A/N - So here's the second part. It's a bit longer than the first. Tell me if I'm doing this right?
Ah, still don't own the Harry Potter series. Sadly. Ugh.
When morning finally came around, Lily Evans rose from her bed feeling wonderfully refreshed. She smiled as the sun peeked through the window, brushing past her friend Amelia's bed (who could out sleep the best of them) and making her way over to the loo, ducking in to start her early morning routine.
Just as she stepped over the threshold, however, she stopped dead in her tracks, feeling as though something were out of place. She looked around the bathroom, wondering what it might be, frowning deeply. It didn't seem as though anything had been moved or taken away since the night before. She spun in a circle, looking for any aberrations, before she got a strange itch at the back of her head.
Slowly, she leaned backwards until she was peering back into her bedroom, and her eyes bugged at the sight of a fourth member having finally filled their last bed since Jessica Kensley had to leave because she had an emotional breakdown due to a certain group of boys pulling one too many pranks.
This new girl had flopped straight into her bed without ever taking off her coat (something distinctly muggle, Lily noticed) or her shoes, and her wand was still gripped tightly in her hands, emitting light that was somewhat less noticeable in the morning haze. She seemed completely out, though it was clear that she must be a new student, based on the robes that were folded on the bed beside her.
Slowly, Lily crept across the room to the side of Amelia's bed and prodded her, watching the new girl that was laying like she was dead across the room.
"Geroff," she grumbled, swatting at Lily's hand, but she only poked harder until finally, her blond head burst from beneath the covers to glare heatedly through the light at her offender. "What d'you-"
"Shh!"
Lily hissed, slapping a hand over her mouth and promptly dragging her out of her bed and into the bathroom. Amelia looked somewhat startled, though Lily hadn't the faintest idea why. This had already happened more than once.
"What are you doing?" Amelia snapped, slapping Lily's hand away. She peered around the door, looking at the new girl that was sprawled on her bed and frowned. Amelia stared at Lily for a moment, processing exactly what she was doing before doing the same. She gasped when she saw the girl, her eyes widening. "We have a new a student?"
"Yes-one that we hadn't been informed about!" Lily hissed quietly, looking earnestly upset.
"They never tell anyone about new students."
"There's a first time for everything," Lily deadpanned. Amelia raised an eyebrow, but Lily didn't catch the expression as she came close to smacking her blond haired friend in the face when the dead girl began to shift slightly. "Shh! She's waking up!" She yelped, and Amelia ducked out of her grasp before she could grab her head again and drag her elsewhere.
"She's not some wild animal, Lily," Amelia scoffed, skirting around her friend and walking across the room, not bothering to lower her voice as she said; "Honestly, sometimes you remind me of Potter."
"I am nothing like-"
Lily stopped halfway through her sentence as their new roommate promptly flopped off her bed and smacked hard against the ground, giving out a low groan as she opened her eyes to the light filtering in through the windows. This set off their third friend, who had previously been sleeping soundly. She snorted as she woke with a start, snapping upwards in her bed and looking over at Lily and Amelia who were standing roughly in the middle of the room.
"What's going on?" She questioned, before noticing that a girl wearing a black pea coat was slowly standing from the floor, rubbing her head and looking around the room in confusion for several long seconds. She glanced over at the bed she had fallen off of, before turning to the three girls who were currently staring at her as if she was a bear that had wandered very, very far from the zoo.
"Well... awkward," she mumbled to herself, scratching the back of her head and pulling even more hair out of the messy bun that was at the top of her head. She fixed her glasses, squinting and stuffing her wand into her coat pocket. "I'm, er... Hi." She stuck out her hand like she had seen other people do countless times when introducing themselves. "I'm Francheska Alberta Natalie Stein. But, call me Frankie." She paused, making a face like she had just ate something sour, pulling her hand back to itch her cheek at the same time that Lily was extending her had to shake hers. "Whenever you read that line it seems like it would sound much cooler when put to use, don't you think?"
The other three girls glanced at one another, noticing her peculiar accent and not quite sure what to make of it. Lily let her hand fall to her side, again, before stepping forward to try and stem the awkward silence that had proceeded Frankie's strange comment.
"Hi, I'm Lily Evans," she introduced, smiling in a very Lily-way. "Gryffindor prefect and member of the Slug Club." She glanced over at Amelia before nudging her with a her elbow, making her shoot a glare at the red-headed girl.
