C/Z: Hey! I'm just going to keep rolling with this one for a bit… See what happens.
Chapter 2: A Flower's Life
Lily was drowning in a sea of petals. They kept falling from the sky, and no matter how much she tried to swim or escape the tsunami of cloying petals, it was all in vain, and soon the petals reached high over her head. Before long the only thing that was visible was her hand, outstretched, begging for help that would never come…
Lily sat up and blinked. It had to be the third time this week that she had a dream like that. What could it mean? That she was getting in over her head?
Like I need a dream to tell me that, thought Lily grumpily as she jumped out of her comfy bed. Since she had been at the arena all day yesterday, working on her singing career, today was going to be entirely devoted to finishing up her homework, especially that paper for Professor Burns. It had to be flawless; no reason to give the woman another excuse to rag on Lily.
In five minutes was up and dressed in her school uniform, even though it was a Sunday. Once, last year, during 5th year, Lily had been wearing jeans and a t-shirt when a Hufflepuff had innocently pointed out her vague resemblance to a famous singer, Flora Hyacinthus. Traumatized at the though that her secret could be revealed, Lily had since eschewed any clothes that were not her school uniform.
Arriving in the Great Hall, Lily plopped herself down at the Gryffindor table, and had just started on her piece of toast when she was interrupted by Alice Carroll and Aishwarya Baduri, also known as Ace and Aisha.
Alice was the primordial Alice in wonderland; a half-blood witch with fair skin, blue eyes and blond hair, she often joked that when she had arrived at Hogwarts, she had fell through the Looking Glass into Wonderland. Alice was a literary fiend.
Aishwarya Baduri, on the other hand, was native to India, but was born and raised in England, where the Baduris was one of the richest of most influential families in the wizarding world. Aisha had no qualms, however, at being friends with a muggleborn and a half-blood, unlike many of her pureblood cousins. Aisha had long brown hair with light green eyes, a gift from her English grandmother.
"Lily!" squealed Alice. "Gosh, I haven't seen you in ages! Where were you yesterday? Halloween is coming up, and you haven't made a single shop at Hogsmeade for a costume."
Lily shrugged. "Why would I want a costume?" She suddenly grimaced. "We're not having a ball, are we?"
Aisha rolled her eyes. "As if. No, remember, we're all having different activities for Halloween this year. Um… I think first years are staying here in the castle for games, second years are going on a treasure hunt in the grounds, third years…"
"Aren't they going on trick or treating in Hogsmeade?"
"You're right, Ace. Well, I can't remember what the rest of them are doing, but us 6th years are having a costume party."
"Wait a second," added Lily. "We're prefects, so wouldn't we be watching the younger classes or something?"
For a second, Aisha and Alice looked horrified, until Lily burst into laughter. "You should see your faces!" Ace looked confused for a second, but then her face contorted in mock anger.
"Were you teasing us, Lily dear? Well, tease this!" Alice then grabbed a spoonful of marmalade and lobbed it at Lily, who just moved her toast in the path of the projectile. The redhead bit into it with gusto. "Mmmm…. Tasty."
Aisha was giggling to herself. "Oh, Lily, that was wretched. You know how much I'm looking forward to this party.'
Lily gave her friends a cute smile. "That's what made it so fun." Lily then glanced at her watch. "Ooo, I have to go. Gotta finish that essay for Burns."
"Ouch," winced Alice. "Gosh, I don't know why she hates you so much. She's so nice to everyone else. Good luck with that."
"Thanks, see you at lun-"
"Wait a sec, Lils. Where were you yesterday? We missed you at dinner."
Lily bit her lips. She was going to have to tell them the truth someday, but both, just like the rest of Hogwarts had fallen for the pop idol Flora Hyacinthus, a big star both in the muggle and wizarding world. Lily just couldn't handle the drama that would come with this news right at the moment, even if she did hate lying to her friends.
"Well, I was at the library. You know, research. See you later," she added lamely and hurried away, realizing as she saw her friends' faces full of puzzlement that she would have to deal with this new issue, and quick. Aisha and Alice were getting wise to her game.
˜
James Potter yawned, his eyes half opened as he stared groggily at a large cup of tea. Note to self: if you're going to party until 6, not a good idea to get up at 8.
Well, what else could be expected of James Harold Potter, Hogwarts' own demigod, heir of one of England's most powerful families in both the wizard and muggle world, nephew to one of the World's greatest late Quidditch players, leader of the fab four (three; there's nothing fab about Peter), Hogwart's Marauders? It was practically a job requirement to party well and party hard, but still pull of excellent grades, crush the other Quidditch teams, and look absolutely eatable – at the same time!
"Ha ha!" crowed Sirius Black, thumping his friend on the back. "Not easy living a rock star, now is it?"
