The Houses Competition

House: Gryffindor stand-in

Class: Muggle Studies

Category: Drabble

Prompt: [First line] That wasn't where she left it

Word Count: 986

Thanks to Ashes and Bailey for betaing!

That wasn't where she left it.

Lily could say that with absolute certainty, not even a trace of doubt left in her mind, because she remembered exactly where she'd put it. After all, it had taken multiple tries to find the perfect spot, and when she finally settled on the top of her wardrobe, it had been a pondered decision. To be fair, she'd given it a go—she'd first tried to settle it on her spare chair, at the bottom of her bed, in a corner of her desk, and even on the window seat.

Nothing had worked. The stuffed bunny was too creepy to keep in her line of sight, and up on the wardrobe it went.

Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.

Except that the plushie was no longer on her wardrobe.

No one had access to the Head Girl's suite except for her Head of House, so unless McGonagall had suddenly developed an interest in pranking, there was no reason the demonic thing should be on her bedside table.

Lily had noticed the stuffed bunny's relocation right away. She couldn't even relax in her own room because of the feeling of those beady eyes following her. She'd started fingering her wand, contemplating setting the plushie on fire or launching it out of the window with no regard to the fact that it had been a gift, when a cheery call broke the tension.

"You almost ready, Lily?" James asked from the common space of the Head Students' suite. "Dinner's started!"

Lily slid her wand back up her sleeve and, giving a wide berth to the stuffed animal on her bedside table, went to join James on the other side of the door.

Lily pinned her boyfriend to the spot with a look.

"There are more important things than dinner, James," she said. "The bunny moved."

James blinked.

"What?"

"You heard me perfectly well!" Lily snapped.

James looked dumbfounded, like he hadn't gifted her the creepiest bunny in the history of stuffed bunnies.

"The bunny… moved?"

James was saved from further putting his foot in it by the main door of their suite opening. Sirius waltzed in as if "private Head Students' suite" meant nothing to him.

"Bonsoir, Potters, how's it hanging?" he asked with a grin and a head toss.

James looked vaguely sheepish, but Lily knew he wouldn't correct his friend, so she rolled her eyes and proceeded to.

"For the last time, we're not married."

"Yet," Sirius pointed out. "You're not married yet, Lily-flower. I should know, I haven't been asked to be the best man yet."

Lily let it go with a huff. It wasn't worth it to argue with him when what he said was true—they would ask him to be the best man and godfather too. But that wasn't the point.

"I won't let your ridiculousness distract me. The matter is se—" she bit her lip and gracelessly changed course to avoid the tiredest joke in Gryffindor history. "It's no laughing matter," Lily settled on, then she turned towards James with a hand on her hip and a frown. "What kind of bunny did you give me?"

"Hey, didn't you say it was cute?!"

"We're not talking about my white lie," Lily corrected quickly to stave off James's indignation. "The problem isn't its creepy face anyway—but the fact that it moves on its own! And I know it's not enchanted to do that," she said, raising an eyebrow at James with an expectant air.

James paused to run his fingers through his thick, dark hair, making it even messier. He thought about it for a few seconds, but could only shake his head.

"I'm sorry, Lily-flower, I don't really know—"

"Aw, hell," Sirius interrupted, looking at James and Lily with a hangdog expression. "The shop where we got it from— I mean. There's a small possibility that the bunny's… haunted," he finally admitted with a small grimace.

Lily froze. She stood perfectly still as she integrated that piece of information about the plushie she had slept nearby for the past week. Then she turned to James and spat, "You gave me a haunted stuffed bunny?!"

"Sirius recommended it!" James cried with wide, panicked eyes.

"And you listened to him?" Lily asked, unimpressed.

"Ouch, Evans. That hurt. Right here," Sirius said, thumping his chest with a fist.

Lily glared at him, and Sirius raised his hands and took a step back, as if that'd protect him.

"Do you think you have any right to your usual histrionics after you've advised my boyfriend to give me a haunted bunny?"

Sirius mimed closing his mouth with a key.

"That's what I thought. Now, be useful and help us get rid of it."

"You sure I should be involved, Evans? James asking me for advice didn't work out too well."

"I'd ask Remus, but I'm sure he's too busy to pick up after you again," Lily said with the most saccharine voice she knew how to use.

Sirius grimaced.

"You're in a mood, Evans," he muttered.

Lily kept staring at him.

"Oh, alright," Sirius capitulated. "I know how to get rid of this, but you won't like it."

⎰⟆⟅⎱

Lily looked into the flames enveloping her favourite outfit, the one she'd worn when James had gifted her the plushie. She'd thought it'd be perfect to wear on their date, and now they were missing dinner to burn it along with James's robes, the haunted bunny, and a mix of herbs that Sirius swore would cleanse the plushie.

'You won't like it' should go down in history as one of the great euphemisms of their generation.

"Are you—"

"Do not ask me if I'm alright, James Potter. You better hope this works."

⎰⟆⟅⎱

That night, as she settled into bed, Lily thought that having an excuse to get rid of the creepy bunny had been worth the whole day's ordeal.