"Ah, I'm Amelia. Er, Amelia Gray," she added after a moment, making a strange face.
"And I'm Matilda Fisher, but call me Mati," the girl still in bed added, sliding from her sheets and stepping forward.
Frankie observed her new roommates with curiosity, remembering vaguely having a chat with Professor McGonagall the night before. Well, really, that morning, but that didn't matter at the moment.
Mati had white-blond hair that was stuck up all over the place in a crazy array of spikes, having yet to be brushed. She wore pajamas with black dots on a white background, and her eyes were a silvery blue color. She was very slight, having a small build, tiny bones and all. She was even shorter than Frankie, which surprised her somewhat, as she had never encountered such an anomaly before. Her face had sharp qualities, with high cheek bones and a narrow chin, making her look somewhat pixy-like. Her ears were even oddly pointed, though Frankie could only see the right one, as the left side of her head had hair flattened down across her cheek and neck.
Amelia had endlessly long dirty blond hair currently pulled up in a pony-tail, and it was impossibly straight. Her eyes were dark brown, close to black, and half-closed with her appearing so tired. Her face was a bit rounder and her bone size a bit bigger, though she was by far the tallest of them all. She sported curves, though it was unclear whether she was a fan of sports, if she was even a fan of anything.
Lily had fair skin and long, red hair along with a smattering of freckles across her face and over her slightly long, pointed nose. She had a very authoritative look about her, with the way she held her shoulders back, and even though she wasn't the tallest girl in the room, nor the widest, she was definitely the biggest in a different way. She had a clear leader vibe about her, as though she was the mob-master of the group. Frankie wasn't one to challenge that, though she doubted that Lily would have been too rude about it if she had.
"Lily Evans?" Frankie asked, raising her eyebrows as she appraised said red-headed girl. She nodded, looking a bit confused. "Professor McGonagall told me to follow you to the, ah... 'Great Hall?' Wherever that is."
Lily nodded, glancing over at her friends and trying to tell them not to offend her in any way by correcting her.
"I just have to get showered and dressed, and then we can go." Lily nodded again, glancing at both Amelia and Mati before making her way quickly to the bathroom. Mati and Amelia shared a look before looking at Frankie at the same time, who had turned around and made herself busy with unpacking her things, wand still gripped firmly in her hand.
"Well, ah, we've got to get prepared, too, so..." Amelia said slowly, though Frankie didn't turn, having assumed she was talking to Mati. She blinked, glancing at her feary-esk friend for help, but she just shrugged, turning around the wrestle with her pajama's.
The dorm room quieted, vacant of it's usual early morning chatter as Mati and Amelia struggled to argue with one another silently behind Frankie's back to figure out who was going to break the silence first. Amelia gestured idly to Frankie, tilting her head, but Mati shook her head, her eyes widening. Amelia rolled her own, putting her hands on her hips, mouthing 'go,' to which Mati replied with a blank look. At this Amelia made the motion of someone walking with two fingers towards Frankie, and Mati frowned, shaking her head.
'You do it,'
she mouthed.
'Why do I have to do it?'
Amelia glared, crossing her arms. Mati threw hers in the air, gesturing madly. 'What does that even mean?'
Mati gesticulated again, pretending to stomp around in a circle, and at that point Amelia was sure that she was just making random gestures to confuse her. She tilted her head to the side, watching as Mati threw her arms up and then brought them down slowly, as though she meant 'rain,' which made absolutely no sense-
This went on for several minutes, and when Lily came out of the bathroom, freshly showered and dressed she found Amelia mouthing words towards Mati who had one leg frozen at an angle in mid-air, waving her arms as though she were trying to land a plane. Lily raised her eyebrow in confusion at the two, who noticed her just in time for Mati to freeze and come close to falling on her face.
Lily sighed, and turned to gather Frankie to go, only to find she had flopped over onto her bed again, halfway through unpacking, having fallen back asleep.
"Uh, Frankie?" She called. This caught Amelia and Mati's attention, who turned to stare, frowning. "Frankie!"
Frankie jerked, snorting unceremoniously as she shot off her bed, a scarf wrapped around her eyes. She whipped around wildly, confused, before seeming to realize that she had clothing wrapped around her face. She tore it off, blushing with embarrassment and tossing it behind her, grinning awkwardly.
"Er, yes?" She coughed. Lily blinked slowly, before turning and grabbing her robes, pulling them on over her uniform and trying desperately to keep from laughing at the new student. Something about her clumsiness was strangely endearing.
