Chapter Summary –
"I know Rhia's kind of socially retarded and weird, but she's my friend so just promise me you won't make fun of her," Lily spoke seriously.
"You're a nice friend," Sirius smiled.
"I try."
Chapter Title – Siriusly Lily
Have you ever had the feeling that maybe people were different than you originally viewed them? Maybe you're perception of people aren't always right or maybe people just change? I never thought that I, Lily Evans, would have ever befriended a boy named Sirius Black. I have, however. I find his company absolutely enchanting. I know that I put him down at times by calling him a creep and annoying and everything in-between, but he dishes it right back at me. It's a bickering relationship of sorts. Brent hates it. He told me yesterday that I shouldn't associate myself with "filth like Sirius". I looked at Brent as if I had never seen anything like him. I know several days ago at Hogsmeade Sirius and Brent seemed to have hated each other, but neither of them should really put me in the middle. I refuse to be in the middle; I told them both that. I like people. I like having friends. I like having a boyfriend. I'm not going to let my friends and my boyfriend clash.
Now onto the wicked awesome plan that Rhia and I have been plotting for a month…
"Oh, Lily Evans!"
Somehow hearing her name called out in that annoying tone by Sirius Black always brought a smile to Lily's face. She loved hearing him call to her while she was walking down the hallways. It could be taken as a very creepy stalker notion, but Lily refused to look at it like that. Sirius, in his quirky ways, was just being himself. It was fantastic to know that some people never grow up.
"Oh, Sirius Black!" Lily called back without stopping for the boy to catch up to her.
"Lillian Violet Evans!" Sirius shouted as he appeared next to her.
"How do you know my middle name?"
"Well, it's part of that stalker handbook you gave me earlier," Sirius said absentmindedly. "The one you gave me years ago when we used to play in one of those Muggle sandyboxes as toddlers."
"Oh, that one," Lily spoke with a smile on her face. "I remember that. It's sandbox by the way. Remember when I put that huge spider in your hair?"
"Do I ever?" Sirius sounded like he was a child on Christmas morning. "I vaguely remember screaming like a little girl in terror! It was really scary. You do remember how I got you back, don't you?"
"You mean putting the snake inside my sleeping bag when we were camping outside my house when we were wee children?" Lily's smile grew at ever sentence spoken.
"Yes, that was quite divine."
Lily loved her walks to class with Sirius more now than she did at the beginning of the year. Perhaps it was the fact that it had been over a month since their first true encounter. Lily grew comfortable with the boy, and they often joked about everything. They made up factious stories that would be the best thing ever if only they were real. When Sirius was around Lily, he didn't act like the bigheaded prat that picks on the Slytherins. He was kind, hilarious, and polite.
The two walked into Potions together. Sirius even took a seat next to Lily, which didn't bother her at all. August, Remus, and Rhia then came into the classroom together and took their usual seats. Rhia always sat next to Lily. Then August always sat in-between Rhia and Remus. Lily secretly hoped that Remus and August would start to date, for they were beating around the bush too much. James Potter would then come in with Peter Pettigrew tagging behind him as if he were a lost little kid. James always sat down next to Sirius, and Peter would always sit next to James. The order was never mixed up.
Professor Truax had told the class that their Polyjuice Potions would be done in twenty minutes, and then they could turn into their partner. Rhia got her and Lily's potion and brought it over to their desk. The two girls had a clever plan brewing, as they were planning it for a month now. The best friends had made an extra goblet of Polyjuice Potion for later use. Lily had already decided she was going to make herself Sirius Black and try to figure out when Remus was going to ask out August. Rhia, in the meantime, was going to keep Sirius occupied – by any means possible as Rhia had commented – so that he wouldn't ruin their plan.
For now, however, the best friends were going to be each other for the next hour. Too bad they had to stay in the Potions classroom. The goblets were filled with the nasty looking potion. Rhia dropped a couple strands of her hair into Lily's goblet as Lily did the same to Rhia's.
"On the count of three?" Rhia asked as she plugged her nose.
"One. Two. Three," the girls said together.
Lily drained the potion into her mouth. She wanted to vomit to be quite honest. It was the foulest thing she had ever drank in her life. The redhead sat the goblet down onto the desk and clenched her stomach. She could hear her fellow students gagging around her. Rhia even threw up in a bucket beside her.
