, from traditional bangers and mash, to gleaming dishes of unrecognisable delicacies.
The Marauders and the three girls all sat down and got tucked into their food, the girls a little more politely than the animal-like boys, whom thought shovelling food in like there was no tomorrow was good manners. Lily honestly didn't know where they put it all.
After the feast, Dumbledore gave his usual scattered speech, ending with the words, "Go forth and be magical!" and then Lily had to go and carry out Head Girl duties, whilst the rest of the students were dismissed.
It turned out that Lily's first assignment was to show the first years around, and she did so unwillingly, already annoyed at the whining and irritating younger children. She went through the castle quickly, pointing out things as she went, ignoring the first years when they tried to ask questions. All she wanted to do was get back to her dorm and catch up with her friends.
And it was while she was thinking that that she bumped into the Head Boy. She had taken the first group of first years, and had not been able to see the Head Boy, as he was late to retrieve the second group. She had been climbing a winding staircase, at least 50 13 year olds trailing behind her, when she suddenly bumped into him. She stared up, suddenly at a loss for words.
Jacob Renning was his name. He was a Ravenclaw. He played Quidditch, probably Captain this year. Brown hair. Blue eyes, a killer smile. And Merlin, had he built up over the holidays.
He smiled down at her, holding out his hand.
"Hey, I'm Jacob, your trusty Head Boy. You're Lily, right?" Lily took his hand and shook it, stuttering out a reply.
"Y-Yeah." All she could think was 'He knows my name, he knows my name, he knows my...'
"So how are this lot going?" he questioned, smiling that killer smile at her, dazzling her so much that she thought she might faint.
"They're, um, dandy," she replied, regretting the words as soon as she said them. Dandy? Where the hell had that even come from? Then she recalled Sirius saying it earlier, and resolved to kill him in his sleep.
"How are yours?" she said, trying to regain her composure as she turned bright red.
He pretended not to notice, telling her they were fine, and that he'd better be getting on.
"Of course, of course, me too," she said hurriedly, pretending that she suddenly had an important meeting or something.
She bustled past him on the stairs, holding her hands to her face to cool it down a little as soon as he was out of sight.
Internally she swore at herself, mentally making a note to work on her talking-to-boys-other-than-the-Marauders skills.
She turned around to face her first years, many of whom were giggling at merlin knows what, and snapped, "Well, that's the end of this tour, folks. You all know where your common rooms are, now scram! Gryffindors, follow me."
The first years stared at her and then did scram, all scurrying off in different directions. Lily was sure that some of them would end up in the wrong rooms, or get lost, or end up in the lake or something. But at this point, she didn't care. She had just made an idiot of herself in front of the cutest guy ever – whom happened to be working side by side with her all year.
She strode back to the common room, the first years barely able to keep up with her. They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, Lily barely having broken a sweat, the first years about to faint with exhaustion. Lily yelled the password and stalked in, dismissing the first years by informing them it was their bed time.
No one else was in the common room except for a small group by the fire – of course, her friends. She breathed a sigh of relief, walking over and sitting down heavily next to Candace. They all stared at her as she arrived, the silence a little unbearable. She stared back, glaring.
"What!" she demanded, putting her hands up to her face to see if there were any food remnants or something. Oh wouldn't that be great, she'd made an idiot of herself, and there was probably half a steak on her face or something.
At that point, the gang all burst into laughter, Sirius clutching his sides as he rolled on the floor.
Sammy was the only one who managed to contain her laughter, saying to a very red-faced Lily, "Bad night, Lils?"
Lily suddenly realised that they had all probably been watching her exchange with the first years, when she had oh-so-lovingly told them to get their asses to bed before she hexed them.
"Oh shut up," she told them, her face returning to its normal colour as she refrained from giggling. She was starting to see the funny side.
James saw this and nudged her. "C'mon Lils, have a little giggle," he said, bursting into laughter again.
Sirius caught on. Those two were like a comedy routine. "Oh yes, a little chuckle," he said pompously.
Remus joined in unexpectedly. "Perhaps a little chortle?" he inquired, before laughing loudly.
At this Lily did have a little giggle, chuckle, and chortle. The comment from Remus had been so unexpected that it just set her off. She clutched Candace, whom hadn't stopped laughing the whole time, nearly crying when she had finally stopped laughing.
"Like I said, shut up you guys," she said, wiping a few tears from eyes, "Maybe I decided that I don't particularly like whiny, whinging, stupid, annoying, irritating first years!"
This caused the boys to erupt into fits of laughter again. When they finally quietened down, Remus suggested that they return to the game they had been playing before Lily had so rudely interrupted.
"What were you playing?" she asked, shuffling backwards so that her legs were out in front of her and she was leaning backwards on her hands.
"Oh, just a good old-fashioned game of Truth or Dare," said Candace, running her fingers through her long blonde hair and flicking it back a little.
"Yeah, you in?" said Sirius, going back to his original position next to James, so that the group was in a circle formation.
"For sure," she said, "But just one question before we get into it. Where on earth is Peter?"