"I'm heading down to the Great Hall now, so if you'd like me to show you the way-"
"Right, right," Frankie cut in, swiftly shuffling out of the room, wanting to avoid the way that Mati and Amelia's eyes were glittering with mirth. Lily followed after her as she heard her feet pounding down the steps, shouting that she didn't know where she was going. Amelia and Mati glanced at each other, holding one another gaze until Lily's voice faded and promptly burst into laughter.
Lily caught up with Frankie in the common room, where only the earliest of birds were rising and moving about like zombies. She looked around at all of them, reaching back to tuck a strand of black hair back up into it's bun. Frankie herself was looking around with curiosity as several witches sat down to finish the homework they hadn't done the night before, shoving her glasses back up her nose and squinting around at everyone.
"The Great Hall is where we have our meals," Lily explained as she ushered Frankie along. "Everyone gathers there for breakfast before going to class-unless you've slept in, that is." Clearly, by the look on her face, Lily disapproved of this. "What's your first class?"
Frankie pulled a folded piece of parchment from her coat pocket, having not yet changed as she had fallen back asleep while trying to unpack, and peered at her schedule. After a moment of squinting she pushing her glasses out of her way, rubbing her eyes in annoyance before letting them fall back into place, feeling frustrated that she couldn't see properly.
"Looks like it's Transfiguration," she responded. Lily smiled, glancing over the page.
"Thats great! I have that class, too. We can walk together." She smiled as she said this, leading Frankie as she turned down another hallway. Frankie frowned, rightfully annoyed and pretty sure that she would never be able to find her way around the school.
"I'm going to get hopelessly lost," Frankie said quietly, glancing at a painting that was in the midst of waking up as they walked past. Lily laughed at this, glancing at the girl she was suddenly sure she would make good friends with.
"Don't worry about it-I'll help you out. Hogwarts seems really big until you get used to it."
Frankie's lips quirked as she mumbled something to herself.
"Huh?" Lily glanced over at Frankie, deeply confused. She blinked at Lily, frowning as she realized she had said it out loud.
"Ah, nothing. Could you answer something for me?" Lily smiled.
"Sure! Anything you need to know, I can answer."
"What is a prefect?" Frankie raised her eyebrows. "Professor McGonagall said something about you being one."
"Oh-well, that makes me kind of a chaperone. I watch over the younger female students and help first years with directions, as well as have the ability to take house points when students are misbehaving. On Wednesdays I have to patrol the hallways at night-bloody boring, if you ask me. But I do get a free period in the morning to make up for it," Lily grinned. Frankie smiled a little, glancing down at her schedule.
"Coincidentally, I also have a free period Thursday mornings," Frankie said smoothly, before crinkling her brow. "What are house points?"
"This is going to be a long morning, isn't it?" Lily smirked teasingly. Frankie shot her a look, and Lily's smirk grew to a grin.
The walk down to the Great Hall was filled almost entirely with their easy conversations in which Lily brushed Frankie up on all the basic ins-and-outs of Hogwarts workings. By the time they were to the Great Hall they might as well have been best chums, as Frankie had managed to make Lily laugh by explaining she was almost positively going to fall down some never ending stairs somewhere-it would just be her luck.
There were very few other students in the Great Hall, and most of them were just there to meet up with their friends in other houses. A few people turned when Lily and Frankie walked into the room, their gazes sticking to Frankie like she was magnetized. She quickly became aware of the fact that she had neglected to put on her uniform, and thus stuck out cleaner than a sore thumb.
"That man up there, at the center of the head table, is Dumbledore," Lily pointed out. Frankie nodded, recalling her conversation with Professor McGonagall about meeting him. He made eye contact with her immediately and smiled, his grey eyes glittering as he did so in a way only a knowing grandfather's could, and Frankie found herself giving a smile back, waiting for Lily to finish going down the list of teachers before excusing herself. "Ah, ok. I'll be sitting at the Gryffindor table-that's the one on the far left," she added when Frankie glanced back at her, clearly confused.
Dumbledore stood to greet her as she approached, and Frankie found herself nodding to him, wondering whether or not she should shake his hand.
"Ah, Francheska Stein," Dumbledore greeted, smiling kindly. "I take it you slept well."
Frankie blinked, glancing down at her rumpled clothing and remembered that she had worn them in the rain the night before. Usually she couldn't sleep in a coat, as it was far too itchy for her liking, but she found that she was somewhat less disagreeable when she had just come back from a long trek from Hither and High Tide, damp coats be damned.
