Lily sat on one of the ends of the Gryffindor table. She had just welcomed a few first years into the house before taking her seat next to Marlene and in front of Alice. She was still slightly in shock over the fact that James Potter was Head Boy. It just didn't seem right. James Potter, rules, Head Boy – all those words just didn't fit together.
"I still can't believe it," Lily thought out loud.
Alice shot her a look. "You've been saying that over and over for the past hour or two."
"Well, I guess it just won't sink in."
"How was the train ride? Was there any more problems?"
Lily shrugged. "We didn't really do anything but introduce ourselves, but still, do you think Dumbledore's having a hard time? Maybe he hit his head or something. Or maybe a charm backfired on him. It just doesn't seem right."
"I'm sure Dumbledore has a reason for choosing him."
Lily nodded. She would have to get over it eventually. She shot a look at the other end of the table, where a group of four guys were fooling around. She couldn't help but shoot a glare at one of them.
She thought of how she would survive the year when her thoughts were interrupted by her friend.
"Hey, what do you two think about Frank Longbottom?" Alice asked, her eyes twinkling with expectation.
Marlene didn't seem to hear her. She usually concentrated on her food more than anything, especially during meal times. She was shoveling down some chicken salad at the moment, and even if she had heard the question, she would have to wait until she finally finished chewing and swallowing to say anything whatsoever. Considering the enormous about of food she had stuffed in her mouth, it would take awhile to hear her answer.
The only reason Marlene didn't look she ate that much was because of her other obsession – Quidditch. She was the keeper for the Gryffindor team.
Lily, however, was paying attention to the conversation. At first she raised an eyebrow and then she cocked her head to the side and thought for a moment. "I suppose he's okay. He's really nice. He does pretty well in school and overall, I approve." Once she was done with her brief evaluation of the boy, she sent her friend a wink in order to show her approval. She loved Frank as a person. He was what one would call a gentleman.
Alice turned slightly pink as she looked at her friend. "I didn't mean it like that," Alice said, obviously lying through her teeth.
Lily held in her laughter while watching Alice bite her lip with embarrassment.
"But you did mean it. You fancy Frank Longbottom," Lily said, snickering. It was always fun to tease Alice considering it was usually the other way around. One of Alice's favorite choices of entertainment was teasing Lily.
Alice, who sat across from her at the Gryffindor table, leaned over and tickled Lily with revenge, causing the red head to break out into a fit of giggles. She was extremely ticklish. It was one of her only weaknesses. Some students at the table stared, but others didn't mind. The Great Hall was usually a rambunctious place so laughing was no rare scene.
Marlene had finally swallowed her food and shot them a confused look. "What did I miss?" She asked, oblivious to what had happened.
Alice rolled her eyes at Marlene before going back to tickling the laughing Lily.
"Alice... fan...cie...s...Frankie..." Lily managed to get out in between her laughter.
Marlene widened her eyes at Alice. Luckily, Lily had not said it loud enough for anyone else to hear, but Marlene wasn't particularly aware of how they were in a public place.
"FRANK? FRANK LONGBOTTOM?" She said a bit too loudly.
A few people around the table stared at them. Marlene suddenly shut her mouth and bit her tongue slightly, telling herself to shut up. She began regretting her actions and cursing her loud voice. Alice widened her eyes. Although she was not angry with Marlene or Lily, she felt rather embarrassed. Lily shot a look at another part of the table, where Frank sat with his friends. He had not heard. Alice sighed with relief.
"I'm sorry, Alice," Marlene said, a worried look overtaking her face. She started biting down on her lip.
"It's fine. It's fine," She said. Alice didn't mind people knowing. She would have only minded if Frankie knew, and seeing how there was no surprise on his face, he must not have heard.
"By the way, Marlene, I would suggest you stop biting your lip now. I'm afraid it's just going to start bleeding." Lily said.
Alice let out a laugh, assuring both Marlene and Lily that they were fine. Lily smiled at her success at uplifting the atmosphere.
"Oh, so, Alice likes Frank?" Lily heard a voice behind her.
She whipped her head back, hoping that it wasn't one of Frank's friends.
"Potter!" Lily said, surprised.
Her expression then changed from surprise to relief to annoyance.
"I'm glad you're so happy to see me."
"Please don't tell, James. It's embarrassing enough as it is," Alice said, pleadingly.
"I won't, I promise," James said. He put his hand to his heart, gesturing that he meant it.
Lily suddenly felt suspicious. "Potter, what are you even doing on this side of the table?" Lily asked, narrowing her eyes at the boy. Lily had purposely decided to sit at the opposite end of the table since first year to separate herself from James. She had a dislike of him and Sirius after they acted horribly to her former friend Severus.