Sirius and Candace glanced at each other and giggled a little.
"Oh, he's otherwise preoccupied," started Sirius, "Trying to get the pink colour out of his hair," finished Candace.
"Merlin," said Lily good naturedly, rolling her eyes and smiling, "Right then, who's go was it?"
"Mine!" yelled Candace, jumping up as if it was a competition.
"Merlin, woman, calm down," said Sammy, tugging on Candace's leg until she sat down again.
"Okay, okay," she said, "I just got a little excited. Party pooper," she mumbled.
Sammy playfully swotted her leg. "Alright drama queen, just bloody well get on with it will you!"
"Okay, gosh. Hmm. Okay! Got one. Sirius Black, truth or dare," she stated loudly, looking at him with a challenging look on her face.
He smiled back handsomely, trying to weaken her. She didn't budge.
"Well, of course, a real man always chooses dare," he replied, his smile widening.
She looked at him questioningly, adopting an innocent expression.
"Does that mean that you choose truth?" she inquired, smiling like an angel.
His smile fell a little and he glared her, but he remained in good spirits.
"Little witch," he mumbled, before replying loudly, "Why no m'dear, I am a real man. Would you like me to prove it to you?" he asked, standing up and pretending to unzip his pants.
Candace ignored him, but her smile was the one that widened this time.
"So you choose dare then?" she asked.
"Of course!" he said, still standing, his hands by his sides now as he watched her carefully, his expression not giving away anything as he grinned.
"You brought this upon yourself Black! Prove that you're a man, then!" she chuckled evilly, knowing he would never do it.
Groans came from the group, as well as questions as to why Candace would ever dare such a thing. None of them wanted to witness that. But Candace was absolutely positive he would never do it.
Which was why she was so surprised when he grinned and accepted the dare, his hands reaching for his belt.
Candace's eyes widened, her mouth wide open.
"He wouldn't," she said to Lily, whom only replied by covering her eyes and nodding. The others sat transfixed, not knowing whether to look away or not. Would he really do it? James began to beg him not to, as did Remus and Sammy.
By that point he had undone his belt and taken it off, swinging it around with a whooping noise before letting it go, lobbing it across the room. Then he undone the top button of his tight jeans, spinning round as he went, all the while grinning.
He undid the button and the zipper and pulled down his pants, revealing a pair of very embarrassing boxers with elves on them, and a pair of rather hairy, yet toned legs.
Candace had barely finished looking at his legs when he snapped his fingers.
"Candy dear, eyes back up here!" he laughed, knowing her hate for the nickname, as well as embarrassing her by catching her looking at his legs.
Then he stood to attention, a serious looking coming onto his face.
"And now, mateys, is the moment you have all been waiting for. The moment when I prove that I, Sirius Black, am a real man. The moment that will change your life forever."
James got up and tried to force Sirius to take his pants and put them back on, begging, bargaining.
"No James, dearest! It has to be done! I must prove to my fair lady, that I am manly enough for her!" he professed, pushing James away.
And with that, he grabbed his boxers, and then quick as a flash, instead of pulling his boxers down, he took his shirt off.
They all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Look, Candy darling, CHEST HAIR!" he yelled, dancing round and coming way too close to her face in order to show her the few strands of dark chest hair that he had.
Lily began to laugh, though no one was sure whether it was because she was so relieved, or at Sirius' antics. The rest of them joined in, and Sirius pranced around, enjoying the attention. Only Candace remained stonyfaced.
"What's wrong, dearest?" inquired Sirius, sitting himself next to Candace, clad only in his boxers still, "disappointed that you didn't get to see the whole sexy package?"
At this she cracked a smile, hitting Sirius on the arm, relaxing.
"Shut up you stupid dog," she started, "who's turn now?"
"Mine, mine, mine," screeched Sirius, getting back up and dancing like a maniac in the middle of the circle.
"Okay, Sirius!" yelled Remus over the top of him, "But as long as you put your pants back on! We can see right up the leg of your boxers you know."
Hearing this, Sirius pranced back out of the circle and pulled his jeans on as he danced, managing somehow not to fall over. He returned to his seat next to James and slung his arm around James' shoulders, who grinned at his friend, snorting.
"I choose Prongsy here!" stated Sirius, smiling round at the circle.
"Now James, pookie wookie woo woo," proclaimed Sirius, " would you like to choose the manly path or the girly path?"
James merely rolled his eyes, and sarcastically replied, "As much as that last skit of yours was entertaining, I think I would rather take the girly way out."
Sirius removed his arm from James' shoulders and slapped his hand over his mouth, obviously shocked.
"Dear Merlin old chum, are you sure? Last chance to change your mind," he said, looking pleadingly at James.
"Nope, I'd prefer not to bare my sexy body to people who just can't handle it," retorted James, earning smirks and glares from the girls.
"Oh alright then," said Sirius, looking a little downtrodden, "Umm. Now I have to actually think. What is this! Some kind of... conspiracy thing!"