"I did, thank you," she smiled, though it was a small smile and insincere at best.
"Hogwarts is honored to accept you into our school, and I hope that you find your stay... helpful." Frankie nodded at this, and Dumbledore dismissed her so she was quick about turning around and marching over to where Lily had taken a seat at one of the four very long tables.
As she was walking, Frankie noticed that the people sitting at different tables had different colored ties accompanying their uniforms. Lily had a red and golden tie, another girl down a ways had a blue and white tie, and a boy with a green and silver emblem on his breast was sneering idly at a shorter boy with a yellow and black emblem on his breast.
"So, the colors are the houses, right?" Frankie asked as she took a seat beside Lily, who had started on some homework Frankie had a vague sense wasn't due until a month from now.
"Right. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin, at the table on the far side. Whoever has the most house points at the end of the year receives the house cup," Lily explained, dipping her quill into an ink well she had already uncapped. Frankie raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what was wrong with pens, but decided that it wasn't worth it to bring it up. She had already gone off talking about escalators when the stairs had come up in the conversation, receiving a strange look from another wizard as they had passed. Lily understood, of course, being muggle-born and knowing the functions of several daily things, but others had no idea. It was strange to think that a regular old pen could possibly alienate her from the rest of the school.
By then, more people were filtering into the Great Hall for breakfast and gathering at their respective tables, though there were a few that sat at others to speak with friends from different houses. Lily had captured Frankie's attention with explaining where the food came from which astounded her, considering the fact that a multitude of tiny, wrinkly creatures were bustling about just below them to put together food enough for an entire school full of hungry teenagers. She was so enraptured she didn't notice the stares other people were shooting her way, as she still had yet to change, making it even more obvious that she was new.
Eventually Amelia and Mati caught up with them, grinning as they slid into their seats across from their friends just in time for multitudes of food to appear on the table before them. Frankie's eyes widened and Mati, Amelia and Lily exchanged glances, grinning as she stared in awe.
"I have never seen so much food in my entire life," she said dreamily before she caught herself. She glanced over at Lily sheepishly. "I have a penance. And an appetite," she amended, and glanced back at the pile of toast that had appeared right in front of her.
"Where do you come from, exactly?" Amelia asked, yelping as Lily kicked her under the table. She shot a glare at her red-headed friend and continued fearlessly. "I mean, you act like you've never seen magic before, but you're, what-sixteen? Seventeen? You are a sixth year, right?"
Frankie glanced at Amelia, a strange frown pulling down her lips and a piece of toast hanging half out of her mouth. She worked to swallow, preparing her answer.
"Where I come from, magic is used a bit differently," she said slowly, then shoved the rest of her toast into her mouth a proceeded to scoop the equivalent of six eggs worth of scrambled style onto her plate, digging in immediately thereafter. Lily shot Amelia a look, as if to silently say 'bugger off!'
"We should probably go back so you can get changed before going on to your next class," Lily said, watching in awe as Frankie finished her plate in thirty seconds flat. She looked up at Lily, her eyes slightly widened before she nodded, swallowing and dabbing at her lips delicately with a nearby napkin.
"We should," she said, nodding elegantly as she wiped a bit of egg that was hanging from her chin. They stood, Lily gathering her things and bidding her other roommates farewell. They walked down the corridors swiftly, Lily leading the way while Frankie was struggling to commit it all to memory. Sadly, there was more than five-to-seven turns on the way back.
The Gryffindor Common Room was still relatively empty, though Frankie presumed at this point that it was because everyone had already gone through and down to breakfast, based on all of the witches and wizards with red and golden ties they passed. They entered after Lily spat out the password to the portrait of the fat lady who had really been trying her best to start up a conversation but was promptly turned down for the sake of saving time and temper.
"Ah! Bloody hell!"
Frankie jumped roughly ten feet in the air when she heard a shout echo down the boys stairs. She swung around, staring as Lily grumbled to herself and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Honestly?" She gasped to herself. When she opened her eyes and noticed the frightened look on Frankie's face she sighed and gestured to the girls side stairs. "Well, go on. It's nothing to worry about-honestly, this probably happens every Monday," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. Frankie nodded hesitantly, glancing cautiously at the boys dorms again before moving quickly up the opposite portal.
