Plot: The infamous Marauders weren't alone in their love for pranking. In fact, they often had their butts kicked by a bunch of girls. Now, this is it. Seventh year. Four girls, four boys. Two opposing pranking teams. One hell of a battle to be won.
Disclaimer: Sad as it may be, I am not J.K. Rowling in disguise, and therefore I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters or themes involved. (I do, however, own Jamie, Hannah and Regan and most elements of this specific plot—so I'd appreciate it if no poaching occurred. Thanks.)
WARNING (please read): This is the unedited version, meaning I wrote it a few years ago when my skill level sucked and I had no idea how to properly structure a story. So if you'll please ignore the terrible grammar, dodgy sentence structure, OOC-ness, plot holes, canonical inconsistencies and general immaturity of this whole chapter while I plough my way through all this editing work, that would be greatly appreciated. :) I'm in the process of fixing up all the chapters right now, but you'll have to be patient, because (as you can probably tell just by reading a couple of sentences below) fixing this stuff up takes a lot of time and effort.
Chapter 9 – Close Quarters
"Mint humbug," James said in a clear voice, and the all-too-familiar stone gargoyle lept aside. "After you."
Lily gave him a weak smile and stepped forward, letting the moving staircase pull her upwards. She was still unsure of how to react to this sudden kindness he was showing. Her head was still spinning, but this sensation had nothing to do with the nausea she had previously experienced; it had everything to do with the change she was seeing in James Potter.
At the top of the staircase, Lily knocked gently on the headmaster's door. It opened in an instant, and Professor Dumbledore looked up, smiling from behind his spectacles. "Ah," he said lightly. "Wonderful. Have a seat." He gestured at two cushioned wooden chairs on the other side of his desk. Lily sat down quietly in one and James took the other. They both stared forward at Dumbledore, who said nothing for a moment. After a moment Lily realized that he was taking in the sight of them – they were still quite soaked from the snowball fight, and their robes and hair were in frightful condition. Lily drew in a sharp breath of anticipation, expecting him to scold them in some way. But he simply gave them a calm smile.
"Another infamous battle between the Marauders and the Rogues, I presume?" he asked, sounding genuinely interested for reasons Lily could not understand. "What was it this time?"
Both Lily and James hesitated, glancing questioningly at each other. Then James answered slowly. "A snowball fight." was all he said.
Lily expected the professor to be confused by this – it was, in fact, the wrong season for snow – but instead he simply said to them, "Ah, always the creative ones."
Dumbledore's reactions to the ongoing dispute between the two groups never ceased to puzzle Lily, and she sensed that James was not quite in understanding either. The headmaster seemed almost supportive of their fighting. This came across as very absurd to the students; after all, in his authoritative position, it seemed more than likely that he should be trying to settle things between the students, instead of encouraging them. But even so, the Marauders and the Rogues appreciated his apparent enjoyment of their warfare, as it meant that they had one less reprimanding teacher on their backs. McGonagall alone was quite enough to cover that department.
"I must say I am very sorry to hear of what happened to your friend Miss Tain. It was most unfortunate. I have sent her my sympathies, and I do hope she likes Drooble's gum." the headmaster was looking at Lily as he said this, and she nodded at him in return.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "As you have probably guessed, I invited both of you here today to discuss your positions as Head Girl and Boy." his eyes were alight with something that Lily interpreted as excitement, and this disturbed her a little. Did this mean that he was anxiously awaiting the result of this strange pairing? "Have a sherbet lemon," he added, indicating a small bowl of yellow sweets in the middle of his desk. Lily took one, despite her suspicion that they were only a ploy to lighten the mood.
"I assume Professor McGonagall explained most of your duties while you were aboard the train?" the headmaster asked them, although his expression indicated that he already knew the answer. Lily nodded quickly, as did James. "Well, there are a few matters that I still must discuss with you."
He paused, taking a sherbet lemon from the bowl and putting it in his mouth. He savoured it for a moment, and then swallowed, picking up his speech where he left off. "To begin with, I must inform you that there will be several events that require planning on your part,"
"Events, Professor?" Lily asked. She was aware that as a head student, there would be organizing involved. But it interested her to find out exactly what sort of things – and how many, for that matter – they would be needing to plan. It also worried her that she might end up discussing some sort of ball, and this was something that she thought would be quite difficult with somebody like James.
"For instance," said Dumbledore with a smile. "We will be needed an event of sorts to entertain us on Halloween evening. Also, Professor McGonagall and I have discussed planning something new for Christmas time. The staff are getting a little tired of the same old feast, you see. We will, however, hand this brainstorm over to you when the time comes."
Lily shot a worried expression at James, who returned it.
"Also," Dumbledore continued. "We have decided that it would be in our best interest to allow each of you to plan your own special event to take place at some time this year." This intrigued Lily. She had never thought of planning something on her own before. A small smile unintentionally to her face; she and her friends could have a lot of fun with this.