Lily was about to spew when her skin started to change color. Her pale skin was turning a very tan color. She felt herself grow taller, which caused her to almost fall down. She kept steady somehow. Lily felt completely different, especially when she looked down to find herself big breasted. The prefect looked up to see her best friend looking exactly like her!
"Merlin, Lily, you taste really nasty," Rhia spoke softly. "You're really short and skinny, how the hell do you do it?"
"Shut up," Lily said playfully.
"Hello, my lovely flower," a familiar voice said behind her.
Lily turned around to see James Potter standing there wiggling his eyebrows like a bloody idiot. Lily was about to say something quite rude when the boy covered the prefect's mouth. He smiled wickedly at her and said, "It's me, Sirius. Remember?"
Brown eyes drifted to where James Potter was standing as Sirius Black. Oh, this was so confusing. James was talking to Peter – who was really Remus. Lily turned her attention back to Sirius with a small smile playing on her lips. She had never been so close to James's body before. It was slightly unnerving, for she could feel his breath tickle her neck. Only it really wasn't James's breath; it was Sirius's.
"I wasn't going to yell," Lily lied.
"You always yell," Sirius retorted. "Maybe it's just from hanging around Rhia Cromwell too much."
"I know Rhia's kind of socially retarded and weird, but she's my friend so just promise me you won't make fun of her," Lily spoke seriously.
"You're a nice friend," Sirius smiled.
"I try."
"Sirius," Rhia – with red hair and all – spoke up as she stood next to Lily, "would you meet me at say eight o'clock in the Owlery?"
Oh, Rhia put a look on her face that made her look absolutely whore-ish. Oh, why did Rhia have to look like that when she took Lily's appearance? The prefect flinched at the sight of the look as she watched Sirius with hope.
"Uh, sure," Sirius said with a small smile.
"You are marvelous, Sirius Black," Rhia declared as she grabbed her best friend's arm and pulled her away.
"You are evil," Lily whispered.
"We are both evil," Rhia corrected. "I didn't even have to offer you any cookies either."
"What? I'm only in this for the cookies!"
"After calling me socially retarded and weird, you think I'd still give you cookies?" Rhia asked condescendingly.
Less than an hour later, the two girls were back to normal as well as the rest of the class. Lily was happy to be back to her normal self. She loved her fire-red hair and emerald eyes. She didn't love her shortness, but you can't like everything about yourself. Lily's experience out of her body was a good one. She finally figured out that being Lily Violet Evans was the best thing in the whole world.
It was dinnertime when the two best friends walked into the Great Hall. They made a point to walk directly behind Sirius. Rhia reached out, grabbed a stray hair from his shoulder, and continued walking. They smiled at each other as Lily took a seat next to Sirius and Rhia next to Lily. The dark-haired girl waved the black hair in the air briefly before slipping it into a container and then sliding it into her pocket.
Day slowly turned into night. It was 7:45, and the two girls new they had to act quickly. Rhia had snuck up to the 'marauders' dormitory and borrowed a pair of Sirius's knickers and a top. She had dashed back to her dormitory and handed the clothes to Lily.
"Take off your bra," Rhia instructed. "I highly doubt Sirius wears a bra."
So Lily had changed everything, she was now in Sirius's huge clothing. She had even put on a pair of his boxers. Everything was falling off her. With the hair in the goblet of Polyjuice, Lily drained the contents. The horrible feeling that Lily had experienced earlier in the day was happening again. She felt herself grow taller and her hair shortened and grew darker. It was a sudden thought that filled Lily's head that she never thought of before. Sirius was a boy with boy parts. Oh, it was too late to do anything about it.
"How's it feel to have a you-know?" Rhia asked with a smile planted on her face.
"I feel like I'm going to be sick," Lily commented. "Why did I agree to do this?"
"It's five before eight. I'm going to go meet the real Sirius," Rhia picked up a cardigan from her bed. "Can I see it before I go?"
"NO!" Lily scouted disgusted, "I don't even want to think about it being there!"
"Talk more manly, Lily," Rhia remarked. "You sound like a girl."
With that, Rhia walked smugly out of the girls' dormitory. Lily crossed her arms over her chest. She felt so hairy. The prefect pushed those thoughts aside and made her way to the 'marauders' dormitory. Luckily, nobody saw her except for two second year girls, who practically drooled. Ew.