Just as she made it up stairs, Lily promptly heard the sound of someone smacking their face on the stairs. Several times. She felt as though she were deflating as a very familiar boy came tumbling down to stop right in front of her, groaning as he rubbed his head, his glasses askew on his face. He looked up, his dark hair ruffled and grinned upon seeing a very familiar (and very charming) Lily Evans, hands on her hips and glaring down at him.
"James-what the bloody hell is going on?" Lily snapped, her eyes narrowing. James reluctantly stood, rubbing the back of his head, deciding it best not to mention the fact that he had just gotten the very welcome surprise of catching a glimpse up her school uniform.
"Well-we woke up late-"
"James! James, mate, are you ok?" Sirius gasped, bounding down the stairs after his friend. He grabbed his shoulders, turning him about until he smacked the other boy away, scowling at Sirius' too-wide grin. "Hoped you hadn't gone and cracked your head on the way down-wouldn't want to be defeated by a flight of stairs, would you?" Sirius chuckled and James shoved him away, shooting him a glare before turning back to Lily, fixing his glasses and giving her a charming smile.
"Don't listen to him, Lily," he said, laughing awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head, mussing his already irreparable hair. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."
"Clearly-I would never underestimate your ability to be brought down by some stairs," Lily scoffed, flicking her hair as she turned away from the love-sick, bespectacled boy.
"No, Lily! Don't go!" James yelped, chasing after her with his hand outstretched. Sirius shook his head as he watched his mate run after the 'girl of his dreams.' He turned in time to watch Remus come tromping down the stairs, Peter close behind.
"I'm serious, Potter! If you touch me I will hex you!" Lily scowled, whipping out her wand as he tried to get closer to her, palms open.
"Quite the romancer, he is," Remus said idly, raising an eyebrow at the debacle that was James' flirting with the only girl he would ever flirt with ever again. It was no secret that James Potter planned to marry Lily some day. God be with her, Remus thought sardonically.
"Who?" Peter slid down the stairs behind Remus. He was quite short for anyone his age, really, but he looked a right gremlin next to Remus, who was taller than most of the other Hogwarts residents. It was almost comical the way Remus' had sharp features, and a thin, bony body whereas Peter was quite round in most places, his own bones hidden carefully under layers of fleshy protection.
"James," Sirius nodded towards said couple. He grinned as he noticed Lily was starting to look very serious with her wand. "He's going to get his arse hexed to Germany and back if he keeps this up. I give it..." Sirius glanced at his watch. "Five minuets before she turns 'im purple."
"I say seven!" Peter yelped, grinning.
"Uhm... Four," Remus said after a moment of hesitation in which he rubbed the back of his head, wondering if he should really be getting himself into a bet over his friends future complexion. Then he furrowed his brow, his mouth edging down into a small frown. "What's Lily doing in the Common Room this late, anyway?" He asked to the room in general.
Just then Frankie came down the stairs opposite them, pulling her robe tighter around herself and catching sight of James and Lily in what must have been a lovers spat. Frankie raised her eyebrows, scuffing her regulation shoe on the ground to make sure her toes slid to the front. It seemed her measurements had been sent in properly. That is, except for her robe, which was far too large for her small frame. She frowned, wondering how on earth one got every other measurement correct except for her bloody robe?
"Hey, Lily, I was wondering-" And she promptly fell on her face. Whomever it was that was begging her to please listen to reason about how attractive he actually was stopped mid sentence, turning with surprise. Lily stifled a giggle, quickly helping Frankie to her feet and realizing what, exactly, was the problem.
"Why are your robes so big?" Lily asked, struggling to hide the smirk on her face behind a fist, completely ignoring the curious gazes of the self-proclaimed Marauders behind her.
"I'm guessing Dumbledore heard ahead of time what a klutz I am and made the probably very wise decision of providing me with a parachute," Frankie said with a straight face. Lily laughed, noticing that Frankie had stuck her glasses on the top of her head so that they weren't over her eyes any longer, and figured that they must be glasses for reading, though the best way to carry them around was to simply wear them.
"That would be helpful-if it wasn't what was going to make you fall off the Astronomy Tower in the first place," Lily laughed.
"Why, Lily!" Lily was pushed lightly to the side by a rather charming boy with longer, dark hair falling in his face. He swept it aside, flashing her a very white smile. "You didn't tell us that you had made a new friend." He grasped Frankie's small hand, pulling her knuckles to his lips and being sure to keep eye contact. "Sirius Black," he introduced, keeping his voice low as if to keep their encounter private, though it was far from that.