"Oh, bloody hell, Sirius," swore James as he sloshed hot tea on his pants.
"Well, it got your eyes open, didn't it?" said Remus Lupin reasonably, which was common of him, since he was the only rational person in the group. Remus pulled back his tawny hair out of his hazel eyes, shrugging at his friend, who was still mopping his lap.
Sirius, whose deep black hair had fallen in his chocolate brown eyes once more, pulled an elastic band from his pocket and tied his shoulder length hair back. He then proceeded to attack the breakfast table, with a "where's Wormtail" mumbled through soldiers and eggs.
James tousled his short black-bluish hair and rolled his indigo eyes. "Still in bed, I suppose. How should I know?"
"Ooh, touchy, touchy, this morning, I see," giggled a sultry voice from behind James. His girlfriend, Buttercup Tomlinson, sat down next to James and gave him a little kiss on his cheek. "What, partied too hard last night?"
Buttercup was tall, a mere 3 inches shorter that James own 6 foot 1 frame. Her long straight dirty blond hair was always hanging loose, perfectly styled, while her brown-blue eyes fluttered in James' direction. The two fit together so well, even though they were quite different. Buttercup could be a tad materialistic (who wouldn't be, when your father was at the head of a multi-million dollar company?), but she did study and take difficult classes. Buttercup, who was always followed by a posse her friends, had always been on the sheltered, pampered side, while James really would rather get down and dirty. But of course, they had been dubbed from the start of their relationship as teen royalty at Hogwarts, and everyone agreed they looked so good together.
"Course not, babe," replied James offhand, return his girlfriend's kiss.
Sirius promptly catcalled and whistled, while Remus rolled his eyes heaven ward. Another day in the company of these three: James and Buttercup sucking face, with Sirius snickering in the background. Great.
˜
Alice snorted in James' direction, who was still kissing Buttercup. "Ew. Get a room."
Aisha raised her eyebrows at that. "Oh, ho ho. Look who's calling the kettle black."
Alice looked up defensively. "What? Frank and me? Oh, please. We've only been on three dates together, if you can call them that. And besides, he only kissed me once, on the corner of my lips." However, Aisha noted that her friend had turned a delicate rosy pink at those words.
"We have never actually had any full-frontal snoging, my ignorant friend, and certainly never in front of all of Hogwarts. Why, think of all those innocent first years!" Alice gestured at two first-year Gryffindor, who were ogling the scene that was unfolding. Alice banged her spoon on her glass. "Hey, you two! Keep your eyes on your plate!"
The two boys turned purple and immediately shifted their attention to the eggs in front of them. Aisha laughed softly.
"Well, you can't say those two don't deserve each other, Ace.'
"They really do. He's a jerk and she a bi-" Aisha cleared her throat, looking meaningfully at the two first years, who were shoveling food in their mouths and discreetly listening to the ongoing conversation.
Ace rolled her eyes. "What I mean is, James Potter is full of himself and Buttercup – God, what a stupid name – Tomlinson is a spoiled, pampered brat."
"She's not evil, Alice."
"No, she's not, but she's not nice, either. And the worst part is, she doesn't even know how mean she really can be. Miss Buttercup is so wrapped up in her own life that she doesn't notice how much she hurts others with her money and thoughtless comments. I mean you, Aish, your family has money and power, but you don't flaunt it in everyone's face."
Aisha looked into her plate. "You have a point; she's like a child, not thinking about the consequences of her words or actions." Aisha smiled cynically. "Unfortunately, that seems to be quite of a common problem among the rich and famous."
Alice raised her glass of pumpkin juice. "Hear, hear."
˜
Lily was scribbling away furiously at her parchment paper in the library when a furious tapping startled her out of her studies. Looking up, Lily spotted her jet-black owl, Minuit, who was hovering outside one of the Library windows.
Casting a furtive glance around, the petite 6th year Gryffindor cautiously got up and opened the window to admit her pet in, who was apparently carrying some sort of magazine. Lily stroked her owl's head, gave him a treat, and let him go outside once more before she closed the window and tiptoed back to her desk. Yes! Mission accomplished.
Tapping her feet against the hardwood floor to the beat of her new single, Lily opened the magazine, an edition of Witch Weekly magazine. What she saw on the cover made her freeze immediately. Lily's hands started to tremble and her face went white as a sheet, making her freckles stand out even more.
The cover of a magazine sported a moving picture of Flora Hyacinthus, all decked out in stage costume, sitting at a table, reading what appeared to be a book and jotting some notes down on a piece of parchment. The title of the article was splashed above the picture.
"X-TRA! SINGING SENSATION FLOR TO BE STUDENT AT HOGWARTS!'
C/Z: So? D'you like? Remember, R and R, or I'll have to stop… :(