Lily felt incredibly weird as a boy. She was very glad that she was going to be a girl again in less than an hour. So what if once a month, she had horrible cramps while being bloated and had to deal with bleeding for a week? She would much rather have that right now than be a boy at this moment.
Lily took a deep breath before she opened the dormitory. Remus Lupin was lying on his bed with a book in hand. Peter Pettigrew was eating chocolate with about fifty wrappers surrounding him. James Potter was flipping through a Quidditch magazine. Lily stared at the room with repulsion. It was the messiest room ever! The only clean spot was around Remus's bed. He must be the neat one.
"I thought you were meeting with Rhia, Padfoot," James said as he stared at Lily.
Padfoot? Oh, right. That was her queue to say something. Lily never quite understood why the four 'marauders' called each other by those ridiculous names. She couldn't really remember them to be honest. She didn't know what to call them, but maybe she would remember?
"Uh, in a little bit," Lily spoke in a deep voice, which caused all three boys to look at her oddly.
"What's wrong with your voice, Paddy?" Peter asked curiously.
"Lemme guess, Snivellus hexed you?" James inquired with a sneer.
"You betcha," Lily replied as she regretted doing this every moment that passed. "That little… bastard."
Okay, so Lily's never actually said the 'B' word before, but Sirius Black had a really bad mouth when he's angry. Who was Snivellus? She's heard them use that name before but to whom? It had to be a Slytherin. Maybe it was Severus Snape? The boys always took pleasure in humiliating him in front of crowds of people. Oh, that made Lily mad. Why did they have to be so malicious?
"What spell, Padfoot?" Remus asked.
"I – uh don't really know," Lily thought quickly. "I just know it screwed up my effing voice."
So Sirius Black likes the words fuck, fucking, and phrases using any form of the word fuck when he was livid. Lily had never said any of those words and/or phrases before, and she didn't really want to start now. She used an alternative version of the 'F' word in hopes that the 'marauders' wouldn't notice. Remus and James did, Peter didn't. Maybe she should say the word so they don't get suspicious.
"Who the fuck does he think he is?"
Oh, Lily felt dirty. Sure, she's said shit, damn, and hell, but never ever used the more 'horrible' swear words before now.
"He thinks he's Snivellus," Peter replied. He was a bit dim wasn't he?
"When are you going to ask out Cromwell?" asked James.
What? Oh, this was perfect. Sirius liked Rhia! Rhia liked Sirius! This was really two for one wasn't it? Spectacular!
"Whenever Remus is going to ask out August," Lily replied coolly.
"August wouldn't want two werewolves on her plate," Remus replied with a mistrustful look. "One's enough."
Two werewolves? August knew another werewolf? How in the world did she not know that? Lily was her friend, a good friend. She should knew everything about her friend's life. She knew everything about Rhia – or so she hoped. This was the turning point; this was when she realized that she didn't know her friends like she thought she did.
"You never know until you ask," Lily tried to sound as though the last bit of information didn't faze her.
"Rejection would mean embarrassment."
"If everything is embarrassing, then you're never going to have any fun," Lily reasoned.
"How did you become so wise, Padfoot?" James directed his attention to Lily.
"By thinking before acting," Lily spoke softly as she stared at the messy-haired boy. "I got to go meet Rhia."
"Have fun!" Peter chanted.
The other two boys bid adieu to their friend – or whom they thought was there friend. Lily made her way down to the Common Room. Several girls swooned when they saw the rugged good looks of Sirius Black. When the deed was done, Lily was to meet Rhia in the kitchens. Once outside of Gryffindor Tower, Lily burst out running to the kitchens.
Lily arrived utterly exhausted. She tickled the painting, stepped inside, and asked the house elves for a glass of something cold. Well, perhaps that was the wrong thing to say. She had about fifty different glasses in front of her within a minute of everything cold possible. The teenager grabbed a glass of iced tea and drained the contents.
The kitchen door burst opened to reveal a frazzled Rhiannon Cromwell. The dark-haired girl looked frantically around the room. She sighed heavily when she saw her best friend sitting at a table looking exactly like Sirius Black.
"You're here!" Rhia exclaimed. "Sirius wasn't staying! He said he needed to talk to James about something and left! I was so worried you'd still be with James and the others as Sirius."
"Well, I wasn't doing a good Sirius Black impersonation, so I cut out early."
"Do you think they know?"