Without warning, Dumbledore stood up. "Now," he said to them. "If you would both follow me, I must show you something."
They both got up as well, and when the professor walked towards the office door, they followed. He led them down the staircase, out into the corridors and up to the second floor. There, he halted in front of a tall double door. It had ornate designs carved into the wood and the brass knobs were glimmering in the dim light provided by the lanterns on the walls. But the doors themselves were not what sparked Lily's interest; it was the little white strip nailed to each one that caught her eye. Each had a few words printed neatly onto it in solid black ink – and it wasn't until Lily stepped a little closer that she read them properly. On the first was written: James Edward Potter – Head Boy, and on the second: Lily Nora Evans – Head Girl.
"The password is Extremo Otium," he said casually, and the door swung open at the words.
"Is this...?" Lily began, but her words were cut short when she glimpsed the scene in front of her.
"This, Miss Evans and Mr. Potter, is the Heads' Common Room."
Lily had heard previous Head students speak of this place, but no amount of talk could prepare her for what she saw. The room was enormous, with magnificent golden and scarlet decorations – no doubt set that way due to the Gryffindor house colours. The walls were a pale gold colour, and the light from the extravagant crystal chandelier above them reflected off of them, causing them to sparkle brilliantly. There was a roaring fire place down at one end of the room, and in proximity of that there was a long red couch and two matching armchairs, with a glass coffee table on a mat in front of these pieces of furniture. In the centre of the room, directly under the chandelier, stood a rectangular table that was a fair size. It had eight chairs around it – Lily knew at once that Dumbledore had predicted how much time their friends would be spending in here with them. At the other end of the room there were two desks, each with a lamp on one side and what looked like a small box of quills and ink on the other. And finally, at the end of the room opposite the fireplace, Lily could see two passageways leading up spiral staircases.
"You'll find your private dormitories through there," Dumbledore explained, pointing towards the doorways that Lily was gaping at. "You are not expected to stay in this room at all times, but if you would like to, or if you find that you need some quiet time, you are quite welcome to do so."
Neither Lily nor James said a single word. They were both too busy staring around at the stunning room. Dumbledore was quiet as well for a few moments, most likely allowing them time to absorb their surroundings and get over the shock. Finally the headmaster spoke.
"Please, stay as long as you like. Take a look around. After all, this room belongs to the two of you. Personally, I must return to my office. Have a splendid afternoon." With that, he walked off, his swift footsteps echoing quietly off the stone floor of the corridor.
"Wow," James said a moment later. "I knew they favoured the Head Boy and Girl here, but this is just... incredible."
"Yeah," Lily replied. She was still gazing in wonder at the room before her.
"Shall we look around?" James suggested.
Lily wasn't so sure how to respond. A little while earlier, she and James had been exchanging civil, comfortable conversation. But spending any more time with him would probably be pushing it. "I think I'm gonna go check out my dorm upstairs," she decided, and walked briskly through the room to climb the marble staircase.
"Suit yourself," James laughed. "But just so you know, there's a pile of Honeydukes things here. And if you leave me alone with all that sugar, there won't be any left by the time you get back."
"I'll survive," said Lily with an attempted smile. Then she turned around and continued on her way to the dormitory.
Lily's bedroom upstairs was just as immaculate as the area downstairs, but it had a more personal feel to it, Lily noticed. Against one wall of the octagonal room, there was a double four-poster bed with a smooth, green and white spread. The pillows were a darker forest green and the curtains were opaque. The rest of the room was fairly bare, except for a little table against one wall, a moderately sized closet and a door leading to the bathroom. The dormitory wasn't oversized, but it had the perfect amount of space for her and her friends, and this was all that Lily really cared about at the moment. She had a feeling that she would be spending a lot of time in the Heads' room – mostly because of the fact that she liked it so much – but she would prefer to spend her nights in the Gryffindor tour with the others. Living in close quarters with James at all hours would probably stir up problems, and as Lily was still not so sure about her attitude towards the boy, she figured it would be best not to spend too much time with him at this stage. Besides, what would her friends think if she was constantly living in the same room as the very same person she had hated with passion ever since first year?
The thought of this provoked other thoughts to enter Lily's head, and as she slumped down onto her new bed, she thought this over. It seemed as though she was getting a little ahead of herself. She didn't even know that James really wanted to be friends. For all she knew, he was probably just being polite. But on the other hand, the way he had acted in the hospital wing, comforting her until she had recovered from fainting, it had seemed... well, more than polite, anyway.
In a situation like this, there was only one way to end her confusion. She would have to talk to her friends about it. Satisfied with her decision, Lily stood up and walked back down the staircase. When she entered the common room, she was greeted with a: "Catch this!" from James, who was sitting one of the armchairs by the fire, sorting through what Lily assumed was the pile of items from Honeydukes he had mentioned before. Lily caught the small, pentagonal box that he tossed her, and took a look at it; it was a chocolate frog.