"Yes, Padfoot, of course it is. We actually planned all of this, in order to get your brain to actually function," replied James sarcastically, grinning as a look of contempt adorned Sirius' face.
"I knew it! I knew it! You guys totally did this on pur..." he started, but was cut off by Candace.
"Oh, just bloody well get on with it will you!" she yelled over the top of him, drumming her long nails on the floor as she began to get impatient.
"Okay, gosh, someone's PMSing," said Sirius softly, so that only James heard.
James smirked, glad Candace hadn't heard and urging Sirius to hurry up.
"Okay, I know. Easy. Jamesie Poo, if you had to go out with one of the Gryffindor girlies, who would it be?" asked Sirius, grinning conspiringly.
James turned a beautiful shade of red and the three girls looked intrigued, as it was hard to embarrass James.
He turned to look at Sirius and they seemed to have an unspoken conversation with their eyes – Sirius' playful, James' murderous. It looked as if Sirius won however, as James looked up at the group, still red-faced.
"Well, I guess, that would have to be, um, Romilda Franken," he said quickly, not looking anyone in the eye.
The girls stared at him in disgust. Romilda was one of the skankiest girls in their year, and was known to, well, you know. Do basically anything.
Sirius, however, grinned even wider.
"Now, now James dearest, tell the truth! That is just lies, lies, lies," said Sirius in a singsong voice.
James gave Sirius a look that could kill, and then turned back to the group.
"For fuck's sake, okay. Sirius will bloody tell you if I don't anyway. My real answer would be Lily," he said, mumbling the last word.
The girls leaned forward, Lily agape. Remus only smiled, looking as if he had known all along. Sirius, however, seemed to want to milk it for all it was worth.
"Sorry Prongs, didn't catch that last word," he said, cupping his ear and moving closer to James. "What was that?"
James gave Sirius a death stare, before repeating loudly and clearly, "Lily."
Lily gasped, getting the confirmation she needed.
"Holy maracas," she whispered loudly.
Sammy giggled, and Candace went back to examining her nails, as if it weren't a big deal.
"James?" Lily asked, "Seriously? This isn't some stupid prank?"
"Nah. Yeah, it's, um, true," he said, looking at the ground.
"Yay! Now that we've got that all out in the open," started Sirius, but was interrupted by James getting up.
He rose and kicked Sirius in the side, not too hard, but hard enough to hurt, and loudly directed the worst insult towards Sirius that he could think of.
"You suck, Sirius!" and with that he stalked up the stairs to the boys' dorm, slamming the door behind him.
"Ow!" squealed Sirius, clutching his side. "That really hurt! Little bitch! And he said the 's' word. We never say that word! Unless..." and then it suddenly dawned on Sirius.
He slapped himself in the forehead. "Oh, I get it, he's mad at me, huh? Maybe I shouldn't have made him tell? Was that it?" he asked, staring round the circle.
Remus snorted and retorted, "You think so Paddy?"
"Damn. Alrighty then folks, this meeting of the Marauders and Co. is adjourned until further notice. It's been dandy working with you and I do hope we meet again soon, unless of course I am murdered by the Potter child. I bid you adieu!" he said, before saluting and then running up the stairs, leaving his t-shirt lying on the floor, and his belt somewhere across the room.
"I'd better go too," sighed Remus, "It could be a long night. Have a good one, girls!" He took the stairs a little slower, composed as he waved to the girls, giving Lily a sympathetic smile.
And with that, the three girls were alone, Lily's face such a mixture of emotions that she looked as if she were trying to work out a very hard spell.
She sputtered illegible words.
"Do you think... Should I... Is he... Was he...Um?"
Sammy and Candace looked at each other behind Lily's back and with a nod, both put their arms around her.
"Now Lils," started Sammy softly, "Did you not see it coming at all?"
Lily turned to stare at her, a disbelieving look in her eyes.
"Seriously? Seriously?" she said, her voice becoming extremely high pitched. "Of course I bloody didn't! James is my best friend! We've known each other since first year! He...I...What the bloody hell!"
Candace rolled her eyes, pushing Lily's hair out of her eyes, saying very matter of factly, "It was bound to happen Lils. Come on. He's a male, you're female, any two people of the opposite sex who get on that well are bound to end up together. You two are perfect for each other!"
"Hang on a minute," said Lily, her voice back to a normal level as she pushed the girls away from her, standing up, "Who said that I would go out with him? I mean, of course I need to talk to him and we need to work this out, but I have no plans to date him!"
Candace looked up at her in surprise, whereas Sammy didn't seem all too surprised at all.
"Well, why the bloody hell not, Lils? He's fit! And cute, and totally hot for you. Why wouldn't you go for it?" she asked, not understanding at all.
"Because Candace, there's this thing that you probably wouldn't understand, called an emotional connection," she started spitefully, earning a glare from Candace, "And anyway, I think I like someone else," she finished.
Sammy gasped and got up, grabbing Lily's arm.
"Who!"
Candace followed suit, and soon they were both begging her for a name, a hint, anything.
But she just smiled secretively, giving them only two letters.
H. B.