A/N: Here's where the story starts. Have a good laugh, if nothing else.

I woke up, and the silence was…loud. Where were the jokes, the laughter, though we were all half asleep? Then I remembered where I was. The head's dorm…right. I was alone.

I slowly rose and got dressed, did my hair and makeup, and left. I didn't even bother packing my bag, not knowing what classes I'd have today.

I felt extremely left out as I saw Alice laughing along with Mary and Hestia, already eating. I swung myself into the seat next to Alice, who elbowed me in greeting. "Morning," I said brightly. "What are we talking about?"

"The fact that Hestia is a sex crazed animal and won't admit she has a problem," Alice said with a laugh.

"Lily, back me up," Hestia said with a groan. "They think, just because I've learned to enjoy the finer things life has to offer, that I can't possibly think about anything else."

"What brought this on?" I asked, amused. Hestia did, indeed, have quite the track record for men; she went through them very quickly.

"She was making some joke about Potter as the new professor," Mary gestured at Alice, "And then Hestia decided to give her thoughts on exactly what he could use his very large teacher's desk for. In some gross detail."

I knew moving into my own dorm would suck. One day, and I'm already behind on all their jokes. That's simply wonderful. "Let's just get her a boyfriend, who has quite the tolerance for sleep-deprivation, and have him deal with it."

"Scottie Brooks is looking quite fine this year," Alice said with a wink. "I could ask Frank-"

"Ask me what?" Frank said as he swung into the spot on Alice's other side.

"Is Brooks single?" She asked.

"At the moment, yes."

"Perfect. Tell him to ask Hestia out," Alice said loudly over Hestia's protesting remarks. "She needs someone to keep her…satisfied." We all laughed loudly at Frank's questioning look.

"So, just asking," Frank said as he started piling his plate with sausage, "Which of you showed up half naked to breakfast?"

"What do you mean?" Alice said, looking at him like he lost it.

"Well, something obviously happened, because when I walked in, Professors Potter and Greene were looking over here like you were here solely for their personal amusement."

I glanced up at the staffing table. Sure enough, Potter was looking this way as Greene talked to him. "Think he heard about your little fantasy, Hestia?"

"There's no way." As a group, we all turned to look, quite obviously, at Professor Potter. He noticed, of course; the hall wasn't very full yet, holding not even an eighth of it's student body. So he gave a little wave, and we burst out laughing.

Soon Professor Greene, who was possibly in his mid thirties, was handing out schedules. "Brilliant, I've got Potions, Defense, then…double Transfiguration?"

"That's mine, as well," Alice said with a laugh. "I wonder how good Greene is at Defense."

"I've got History of Magic first, then I'll see you guys for our last two," Mary said.

"That's what I've got as well."

Potions went flawlessly. As was custom, I sat next to Alice. Slughorn proclaimed me a natural potion maker, and said I could have a long career ahead of me in the brewing industry.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was a theory lesson, and during the lesson, Mary and Hestia tried to choke out an explanation as to why they were nearly crying with laughter. Eventually they calmed down enough to whisper their story: Binns had 'fallen asleep' and was 'sorry he was late for class'…only to have a slightly alarmed Dumbledore walk in on the class and find ghost-Binns teaching. He hadn't even realized he was dead.

We had a lively lunch, including an under-the-table duel of hair dying. I was still laughing at Frank's long, luscious pink locks of hair as he struggled to remove them; Hestia had placed an anti-countercurse charm, so he couldn't remove it without at least two correct incantations. But only after he'd suggested to Brooks to ask her out.

I went to the large desk in my common room and switched books, only grabbing one, and met my classmates outside the door to Professor Potter's classroom.

I sat next to Alice in the back. "Do you think he remembers any of us?" I asked.

"Why?"

"Well…I might've told on him and his mates a few times."

"What did they do?"

"Oh, he'd hexed one of Severus' friends, and…that time when they went streaking through Hogsmeade…"

"Why'd you have to be a rat?" Alice complained.

I frowned. "Slughorn told me I'd get detention if I didn't say what I knew."

"You mean Slughorn didn't give you your way?!" Alice mocked. "What was he thinking?"

"Oh, shut up," I grumbled.