"That Lily Evans Polyjuiced herself as their fellow 'marauder'?" Lily inquired before breaking out into a smile. "They wouldn't dare think a girl would become a boy. They like to think he was cursed by a boy named Snivellus, and that's why their friend was acting and talking weird."
"You are so lucky, girl."
Within the next ten minutes, Lily slowly started changing back to her original self. She shrunk and became feminine. She was no longer Sirius Black. She was Lily Evans in Sirius Black's clothes. The redhead looked down at her body only to look up and smile at Rhia.
"I'm a proud owner of a vagina once more!"
The two girls burst out laughing. The house elves looked slightly shocked to see a boy become a girl. They seemed disturbed by the fact that a skinny redhead was dancing around with her best friend in a boy's clothes. The best friends didn't care, however. They were dancing out of triumph and happiness. Their plan had succeeded.
They talked about what each of them did. Lily felt badly about lying to her best friend about exactly what happened. She didn't know how well Rhia would take to the fact of Remus being a werewolf, so she just said that Remus was afraid of rejection. The redhead talked about how James had asked when Sirius was going to ask out Rhia. At this, Rhia screamed and jumped onto a kitchen table. The house elves, who was getting used to their strange antics, decided to ignore it. Rhia then went into full detail about how she had told Sirius that she heard what he said about her being a whore; and how he replied, he didn't mean it. The two had hugged and apologized. Rhia even told how Sirius had given her a quick peck on both cheeks before departing.
Once it was way past curfew, the two girls sneakily made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. They made it, and laughed as they walked up the stairs to their dormitory. They tried to stifle their giggling when they stepped inside their dorm. Every one was sleeping. Lily quickly changed into girl clothes and walked over towards Rhia. The two locked hands and did a little dance. Neither knew exactly why they were so happy, but they were.
"I absolutely don't know how I'll go to sleep tonight," Lily commented.
"Me either."
"Want to go loiter in the corridors?"
"Do you even have to ask?"
The two girls ventured out into the corridors at about eleven o'clock. This was the time that the prefects patrolling were going back to their dorms. This was the time that the teachers start to call it a night. It was the perfect time to wander the hallways, for no one but Mr. Filch was really out to find stray students. The best friends made their way to the Trophy Case to look at trophies for they didn't know what else to do.
"'Awarded to Nathaniel Cromwell for services to the school'," Lily read. "What did you father do?"
"I didn't know he ever received an award like that to be honest," Rhia replied. "I know he received a Head Boy award, but that's all."
"Look at all the Quidditch awards Black and Potter have."
There were three Quidditch Championship awards honoring the Gryffindor Quidditch Team for the past three years. Their names shined on the golden plaques. A name caught Lily's eyes above the Quidditch awards. There was an award to Thomas Riddle for services to the school, dating back to the 1942-1943 school year. Lily felt a strong pull to the name, as if her fate was intertwined with his. In the pit of her stomach was a feeling of hatred. She had never felt like this before in her life.
"You'll have three awards over there," Rhia commented to Lily.
"For what?" Lily tore her eyes away from the name she was staring at.
"Two prefect awards and a Head Girl award."
"Me? Head Girl?" inquired Lily. "That would be… horrible! I'd ruin the school! I'm no leader."
"You are a natural born leader, Lily, you just like to be difficult."
"Have you heard what he's doing, Albus?"
The best friends looked at each other when they heard Professor McGonagall's voice ring through the corridor. Lily and Rhia ran down the trophy hallway until they reached a door. Rhia grasped the bronze doorknob, and the two girls quickly hid inside. The girls sat down on the floor and listened to the conversation at hand.
"I believe that Bartemius feels he is doing the right thing," Dumbledore's voice was cold.
"You don't believe that!"
"No, I daresay I don't believe what Bartemius is doing is right. He is the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, however."
"You need to talk some sense into him!" McGonagall protested. "You're the only one who could get through to him! People say it'll be in the Daily Prophet by morning!"
"Bartemius will not listen to my reasoning. He is interested in only one thing. I fear it will be his demise."
"Whatever could he want that would drive him to authorize the usage of Unforgivable Curses to Aurors?"
"Power, Minerva," Dumbledore's voice was sad and strained. "Bartemius Crouch wants nothing more than to be the Minister of Magic, that I am sure of. I know Bartemius; I've taught him all he knows about Transfiguration. I watched him grow into the man he has become. He was power hungry while walking these walls, and he still is."