"No-thing. Just visiting my favorite girl." James said, winking at her.
Lily's blood started to boil under her skin. It was obviously an excuse for something else. "You're trying to plan something aren't you? A prank of some kind. Haven't you learned from your one hundred or so detentions?" Lily said, getting frustrated.
It was only the first day, and he would already be breaking a few rules. He was supposed to be an example now.
James winked once more as he walked off towards his group of friends. Lily gaped at him. She watched his back as he disappeared down the table to meet his friends, who had already started smiling mischievous grins.
She suddenly heard huge fits of laughter from all around the tables. She looked up, trying to figure out what the commotion was about. She gasped as she looked up at the teachers' table.
The whole row of professors had suddenly turned all different colors. It was a true rainbow.
Professor McGonagall, who sat at the right end of the table was a rather deep crimson. Even her hair was red (though not the natural shade of red, like Lily's). Professor Flitwick, who sat near the Ravenclaws, was a bright yellow, all the way down to the end of his formerly white beard. Professor Sprout, who was a deep shade of forest green (fitting for a herbology teacher), was in front of the Hufflepuffs. Even Professor Slughorn, the head of Slytherin, was pranked. The sky blue color did match him very well, though. A few other teachers were other colors, such as: orange, brown, black, white, purple, etc. Hagrid was even turned a bright shade of hot pink! The funniest was Dumbledore, though. From head to toe, he was striped with all different colors of the rainbow.
Lily had a look of both amusement and irritation, but she swiftly changed her expression into irritation and snapped her head to stare at the now laughing group of four people. She glared at one of the four menacingly, though.
McGonagall stood up, a stern look in her eye. She was, however, laughing at Professor Dumbledore's appearance a few minutes before.
"Who is responsible for this?" She said loudly, as if she didn't already know who they were.
Everyone started to quiet down except for the group of Marauders. Their laughter echoed throughout the entire Great Hall.
Lily couldn't decide if they were either extremely brave or extremely stupid.
"Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew. All of you, Detentions EVERY day for the next three weeks," She said strictly, "Now, could you please tell us how to get rid of our colors?" She asked, staring them down furiously.
She was obviously not enjoying being red from head to toe.
"You must say these magical words. 'You will not be punished' and mean it for the spell to be lifted," James said, amusement present in his voice.
Sirius laughed out loud while Peter quietly kept his amusement inside him. Remus was sitting down, reading a book, but Lily saw his smirk. It was clever, she had to admit.
McGonagall turned even redder, if that was possible considering how red she was from the charm, and glanced at Dumbledore. Dumbledore was not angry, though. He was chuckling along with the four ne'er-do-wells.
"Very well. You will not be punished," McGonagall said, sighing with defeat. "But I should take this occasion to remind you Mr. Potter, that you are now a Head along with Ms. Potter. If you can not behave, we may have to replace you. I hope you learn to abide by the school rules."
The stern look on her face was ignored.
"But professor, I had to keep up with tradition. We've been doing this for the past six years to welcome the first years. Plus, I just wanted to do one last prank before I have to act like an example."
Dumbledore let out another chuckle while McGonagall just sat down. She hid a small smile. She never understood how James Potter could be such a disobedient, but such a lovable person.
The rest of the teachers also sat down, continuing on with the feast. The Marauders had a victory cheer as Lily just rolled her eyes and looked away.
Lily got up after a few more minutes into the feast and walked to the other end of the table, meeting a few celebrating boys. Lily interrupted their celebration. Peter was the first to notice the girl, the smile wiping off his face. He tugged at Remus's cloak, indicating that he was worried that she was mad. Remus looked down at Peter as he looked towards the direction Peter was looking. Lily's hands were on her hips but no Lily Potter glare was planted on her face. Remus just gave Peter a reassuring smile. Lily always glared when she was angry and seeing that there was no glare meant that Lily had been slightly amused by their prank.
Remus cleared his throat at his friends, who were on the other side of the table. Lily stood directly behind them. Lily, being Lily, had a book in her hand that she was raising slightly. She swiftly hit the back of both the Gryffindor boys' heads. She hadn't been angry about their little performance, but she just wanted to teach them a small lesson.
"Lily-kins! That hurt," Sirius said after turning around. He scowled at the girl while rubbing the back of his head.
"Come to join us, have you, Evans?" James said, grinning at the girl. Unlike Sirius, he didn't seem to feel the pain of the hit he had just recieved. He got up and once again, put an arm lazily around the girl. The girl moved away from the boy, escaping from his grasp.