"Come off it, Sirius," Lily growled, pulling Frankie's hand away. "Don't listen to him-he's just a womanizer," she said to Frankie, shooting a glare at Sirius. Frankie blinked at Lily, turning to watch as Sirius rolled his eyes.
"I'm hardly a womanizer."
"Do you even know what a womanizer is?" Lily scoffed. Sirius stuttered something, looking very caught off guard and she laughed. "That's what I thought."
"Don't be so rude, Lily," Sirius grabbed Frankie's hand back, pulling her closer to him. She looked behind him towards the two boys that were by the boys stairs, quietly watching the altercation, and mouthed 'help me!' "You haven't even introduced her to us."
"I hadn't planned on it," Lily snapped, reaching for Frankie's hand to drag her back to 'safety,' but Sirius simply spun her out of reach. "Knowing you lot, she'd probably be ruined by the end of the week."
"That's what I'd planned on," Sirius grinned cheekily. Frankie was staring at him, wondering what it would take to make him let go of his death grip on her arm. She contemplated smothering him with her robes, but she would have problems getting untanged herself, let along running away. He turned to find Frankie's eyes on him and gave her a smoldering stare, his grin growing. "You've already met me, of course. That ruddy bloke over there is James," he gestured to the boy that must have decided Just-From-the-Air Hair was going to be the next big thing. "Back there, the tall one's Remus, an' the squat one's Peter. Now, I can't very well just call you Beautiful all the time-though I certainly wouldn't object-"
"I pick my nose," she said bluntly. Sirius stopped abruptly. Had he heard correctly? He struggled to keep his grin in confusion, but it was wilting fast.
"I'm sorry-I-what was that? I must have misheard you-"
"I pick my nose," Frankie said, much slower this time. She lifted the hand he was gripping tightly a bit, swinging it a tad. "With this hand." His smile dropped like a rock.
Lily, who seemed to have caught on to the joke and was rather impressed by the genius of what she imagined was conspiring just in front of her didn't know whether to laugh, nod in approval, or look shocked. The rest of the Marauder's were certainly going with the latter, but then again, Lily wasn't quite sure if they had caught on to the joke.
Sirius released Frankie's hand as if bitten, jumping back about a meter as the black haired girl gathered her cloak, sweeping around the offended boy and nodding Lily forward.
"Now, if you'll excuse us, I have the bottoms of desks to decorate."
As soon as they were a safe distance from the portrait, Lily burst into laughter, unable to hold it in any longer.
"That was bloody brilliant!" She cackled, suddenly stopping and grasping Frankie's shoulders, giving her a look of sharp intensity. "You have to tell me your secrets, Frankie. They might just save me from Potter some day." Then she was walking down the hallway again, laughing maniacally. Frankie stood for a moment longer, glancing back towards the portrait of the fat-lady for a moment, feeling as though she had missed something very important. With a resolute shrug she turned and went after Lily, who had begun to skip, beckoning her new friend to join her.
"Quick! Burn it! Burn it!" Sirius yelped, holding his hand as far away from his body as humanly possible, searching in his right pocket with his left hand, trying to find his wand. This ended with him spinning in circles, James having to duck out of the way before he was smacked over the head with the boys arm.
"Don't be daft-she was just trying to get you to stop assaulting her. Probably," James said, waving his hand loftily. Sirius stopped his search, shooting his friend a sharp glare.
"You're one to talk!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" James snapped back, bristling.
"That you ought to stop making Lily hex you into next month!"
"I don't make her do anything! She is an independent woman!" James yelped, stabbing one finger into the air, his glasses slipping down his nose so he had to shove them back up.
"Oh, go wash your knickers, you-"
"Alright, that's quite enough," Remus sighed, stepping between them. "We have to get to class." He urged them on ahead of him, and once he was certainly at the back of their congregation, he allowed a smirk to pull the corner of his mouth up. This girl, whoever she was, was definitely a character. He had never seen a girl brush Sirius off so effectively before in his life, but he would be lying if he said he hadn't enjoyed the show.
However, as the stepped through the portrait hole, he couldn't help but feel as though he had missed something. He glanced back once, shrugged, and continued on his way, listening to his best mates bicker like an old married couple all the way to class.
