I have a proposition for you guys. Right now I have 3 reviews for this story and it's upsetting me...just a bit. So, I was thinking that if I got 15 reviews, I'll start writing a new story based off the play/musical Spring Awakening which I wasn't planning on doing. So, not only will you get this story (that's based of The Wedding Singer), but you'll get a second exciting one. Now I know you guys want to review. Please?
The week flew by fast. It was a normal week; classes, work, classes, a couple breaks. I was really looking forward to our Hogsmeade trip next weekend. It was finally Saturday, the weekend, a week until Hogsmeade, a day of rest. Rest. That's what I was enjoying at the moment. Resting in my bed until at least ten. Mostly everyone in my dormitory was a morning person; the only ones that weren't were me, Ellyn, and Kady. That's probably why I was closer to them than any of the other girls.
"It's mooooorn-ing! The sun-un-un is coming up in the SKY!" Somehow I had gotten used to getting up with the shouts of Sirius Black. Or singing in this case.
Ellyn and Kady definitely weren't used to it.
Kady screamed and Ellyn almost fell out of her bed. Well, she did. But she took her covers with her.
I hid my smile at the sight in front of me and then looked over at the door to see Remus, James, and Sirius. Sirius was laughing, James was grinning, and even Remus had a small smile on his face.
Kady tried to hide under her covers while Ellyn tried to untangle herself from her's. "Urgh, stupid guys, stupid morning, stupid Saturday..." Ellyn was muttering to herself angrily, having trouble with the covers.
Kady stared at them with wide eyes beneath her covers. I sat up, draping my covers around my shoulders. "Wait. How did you guys get up here?" I questioned.
James grinned. "Almost seven years here and you really think we never found a way to get through the spell on the staircases? Really, you underestimated me."
I should have known.
"Is that Kady under there?" Remus asked, tilting his head to look at the intrapersonal girl underneath the covers.
"Maybe, I'm not that sure," I answered, noticing the glare I received from a pair of eyes peeking out.
Ellyn finally untangled herself, throwing her covers on her bed angrily, still muttering about how much she hated guys, mornings, and other things.
"Shut up," she suddenly yelled, pointing over to the group of guys. We all looked at her weird. "He's going to say something," she almost shouted this hysterically. We all continued our strange looks.
I glanced over to the group of guys to see Sirius with his mouth open, ready to say something.
Oh. Should have known.
Ellyn immediately threw the covers over herself and frowned, glaring at the guys.
I love my friends.
"It's Saturday," James announced.
"Iiiiiiiiiiiit's...SAT-UR-DAY! Yes, it is. Oh yeah, because it's SAT-UR-DAAAYYY," Sirius suddenly sang out of nowhere. Kady hid even further underneath her covers. Ellyn flinched, and I almost thought she was going to fall out of her bed again.
"Free day," Remus said.
"Nothing planned today. Nothing at A-A-ALL. We are FREE-E-E-E-E-E!" I think we all flinched this time.
"Get dressed and let's go," James said slowly, and I could see him fearing the worst notes from Sirius.
"Get DRESSED and LET'S..." There was a huge breath and we all braced ourselves. "GOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Oh. My. God," Ellyn whispered.
Kady looked like she was in too much shock to talk.
I stared, looking from Ellyn to Kady, not knowing what to actually say.
"So, um, we'll be waiting downstairs," Remus said, quickly shoving Sirius out of the door before he could sing anything else. James followed them, giving us all a sympathetic smile before closing the door on the way out.
"I think I just died," Ellyn informed us, grimacing.
"Plans?" James brandished a piece of toast, waving it through the air.
"Catching up on some reading, maybe," Remus said.
"Date with Julia today," Sirius announced, with a smile.
"Ummm...I'm not sure," Peter muttered.
"And I have nothing," James said, sighing.
All of us girls watched the scene plan out. It still felt strange that they were sitting across from us at our table.
"Plans?" James looked at us. It was like their code word or something. Someone would say 'plans' and immediately you'd have to list off your plans for the day.
"Um, I don't know, nothing?" Kady finally said, shrugging.
"Going back to sleep," Ellyn muttered. She was still fuming about this morning. On a normal Saturday, she would have slept in till at least noon. It was nine right now.
"Doing...nothing," I said, "Looks like an eventful Saturday." Really. There wasn't anything to do.
We all munched on our breakfast, thinking about something to do. I looked across from me to see a grin spread over James's face. "Sirius, cancel your date," James exclaimed, catching our attention.