Professor Potter stood in front of the class and began his lesson. To be honest, I only vaguely remember him, strutting down the halls with his three friends, acting like they owned the place. Now it was hard to see him as an authoritative figure; he'd always been the troublemaker, the bad boy. And yet here I was, listening to his impressive lecture on advanced transfiguration. This year should be interesting, to say the least.

Halfway through the class, it turned from theoretical to practical, and we were all anxious to start our human transfigurations. I had always been good at Charms, and Transfiguration wasn't that far from it. I'd learned over the years that all it took was a good imagination, picturing exactly what you wanted to ensure the correct result. It was much different than the mindless following of directions in Potions class. Here, I felt creative, like my magic was an art.

"Start smaller," Professor Potter said as the desks disappeared and the room was made ready. "Try anything in the book. If anything goes wrong, your partner is responsible for calling me over. Good luck."

With that, we all found a spot. "I'll start with inanimate objects. Think I can turn my body into a chair?" She succeeded making her legs into simple wooden chair legs, then immediately toppling over. I burst out laughing, and she undid her spell. "Hey, at least I got results. You try if you're so good."

I clearly pictured a Victorian styled armchair, letting the image take over my mind. I said the incantation, and the weirdest feeling came over me. And then I was the chair…it was incredibly freaky. I felt my wand still in my hand, and I yelled the countercharm in my head. To my immense relief, I returned to my natural state.

"Okay, that was pretty good," Alice admitted. "Care to help me out?"

After a while, Alice got the hang of it; we started on more elaborate things. We gave ourselves goat legs, like the mythical Satyrs; then we transformed ourselves into Centaurs. That got us quite a few impressed looks, and ten points to Gryffindor from Professor Potter.

As the class was winding down, I turned the page of my book to the last of my section; it was human to amphibian transformations. I pictured a mermaid in my mind, cast the spell…I couldn't breathe. I dropped to the floor, my legs no longer there, as my lungs screamed at me. I vaguely heard Alice's voice shouting something as I tried to focus on the spell to reverse it. I was panicking too much, I couldn't do it…

I got a breath of air. "Class dismissed. Remember your essays for Wednesday, please," Professor Potter said.

Opening my eyes, I watched the classroom empty, except my friends. I tried to talk, but my throat was raspy, and felt like I'd inhaled smoke.

"Don't try to talk, you'll just make it worse," Potter said gently. Turning to the girls, he said, "Go on ahead to dinner. I'll just take Evans to the hospital wing to get her lungs checked out. I'm sure she'll be back before dinner comes to an end."

I nodded when they looked back to me, and then reluctantly left. "Let's get you up." He held out a hand, which I took; my legs felt like jelly. I couldn't stand on my own, and I felt my face flush as I practically fell face first into him. "It's alright, I've got you. Can you walk?" I took an experimental step, and had to be caught again. "It's fine," he said as I shook my head, looking down. To my surprise, he swooped me into his arms as easily as if I'd weighed not more than thirty kilos. I quickly clamped my hands around his neck to ensure I would be safe. The door jumped open and he started walking to the hospital wing. "That was very advanced magic. If I thought any of you would actually try turning into a water creature, I would've warned you against it. I suppose I should have more confidence in you, though. I myself had gotten quite good at magic by seventh year."

I tried to ignore the fact that my face was so near his, or that his hand was so high on my leg. Of any word you could use to describe Professor Potter, one word nobody would try to debate was that he was damn fit. Trying to relax, I rested my face against his shoulder. "Still with me, Lily?"

Not Miss Evans, but Lily. I nodded against his shoulder.

"Right. Just checking."

We arrived in the hospital wing, to see that Madam Pomfrey was busy with another patient. Potter brought me over to a bed and set me down, drawing the curtains. "I know that if I were in your position, I'd want a bit of privacy," he said. I nodded gratefully.

"What have you done now, Potter?" Pomfrey asked as she entered the curtained area.

"Poppy, I'm no longer a student running amuck," he said with a grin. "Miss Evans here was displaying her wonderful magic, and it went a bit wrong. I just wanted to make sure her body is set properly and that her lungs and throat are well."

