For The Crownless Queen's prompt (JamesLily with the prompt: Mutant!AU) at the Trick or Threat Thread in the forum The Golden Snitch.
Also for the Quidditch Pitch in Harry Potter's World. Prompts: Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Invisible Burns (HP/X-Men)
Lily Evans knew that this would be a good day as soon as she woke up. There was no sound of an alarm clock ringing, just a couple of sun rays warming her face. She opened her eyes and sat up, stretching her arms as she did so.
Just for a second, she was puzzled by her surroundings. Lily didn't recognize the fancy, wooden desk or the soft sheets, and the smell of apples that came from the window was oddly perplexing.
Then she remembered.
People had always told her that her hair made it seem like her head was on fire.
Barely a week ago—even if it felt life before had been in another century—that had become literal.
She had been enjoying a day at the mall with her friends when some asshole—she did not know his name—had decided that insulting Dorcas was a great idea. Lily had always hated it when someone judged other people based on a single characteristic—in this case the colour of her friend's skin—so she had seen red.
And so had everyone else, apparently. They all had stared at her, mouths agape and eyeballs threatening to leave their socks.
It was an understandable reaction, she supposed, since her hair had been on fire.
This single event had changed her entire life. News travelled fast in small towns like hers, so wherever she went, she was met my judgmental stares and shrieks of terror.
Then, the Professor and Mr. Summers had visited her home and offered her a place in this school. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters—or 'Mutant High' as the students were apparently calling it.
They had been godsent; Lily didn't think she could have last much longer, as even her closest friends and family seemed to have forgotten she was still human, still Lily.
She sighed. It was pointless to think of it now that she had started her new life here, at Mutant High.
As she got ready for the day, Lily decided that she would read the next few chapters of her book and that the spot under the apple tree in front of her window was the perfect place to do so. It seemed like it would manage to distract her adequately. Additionally, it was Saturday, so it wasn't like she had anything better to do.
Taking her book, she left her room, humming to the tune of a song she could not remember the name of.
Lily turned around the corner that she was pretty sure was the fastest way outside and instantly crashed into someone or something. She managed to stay on her feet, but as she scanned the hallway, there was nothing to be seen.
She could only gape when a thin boy roughly her age appeared a couple of feet in front of her, grinning sheepishly. He ran his hand through his dark hair. "Oh my God, I'm sorry! I sort of forgot I was invisible."
"It's okay. After this week, I should start to expect something like this happening."
"You're new then? That's good, because I was seriously wondering how on earth I missed you so far. I'm James Potter by the way."
When she took the hand he offered her, the contrast between his amber one and her rosy pale one were easily spotted. Lily noticed, that his fingertips seemed several shades lighter than the rest, almost as if they weren't quite there.
"I'm Lily. Lily Evans."
"Well, Miss Evans, may I give you the grand tour then?" James grinned and there was a mischievous gleam in his eye.
"Thank you for your offer, but Mr. Summers has already done that," Lily informed him.
"I figure it can't hurt to see it twice. And I bet Cyclops never introduced you to some of the places my friends and I discovered." James offered her his arm.
He had a point; she wasn't nearly as familiar with the layout of the mansion as she would like to be. Being shown the way around a second time certainly wouldn't hurt her and James seemed nice enough.
"Lead the way then," she replied, taking his arm after just a second of consideration.
James' tour was very different. He constantly made jokes, showed her both the shortest and the most beautiful way to her classes, and showed her all the hidden walls and entrances he and his friends had managed to find so far.
"You see, even though everyone pretends it's a secret, everybody knows that the headquarters for the X-Men—I'm sure you've heard of them—are built below this school. To my knowledge, my friends and I are the only ones who try to find all those hidden entrances instead of waiting to be shown. It's actually quite easy if you consider that Remus has heightened senses, Peter—not to be confused with Pitor— in an empath, Sirius is a telepath, and I can walk around without being seen or heard. So far, we've found twenty five entrances—twenty six if you count the one in the basketball field—but we're reasonably certain that we found two quarters at most." James explained at one point, waving his arms in a rather ridiculous fashion.
Lily chuckled. "Sounds like the four of you had a lot of fun doing that."
"Oh, we did. You can be sure of that, Lily. Since I told you all about me, would you mind me asking what you can do? Because it's totally cool if you don't answer."
"I don't know. Really," she added when he raised an eyebrow. "All I know is that last week my hair started burning when I got angry. I don't know if there's anything else, if I can learn to control it or if I should just avoid racist assholes in the future."
James slung an arm around her shoulders. "Lily, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."
Lily laughed. "Way to be cliché."
"Well, it's the truth, no point in lying about it." James chuckled.
"You're not wrong."
Further plans: None so far.
Requirements if adopted: None.
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~Marvelgeek42