Sirius scoffed. Yes, scoffed. "But-it's Julia. From Ravenclaw. Julia the Ravenclaw, James!" He really, desperately, wanted to go on this date with this girl. I'd met her once. She was the type of girl that, well, I don't really get along with. Very...outgoing. That's the least I can say.
"Yeah, she's annoying, Sirius, really. All right, now, everyone meet me up on the third floor in one hour," James told us, standing up, taking his toast with him.
"But-I'll be sleeping!" Ellyn complained.
"But-Julia!" Sirius whined.
"But-stop complaining!" James mocked them. The rest of us smiled at the mockery. "One hour..." he reminded us, walking off.
"Where on the third floor?" Kady whispered to me and I shrugged in response. Only time would tell what James had gotten us into.
"This is stupid," Ellyn said loudly, making sure everyone in the corridor heard her.
"Why are we just standing here?" Kady said in the same tone.
"Because we said we would be," I replied.
We did look really stupid though. Just standing here, in the middle of the corridor, watching everyone pass us and give us strange looks.
I turned around, looking down the corridor for the guys to come parading down. I started counting the random people that passed me. Savannah from Hufflepuff. We sometimes work together in Charms. She gave me a small smile in recognization. Robert from Ravenclaw. He smiled at me also, and I smiled back. He's a nice guy...cute too. I had a small crush on him back in 5th year but it never progressed from that. Suddenly, I was whipped around as someone grabbed my hand and dragged me along with them.
"Come on!" I recovered from my shock and realized it was James dragging me along with everyone following behind us.
"Where are we going?" I asked anyone that would answer. The only answer I got was James glancing at me with a grin. I guess that wasn't really an answer.
We skidded to a stop in front of that humpbacked witch statue. Wow. A statue. I turned to make a sarcastic remark to the guys to see Ellyn pointing behind me. I turned back around to see a tunnel behind the statue.
"Oh," I said softly.
A secret passageway. Wait. I turned to James, who was still grinning. "Ladies first," he announced, waving his hand to let me through.
I gave him a look. "Where does this lead and how did you find it?"
"It's a secret."
I turned to see Ellyn and Kady looking down the tunnel. We all just stood there.
"Go before someone sees," Sirius finally said behind us.
"Fine," Ellyn said, going first.
I followed her in and Kady went last. It looked like it was a long tunnel. I got out my wand. "Lumos," I whispered, as my wand lit up and delivered some light to the darkness. Everyone else followed me, and soon, we could see clearly. We walked in silence for a couple minutes.
"Really, where are we going?" Ellyn finally asked, breaking the silence, making me jump a bit.
"Nowhere," all the guys answered in unison.
Ellyn muttered some obscenities under her breath. I had to stop myself from laughing. Finally, I felt the ground begin to incline. The ceiling almost hit my head, but I ducked and stopped. James moved forward to the front and cleared his throat.
"All right. What you are about to see is a Marauder secret. You must not tell anyone. Ever. Got it?"
I shrugged with an 'okay' and got a glare in response. "It's serious, Lily," Sirius announced. I rolled my eyes.
James pushed up on the ceiling, and I saw an amount of dirt fall down. He moved out of the way and then cracked up what looked like a trap door. Peering out into the light, he nodded and said, "Okay. Let's go."
The door was pushed upon and hit the floor with a soft bang. I followed James out to see a cellar with random items on the shelf. We all filed out and glanced around.
"We're in Honeydukes," Kady said, twirling around, taking everything in.
James nodded in agreement. "Indeed, we are."
Honeydukes? Hogsmeade? But...that meant..."That was a secret tunnel to Hogsmeade?" I asked incredulously.
"Indeed, it was," Sirius said.
"But-"
"Nice way to spend a Saturday, isn't it?" Remus added.
A slow grin appeared over my face, and I didn't even try to hide my excitement. "This is awesome," I said, walking over to the shelf and looking at the items.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ellyn suddenly said, walking over to the door, cracking it open a bit. She glanced out and waved us over.
We all slowly filed out, mingling with the rest of the people in the shop.
"Hey! Bertie Botts!" Ellyn picked up a box next to me. "I know what color the vomit ones are. Want to get them and give them to Sirius?"
On a normal day, Ellyn wouldn't be acting like this. She was shrug off whatever Sirius threw her way. Today, though, since she was unwittingly woken up at an "ungodly hour", she was getting her revenge.