"Well, then talk to the Head Auror! I'm sure he disapproves."
"I do not know the Head Auror personally, Minerva. James Potter's father was the Head Auror before the accident. If Richard Potter was still Head Auror, then I know this would not be allowed. Richard was never one to sink to such lows. He would never allow his men to perform curses that are making Death Eaters infamous."
Lily turned towards Rhia with a curious look on her face. James's father was in an accident? He was Head Auror? Dumbledore personally knew James's family? Rhia didn't seem fazed by any of this information. It was like she knew exactly what the heads of the school were talking about. It was irritating. Why did everyone know everything but Lily? It wasn't fair. It was stupid.
"Oh, James Potter, the poor boy. I can't even imagine what he's been going through since that night a couple years ago."
"Von said he was devastated when Beau died and Richard was hospitalized. She told me that James would just sit in his father's hospital bed waiting day in and day out. Apparently, James would just hold his father's hand, hoping that Richard would be all right and somehow Beau would come back to life. Beau was James's life. I never saw two brothers who absolutely adored each other. Richard was often gone due to his duties at work, making Beau a second father to James."
"I never had the privilege of teaching Beau Potter. I hope he wasn't as much trouble as his brother," McGonagall spoke sadly as she blew her nose.
"Oh, Beau got into his fair amount of trouble as a student. Not as much as James does now with Sirius Black, but enough to land him in several detentions every few months."
"The Black family is nothing but trouble, Albus."
"You mustn't wait for the Black children to make a mistake. Some will, I have no doubt. You mustn't worry about Sirius though. Von and Richard would never allow anyone into their home that they thought would become dark."
"Well, Richard hired Creighton Vanderveer as an Auror! He made Vanderveer his equal! His partner! Look what happened! I can't even begin to fathom why you are allowing Vanderveer to teach here! I heard he was tormenting James the first day the fifth year Gryffindors had him!"
"I am well aware of what Creighton his capable of, Minerva," Dumbledore snapped. "The only thing Creighton could be charged for is lack of bravery in a battle. I would rather have him here to give his expertise than out fighting to make the same mistake he made few years ago."
"And Hayden Truax? Some say he is a Death Eater."
"I know exactly what Hayden is doing. You need not worry about that either, Minerva. I say we both need some rest."
Lily listened as the two professors walked down the corridor and out of earshot. Rhia opened the door to the room they were hiding in and looked both ways. She motioned that it was clear. The redhead followed her friend out of the room. Did she dare ask Rhia what the professors were talking about? Would she get a straight answer? Lily highly doubted it. When it came to the Dark Lord and Death Eaters, Rhia wanted nothing to do about it. Why would she start now? Lily would find out one way or another, that was a given. Lily was like a cat; her curiosity wouldn't stop until she died.
Lily never knew her professors' pasts and lives until she dug into them. She would never know how traumatized James Potter was after a mistake one Auror made. She never knew that the headmaster knew more about his students than anyone else. She never knew that battling Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort could be so bloodcurdling. She never knew why one Wizard would control innocents to do his bidding. She never knew that good Wizards and Witches joined the Dark Lord because they were afraid of death. She never knew that Lord Voldemort would get followers such as the giants. She never knew Lord Voldemort was hunting out vampires, goblins, and even werewolves to join his fight. It was unfeasible to the one redheaded girl who would aid in the destruction of the evilest Wizard to ever live. Why would anyone do such horrid things for power and fear? Perhaps that would be the thought that crossed Lily Evan's mind when she will die. Perhaps she was thinking of her husband and son. That's what many would think, but in reality, Lily Evans would be smiling when she died. She would smile in triumph, for she knew she had saved her son due to ancient magic she had studied in her field of profession. She knew of the sacrifice, and she knew what would happen to Lord Voldemort. Oh, but Lily Evans is only fifteen years old and such thoughts would never fill her mind at such a young age. No, the fifteen-year-old Lily Evans was concerned about her friends' relationships, her love life, her upcoming O.W.L.'s, and was only a little concerned about Lord Voldemort at the time. She was a teenager after all, and teenagers didn't indulge themselves in grown-up problems until they are faced with it.
Author's Notes – I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. I thought I needed a funny chapter because of the heaviness of the last part of this chapter. Please leave your reviews! I'm looking forward to reading them. Remember, I'll answer any questions you may have on my livejournal.