"Thanks," she said, smiling at him. He smiled back, but then turned around quickly and ran a hand through his messy hair. Lily blushed.
"I'm off to the hospital wing," Lily told him briskly. "I'll see you later."
"Bye," James turned around and waved just as she ran out the door. She smiled.
Outside, Lily closed the door and stopped, expelling the breath she had been holding in for quite some time. Shaking her head in attempt to bring herself back to reality, Lily hurried off down the corridor and didn't stop until she reached the hospital wing.
When she walked through the door, she could already tell that Regan was awake; her sarcastic voice was carrying across the entire room, and Madam Pomfrey was stomping towards her bed with an angry look on her face.
"What did that idiot think he was doing? I'm telling you, as soon as I get out of this place, I'm gonna drop a boulder on his head! How would he like that?"
"Be quiet, Miss Tain! You need to rest!" came Madam Pomfrey's sharp voice. Lily stifled a laugh. It seemed that Regan was already back to her normal self.
"Hey, it's Lils!" Hannah called out when Lily approached the bed. She and Regan had made themselves comfortable on the end of Regan's bed, sitting next to one another with their knees tucked up to their chests. Regan was in an awkward half lying down, half sitting up position, which Lily guessed was a compromise to please both herself and Madam Pomfrey.
"Where were you?" Regan said, folding her arms and took on an exaggeratedly pouty expression. "You left me all alone!"
"Hey!" Jamie burst out defensively. Hannah put on a tragic, wounded expression that was just as outrageous as Regan's; Regan gave a small laugh to indicate that she was kidding, and Hannah's face morphed back into a pleasant smile. The two of them collapsed into a fit of unexplained laughter.
"Dumbledore wanted to see James and me in his office," Lily told them, raising her eyebrows at them once they had pulled themselves together. "And then he showed us to the Heads' Common Room."
Jamie gave a gasp of delight before her face fell. Lily knew she still hadn't quite gotten over the fact that she had missed out on being Head Girl. Lily felt a little guilty at the disappointment this was causing her friend, but also reminded herself that Jamie was lucky to miss out on the demanding responsibilities that came with the role.
"I bet it's beautiful," Jamie said longingly. "You're so lucky, Lily."
"Hey, you guys are always welcome to come in there. In fact, I was thinking..." Lily smiled a mischievous smile at her friends, who seemed to interpret the message immediately.
"A Rogue sleepover!" Hannah squealed with excitement, leaping off the bed.
"Yes!" Jamie, too, jumped from the edge of the bed, rushing over to Lily and Hannah. Soon the girls found themselves with their arms around each other, jumping up and down girlishly like second years. They laughed in spite of themselves until Regan cut in.
"Thanks a lot for leaving me out!"
"Poor, crippled Regan," said Hannah, shaking her head.
"Don't you mean Regin?" Jamie started laughing uncontrollably before she even finished speaking. Hannah joined in, but Regan looked somewhere between hostile and disbelieving.
Confused, Lily wondered, "What on earth are you talking about?"
"She hasn't seen the card!" Hannah exclaimed, still hysterical.
"What card?" Lily's question didn't need answering, for Jamie, quick as a flash, had yanked from the table and placed into Lily's hands a small piece of paper folded in half that was a revolting shade of puce. With a gasp of delight and incredulity, she opened the card, and revealed a simple message scrawled in metallic, silver ink.
Dear Regin,
Sorry for hitting you with a rock.
From Pete.
Lily laughed out loud. Jamie and Hannah seemed to collapse into giggles in front of her, and even Regan couldn't stop a small laugh from escaping her mouth.
"Petey Pettigrew's in looooooove with you!" Hannah squealed, causing Jamie's laughter to elevate to a higher volume and pitch. Lily giggled, and Regan shook her head.
"He's a pathetic little wimp, did you know that?" Regan wasn't blushing at all, which told Lily that her words were very truthful. "That ratbag had better be careful, or he might just find his head stuffed inside my cauldron. When it's full."
"Did you ever think that maybe he has just a little crush on you?" Lily asked Regan, sitting down next to her. The girl snorted.
"Well he certainly has a problem with spelling," she said, artfully avoiding the topic. "What kind of freak can't spell Re-gan?"
"He did explain that Sirius put a jinx on his quill," Jamie reminded her.
"As if that's what really happened! He's just plain thick, that's all."
They laughed altogether. Then they were silent, and Lily had time to think once again. She contemplated her dilemma for a moment, weighing up her options. Then she made her decision; she would have to tell her friends about it – about James, and his newfound maturity, and her own possible (just possible) feelings for him – and what better time was there than now?