"That's just evil," I said, picking up sugar quills.
"Getting people up early on Saturdays is evil," Ellyn replied darkly, rushing off to buy the box.
About ten minutes later, I looked around the store and noticed I didn't see anyone. They could have left but I didn't know where.
"ELLYN! KADY!" I shouted over the mass of people in the store.
"LILY!" I heard Kady's voice shout back. I pushed myself through the people, almost getting trampled over twice and finally saw her on the other side of the store next to the door. "Oh, Lily, I thought I lost you. Come on, we're going to the Three Broomsticks!" Kady urged me out of the door where the rest of the gang was waiting.
"Yes!" Sirius did a little jig and we made our way to the Three Broomsticks. "Butterbeer, here we come!" Everyone else stepped back a couple paces, determined not to be seen with him. Or even as knowing him.
It wasn't full at the Three Broomsticks. During a Hogsmeade weekend, it was usually impossible to get in. Today, it was only about half full.
There was a table for three people on one side and three on the other. There was also a chair on the very end, which Peter took right away. I was about to sit between Ellyn and Kady when Sirius rushed in and took the chair, almost toppling it over.
"Oh, no," Ellyn groaned, getting ready to stand up, "I'm moving."
Sirius grabbed her arm, setting her back down at the table. "Oh, no, you're not. You're sitting next to me."
"Wouldn't you rather be sitting next to Julia?" Ellyn asked, the exasperation and frustration evident in her voice.
I watched with curiosity as Ellyn and Sirius "talked", if you could call it that, and sat down in the first chair on the other side with James and Remus.
"Hey, if I'm not with Julia, at least I'm with you," Sirius said, with that smirk again.
"I really wished I had the flu right now and was sick in bed, puking, rather than being here with you," Ellyn exclaimed, crossing her arms and standing up again to move.
"Touché," Sirius commented.
"Just sit down, Ellyn," I spoke up, "Kady's right on the other side of you. It doesn't matter."
Ellyn frowned as she slowly sat down. She kept the frown on her face as long as she could.
"What'll I get you kids?" I looked up to see the owner standing there, waiting for our order.
We all looked at each other and finally Sirius spoke up, leaning back in his chair casually. "Seven butterbeers, my good lady."
Once again, I wished I wasn't associated with him. The owner gave Sirius a weird look, and waved her wand. Seven butterbeers floated our way and rested in front of us.
"Sorry about him," James whispered to the middle-aged owner. "He's a bit...special."
I nodded in agreement, taking a sip of my drink.
The owner tilted her head at us (did I mention how much I hate it when people do that?), and smiled. "You guys really do make a cute couple."
She was talking about James and I. As a couple. In front of our friends. I almost died. Wait. I was going to die. I wanted to die. Why couldn't I just die right here and now?
I couldn't look at my friends. I couldn't look at James. What were they thinking? There was an awkward pause.
"I hate to tell you, but we're not a couple," James finally said, and I turned to look at him. "We're sister and brother."
Wait-what?! James winked at me, and I raised an eyebrow at him. The owner looked confused.
Two could play at this game. "Oh yes, James here is my brother. And he's the slow one," I said with a grin.
James looked at me with a smirk. Nothing he could say would top mine. "She's an idiot according to mother," James announced sincerely.
A snicker went around the table, and I put on my game face. "It takes one to know one." An 'oooh' went around the table this time. Lily won.
James and I bought looked at the owner who was looking at us like we were crazy. "We're not together," James ended, holding back his laugh. I was stifling mine also.
"You already told her that, James," I said, looking back at him. "I told you he was the slow one," I whispered.
James playfully swatted me on the shoulder. I hit him back and it became a hitting game. By now, we had scared away the owner. As soon as she went out of sight, the whole table burst into laughter.
"That was...priceless," Kady was able to say through her laughter.
Sirius highfived James across the table.
It ended up taking us longer than we thought to drink our butterbeers because we couldn't stop laughing.
"Brother and sister, huh?" Sirius exclaimed, walking in front of us and backwards...again. He really needs to fall at least one time.
James grinned. "Thought it'd throw off the owner. It was pretty hilarious."
I side glanced at him. "A harmless prank this time. Nice," I commented. I had to admit-it was pretty funny. The owner was definitely caught off guard and probably was embarrassed to death.
"What is our Head Boy and Girl planning for our seventh year?" Kady suddenly asked.