She just smirked at both of the boys that now stood in front of her, feeling a bit short in the process. She first turned to Sirius.
"How many times have I told you not to call me Lily-kins."
Sirius snorted and turned to the girl again. "You know you love me, Lily-kins."
"Yes, I absolutely adore you, Sirius. I just worship the ground you walk on."
Lily faked a swoon while Remus laughed at Lily's exaggerated actions.
Lily rolled her eyes and turned towards James once more. "YOU! How did you do that joke of yours. Honestly, though you may be a brilliant wizard, but Charms isn't exactly your forte."
James grinned.
"What are you grinning like a fool about?" She asked, wondering why he was acting so stupidly.
"You just called me brilliant. I already knew I was brilliant, but that was the first you've acknowledged it."
"Stop being such an arrogant toerag, Potter, but just because I didn't acknowledge it out loud, doesn't mean I didn't think it. Everyone knows your a good wizard," She said, turning her head up to stare at him, "Did you get Sirius or Remus to help you? Sirius is good at Charms, especially."
"Thank you for your compliment, Lily-kins." Sirius remarked, smirking.
James was still a little dazed from the compliment Lily had paid him until Sirius started clearing his throat. James finally woke up from the trance.
"Actually, Remus just told me what spell to use and Sirius and Peter helped me perform it." James said triumphantly.
Lily looked at Remus. Remus turned a bit pink, shrugging guiltily. "Fine, but don't do it again, Potter. Next time, you won't be so lucky," Lily said. She turned around to leave before James stopped her.
"Is it just because you don't want anyone else to be Head Boy?" James asked, his lips turning up into a smile.
Lily shook her head. "No. If you're not Head Boy, Remus would be Head Boy. I would actually enjoy him as a partner."
"Thanks Lily," Remus said. He shot an apologetic look to James, but was thankful for the positive remark Lily said about him. It always felt good to be complimented.
Lily left them to return to her friends.
James sat back down next to Sirius and looked across the table at Remus. "Why do you get to call her 'Lily'? She told me that I had no right to call her that back in second year after I did a huge prank on Snivellus. You were a part of it, too. Why is it only me?"
"Because Moony doesn't brag about himself or directly curse her friends." Sirius said without thinking.
James shot him a look. Sirius lifted his hands up in a surrendering position. "It's not my fault you were such an arse back then. We've all grown up now. You just took a little longer than the rest of us."
James groaned. "But I've changed."
"Obviously not in her eyes," Remus commented after taking a bite of an apple on his hand.
"Whose side are you all on?" James asked out loud. He slumped down onto the table, his chin resting on the wood.
"Prongs, I think you should give it up. She doesn't seem to fancy you. Actually, it seems to be the exact opposite." Sirius mentioned, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder to comfort him.
"She'll come around though." James said, glancing towards the end of the table to see a glimpse of a certain red-haired girl. He felt a sudden feeling of a small glimmer of hope. He pasted a lop-sided grin on his mouth as he continued to stare at the girl. "She will, I know it, mate."
"I swear, I think Mooney here has a better chance with her than you do, Prongs." Sirius said, frowning.
"Lily and I aren't like that, you know that. We're just close friends." Remus said, his eyes widening. He had been afraid of everyone misunderstanding their friendship. It was a bit awkward, considering one of your best mates fancied the girl you spent the most time with.
Remus had been accused of fancying the girl more than once, and it hadn't been very pretty. James had refused to speak to him for a few weeks after there was a rumor that they were dating in fifth year. James had only cheered up after Lily paid him a compliment on a potion he made in Slughorn's class.
"You're lucky, Mooney. I wish I had the chance to be friendly with her more." James said, sighing slightly. He had always been a bit envious of their friendship.
Sirius rolled his eyes at his mate. "Why don't you just do what I do? Enjoy the experience of being with other girls. You're just much too absorbed in one, mate. You should experiment."
Sirius was a rather popular fellow with the girls, not that James wasn't. It was just that, James only played around with them if he felt extremely depressed about Lily. He was completely absorbed into one girl while Sirius, he was a different story entirely. He moved from girl to girl as if he didn't have a care in the world. He accepted most girls that came to him, he just usually sent them away too.
"I'm not like you, Padfoot. Plus, there's hope. She said I was brilliant today," James said, reassuring himself more than anyone else.
Sirius and Remus exchanged looks to each other and stared sympathetically at their friend. Peter just got absorbed into his food. James, however, was looking over at the opposite end of the table once again.
One day...