"Guys," she started, speaking slowly and quietly. "There's something I need to talk to you about."
"What's up, Lils?" Jamie turned her attention wholely to Lily. Hannah and Regan listened in as well.
"Well..." she couldn't quite find a logical way of putting it, and so it all came out in a hurried mess of words. "You know that - well, you don't really because... anyway, James – sorry, Potter - has been acting strangely since the beginning of the year. I suppose strange wouldn't really be the word to use but maybe just... mature. And he seems to be talking to me a lot more and... well..."
"Spit it out, Lily!" Regan urged. She was sitting bolt upright now – the other two perched on the very edge of the bed – and all three of them were looking at her with wide eyes and confused expressions.
"Okay... well, I think that maybe... no, I can't say it!" But the anxious looks on her friends' faces were enough to keep her going. "I think that maybe... I might like him."
The gasps that followed had been expected by Lily, but even so, they hit her hard when they arrived. At first she hid her face, but when she looked up, she could see that they were all looking at her as if she had just announced the end of the world as they knew it.
"Sorry," Lily hurried to say. "Okay, maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe it's not quite like that-"
"Don't apologize, Lily!" Jamie, apparently, was calmer than Lily had thought. "It's not your fault if you... well, have feelings for him."
"I know," Lily sighed. "But I thought that you four might not be happy with me. I mean, he is a Marauder, after all. And they've done a lot of nasty things to us in the past."
"Lily, we'll support you no matter what decisions you make." Hannah said soothingly, getting up to rub her friend's arm gently.
"Even if they're stupid ones." Regan added from where she sat.
"The point is, we're not going to go against you just because we have a grudge against some boys," Hannah went on.
"I think what's going on between us and the Marauders is a little more than a grudge," Lily laughed.
"Lily," Jamie said. "If you like James then go for it, I suppose. It's just that..."
"We want you to be careful," continued Hannah. "As you said, he is a Marauder, and they've been pretty nasty to us."
"He might just be trying to lead you on and lure you into one of their pranks," Regan warned. "It's impossible to tell, with them. Of course, most of the time they are being cruel, but you know..."
"That isn't helping, Regin," said Hannah with a short, whimsical laugh. When she turned back to Lily, her blonde curls bounced fluidly over her shoulder, and Lily could see a beautiful optimism that she had not seen in Hannah for some time, and couldn't help but smile. "Do you think he likes you back?"
"I don't know. I guess... maybe."
"Does his... maturity, or whatever... does it seem genuine to you?"
Lily paused, and let out a length sigh. "Yes, I think so."
"Then I believe your choice is clear." Hannah winked.
Lily sighed again. Jamie smiled encouragingly at her, and Regan looked at her with a friendly, scrutinizing expression on her face. Lily was incredibly relieved; it felt like huge weight off her shoulders now that she had spoken to the other Rogues about it. But even though she had their approval, she still wasn't sure what approach to take. She had never been the most confident of people, and this made situations like this very challenging for her. But the thing was, she never had been in a situation like this. It wasn't every day you realized you had feelings for your worst enemy – in the sane world, at least.
She wondered if maybe Regan's slightly pesimistic suspicions might hold some truth. A chill ran down her spine when she remembered their first day on the Hogwarts Express and James's apparent friendliness. What if this was just another situation like that one? It would be twice as infuriating and embarrassing if she fell for a trick like that again.
Regan interrupted her fretful thoughts, and for that, Lily was grateful.
"Quick," she said in a mere whisper. "While Madam Pomfrey's gone. I'm getting out of here."
"Regan! You can't just leave!" Jamie said incredulously.
"I hate this place!" the girl complained, pulling back the covers. "Besides, she already healed me! Why should I waste away in this place when we could be getting ready for our slumber party?"
They all giggled and turned towards the door when Regan got up to join them. Quietly, they hurried out of the room and closed the door behind them. Without slowing down, they ran down a few sets of stairs until they came to the ground floor of the castle. They stopped there, panting from their long run.
"Hannah and I will snag the food from the kitchens," Regan offered. "Do you two reckon you could get that old stereo Slughorn keeps in his storage cupboard?"
"No problem," Lily replied with a wink.
And with that, they were off. Jamie and Lily hurried off to get Slughorn's stereo, and the others were on their way to the kitchens. Lily smiled as she went, realizing that this was exactly what she needed to distract her from her thoughts – some quality time with her best friends, just the four of them, without a single distraction from the Marauders to complicate things. For the first time since she had arrived at school, Lily felt as though she might finally be able to forget her worries, even if their absence would only last one night.
Another cheesy ending. I know this chapter was a little bit all over the place, but I don't think my brain was working properly when I wrote it. Please leave me a review and tell me what you think.
I won't be able to write tomorrow, so don't expect an update until the day after, or possibly even the day after that. I'm not losing interest, I've just got things to do. Thanks for reading:)