Madam Pomfrey set about her wandwork, muttering things about Potter's past which he could only smirk about. She fixed my raw throat, and murmured spells at my chest. "It's a good thing you brought her here," Pomfrey said reluctantly to Potter. "She did need a few minor adjustments." Turning to me, she smiled. "You're free to go to dinner now, Miss Evans."

I sat up, still slightly wobbly. "Thank you, Madam," I said with a thankful smile. I followed Professor Potter out the door. "Sorry, I should have read more before attempting to change," I said.

"Don't ever be sorry for your brilliance. That's the only word for it, you see. None of your classmates could have come close to that, save perhaps Alice, though I think that's because you were coaching her." I shrugged. "Just let me know before you do anything else as brilliant as that, so I can be there quicker if you need help."

We neared the doors to the great hall, and I nodded in agreement. That wasn't a bad idea. "Thank you for your help, Professor," I said with a smile. And for the first time up close, I looked into his face. His mischievous eyes were a beautiful hazel, protected by rectangular glasses with a thin frame. His hair was black and messy, his skin tanned a bit, and his smile got my heart beating quicker, his perfect teeth a pearly white.

"My pleasure, Lily." His voice was deep and extremely masculine. We walked through the doors and parted ways.

"Are you alright?" Alice asked as I put a few things on my plate.

I looked up at Potter, who was sitting at the staff table, and we made eye contact. He smiled again, making me blush…damn it!…and replied, "I'm fine. A few quick spells and I was alright."

Hestia leaned in from across the table. "Was that embarrassing? Your nakedness in front of the whole class?"

I dropped my fork. "What?"

Alice looked at me. "You didn't know?"

"Why would I possibly want to be naked in front of everyone!" I exploded.

"You weren't completely naked," Alice said. "Just your top…you know, like mermaids are."

I shoved my plate aside and banged my head on the table. "Just kill me now," I muttered. "Did everyone see me?"

"I don't think so, actually. The Professor kind of kneeled in front of you, and he got there before too many saw…I'd say just us, the twins from Hufflepuff, and Professor Potter."

"I don't care about you, guys, you've seen them before," I said, perking up a bit. "And Shaunee and Shannon aren't really going to care, right? It's just…I glanced up at the staff table. "Can he hear everything we say?" I said, glaring at the damn professor, who was smirking and trying not to laugh at apparently nothing, as the other teachers were shooting him odd looks.

"I wouldn't doubt it, after this morning," Hestia muttered. "I swear, when I walked up to his desk to ask about the assignment, he actually shrunk his desk."

"He didn't let it phase him," Alice said with a smile. "And it's not like he's going to go around and tell the students he saw Lily Evan's boobs, is he? He's a professor, not a stupid git like the ones we go to class with."

"I guess." I looked up, and made eye contact with Potter again. "I just wish he hadn't seen my boobs. We didn't even get a good snog in first." He choked a bit on his drink. "Yep, that's it. See that?" Alice nodded. "He can fricking hear us. Every word."

"Let's just get out of here," Mary said with a shrug. "He can't hear us from-"

I cut her off. "Let's go to my dorm; we can all do homework without the loudness of the common room but more comfy than the library."

"I knew having you as Head Girl would come with some perks," Alice said with a grin.

That night I convinced Alice to spend the night with me so I wasn't so lonely. To my dismay, they'd taken my bed out of my dorm in Gryffindor tower, so I couldn't go back with them. She'd agreed, given that my bed was the biggest either of us had ever seen and I said she could use my bathroom, which seemed to be designed solely for pampering, in the morning.

As we lay in the dark, facing each other, I whispered about how Potter had carried me to the hospital wing, how he called me Lily, and how I thought he was extremely fit. We both agreed that it was odd he could hear us from across the great hall; "What if he likes you?" Alice asked with a laugh. "I mean, come on, you're a fiery redhead and I wouldn't be surprised if PlayWizard tries to recruit you. And he saw your boobs. Let's be honest; he's using you as wanking material as we speak."

"Alice!" I shrieked, turning red. "You're impossible!"

"Just speaking the truth, dear."

A/N: Let me know if the story line is one you'd keep reading, or if it's complete garbage and should be tossed. If you like it, I'll keep going, simple as that.

Kindness is always appreciated in the course of reviewing :)