Frankie was quite pleased to find out that she had her first three classes in a row all with Lily. She had brought the map with her just in case she needed it, but had yet to use it. Transfiguration went without a hitch-Professor McGonagall taught that class, and she had spent most of the short hour explaining how useful turning mice into different objects could be, seeing as there were so many. Immediately after that was Charms, taught by a short, mustachioed man that simply adored Lily and her talents.
Then, after that, was Care of Magical Creatures, which took place down by an old, rickety hut that was frighteningly close to the very haunting forest. Lily was walking at her side as they marched down the hill, hugging her books to her chest as she grinned over at Frankie's weary looks.
"Creatures don't generally leave the Forbidden Forest-you don't have anything to worry about," Lily laughed. Frankie turned wide, stormy eyes on her redheaded companion, looking positively horrified.
"Would you classify an axe-murderer under 'creatures?'" She questioned cautiously, making Lily smirk.
"You know, I'm actually pretty happy you're in this class with me," Lily said truthfully, glancing at her our of the corner of her eye. "That way I don't have to be alone with-"
"Lily!"
Said redhead scowled as James came bounding down the hill, grinning ear to ear. He barely noticed Frankie as he came to stand in front of the rehead, smoothing down his hair as if it would stay that way. Frankie was surprised his fingers weren't about to get lost in the mess that was on top of his head, never to be seen again...
"Potter." Lily grumbled, and Frankie wasn't sure if she were simply greeting him or finishing her sentence.
"Fancy seeing you here," James grinned.
"We've been in this class together since the beginning of the school year. Really, it's not that surprising," Lily scoffed, pushing past him as Frankie followed. James fallowed quickly, reaching out for her hand, but she snapped it away before he could take it.
"Why are you so cold?" He whimpered. She shot him an icy glare.
"Just... Leave it, Potter. Ok? Can't you see I'm trying to talk to Frankie?"
"Frankie?" James spat, his eyes widening. "Who is he?" He growled, looking around. Frankie saw that he was clearly jealous of this imaginary male Frankie. Lily's eyes widened in anger and she clenched her fists.
"Frankie is standing right next to me-as if it's any of your business. You just stay away from me, Potter. You got it?" She spun around, then, her red hair whipping out beside her. "Come on," she said to her black haired, bespectacled and very female friend. "Kettleburn is already out. It looks like we're working with Crups today." She gave a half smile, as if she wasn't particularly pleased with the fact, but it was better than talking to Potter, so she went on her way, anyway.
The rest of the class went along with Potter trying desperately to get Lily's attention and failing miserably, almost to the point where Frankie pondered suggesting Lily give him at the very least the time of day.
Soon, however, class was over and Lily was chattering excitedly as she led Frankie back towards the Great Hall for lunch.
"It's just about the same as breakfast, really. Just it's easier to find everyone because they're there at the correct time, you know?" She grinned over at Frankie, though her lips twitched and it suddenly looked more as if she was bearing her teeth as Potter came trotting up beside her.
"There's no need to look so excited," he laughed lamely, and Lily looked as if she was about to snap. He quickly rewound, thinking of a different angle as quickly as he could manage. "Ah, erm-I mean, d-d'you want to sit-" Suddenly his eyes brightened, and instead of looking at Lily he grasped Frankie's arm and pulled her to the side of the hallway, much to her surprise. Lily was caught in the crowds flow for several more moments, being carried down the hallway. "Would you like to sit with Remus, Peter, Sirius and I during lunch today? Franny, was it?" He asked, flashing a charming smile, his hazel eyes positively glowing with mischief.
Frankie had seen that look plenty of times before. It was the kind of look that often times got people in a lot of trouble, the kind of look that ended in pranks so wild and dangerous they got people hurt or blue in the face, the kind of look that made one's stomach churn with nauseous hatred. Hatred not only for the person who had pulled the prank, but for the events that led up to that very moment. It was the kind of look that made one regret every choice they ever made in agreement to said look.
"Sure," she said, her lips curving up in a small, very Frankie smile.
By the time Lily had reached them it was too late.
"I'm sitting with him, alright?" Frankie said, turning on Lily. The redhead stared at the girl, and she wasn't quite sure if she had actually seen that look of impish trickery or if it were only her own eyes playing tricks on her.
"But, you promised to sit with me," Lily said, glaring over the very short Frankie's shoulder.
"That I did."
Lily blinked, looked down at Frankie who was beaming up at her, and her eyes narrowed.
"That you did."
"Lily... Lily, is that your teeth making that sound?"