James looked at me and I looked back. "Nothing yet," I finally answered. Which was true. We hadn't even started thinking about it. Yet, everyone was relying on the Head Boy and Girl to come up with some extravagant formal event. Great.
"Oh, a ball!"
It was Kady who suggested that thing. And everyone immediately agreed, talking over each other saying things about how great extravagant parties with flowy gowns and dress robes are. And I decided to say something about it.
"Clichéd," I sang-songed over the clamor.
The silence was immediate after. Everyone turned to look at me with a look of shock on their faces. "But-" Kady came forward, stumbling over her words, "There has to be at least one time where we get to dress up and have fun!" she said desperately.
Kady is the type of person who is freakishly shy, but when you take her to a huge social event, she knows how to loosen up. Makes no sense, really, but she really does love those parties.
"A small one?" Kady pleaded with me.
I glanced at her, wearily and simply said, "It's too cliché!"
Suddenly, James was kneeling on the ground in front of me, tugging at my robe and clasping together his hands in a pleading way. He was really good at pleading. He had this sort of pleadingness in his eyes that was all too innocent for him but he probably got away with it many a time.
"S'il vous plait?" he asked, in an almost whine, as he looked up at me with that look.
Smart alleck.
"I'm not going to have a ball!" I said, stubbornly, once again.
"How about...hmm...a feast?" Ellyn offered, shrugging her shoulders.
Ellyn is the type of person who is very social and can enjoy parties if she wants to-but she really doesn't care.
And, if you haven't figured it out yet, I hate balls/parties/whatever because it just seems too...Cinderella for me. Full of clichés.
"A dinner party!" Remus added, looking to me for my answer. I saw Peter behind Remus nodding enthusiastically.
A dinner party. Hmm... "Well, it's not the same as a ball. I suppose we could." I covered my ears quickly and everyone started cheering, or in Sirius's case, starting lists off girls he would go with. Yes, girls, plural. "As long as no one calls it a ball!" I added, trying to keep a straight face with all the smiles around me.
"A formal dinner party!" Kady said suddenly.
I groaned. This was going to turn into a ball.
"Would James Potter and Lily Evans please present their ideas for our next formal event?" the prefect from Hufflepuff announced. He's the one that proclaimed that we needed a podium to conducts our meetings from. Like they're supposed to be this professional business meetings. Yeah, right.
James and I got up from our chairs and stood awkwardly from behind this podium. It was really tall and I could barely see over it. So far, so good.
"Okay," James raised the level of volume in his voice and leaned forward on the podium in a very unbusiness-like manner. "We're here to discuss the possibility of a formal dinner party." James knew how to work an audience perfectly. He was just a leader at heart. And maybe if I could see over the podium, I could be too.
Holly, prefect from Gryffindor, raised her hand. I saw her and pointed at her. "Yes, Holly?"
She stood up, looking as awkward as me (not James anymore; he actually looked comfortable leaning against that podium). "Um, is a formal dinner party like a ball?"
I frowned. James tried to hold back a laugh. I stood on my tiptoes and finally saw over the podium. "No, it isn't a ball. It's a formal dinner party. It's basically normal dinner, except that we're dressed up in formal attire, and we stand around conversing during the entire dinner."
Everyone stared back at me with blank faces.
Gus from Slytherin raised his hand, standing up before we even got a chance to call on him. "Does formal attire mean ball gowns and dress robes?"
My frown became worse. "No, no ball gowns. It isn't a ball. Girls can wear dresses, but they have to be very casual. No huge gowns and tiaras and glittery shoes. And guys wear dress robes. It's as simple as that."
A murmur went around the room. Most people were complaining over the "no ball gown" rule. But, really, this wasn't a ball. It was a simple formal dinner party.
"So, formal dinner party on November 15th?" James questioned, staring people down from that podium that was supporting all his weight.
They stared back at us. We stared them back down. All those staring games with Ellyn really paid off. That one Hufflepuff prefect who's name I actually never got stood up. "It sounds...good. Call to a vote?"
See what I mean about the professional business thing? "Yes, that's a good idea," I replied.
"All in favor, say aye," James announced. It amazed me that James knew all these terms and the process.
"Aye," the chorus of prefects rang out.
They actually agreed. I almost hugged James in happiness. James turned to me with a grin on his face and said, somewhat seriously, "Looks like you got your," he used air quotations, "dinner party." I grinned back, and started to casually hit him for the quotations. He just laughed and then turned back to the crowd.
It was then I realized I actually really liked having James for a friend.
