Disclaimer: I hate writing these; who reads 'em,
anyway? You do? *cough, cough* loser *cough, cough* Just kidding. Well,
if you don't know who MWPP and Lily belong to, then you shouldn't be reading
this. Also, the idea for the first bit of this story is kinda sorta taken from Ella
Enchanted. I know, I know, I should be tarred and feathered for not being
able to come up with my own ideas, but it was so perfect. If you have no
idea what I'm talking about, that's ok; I don't either.
It was the day before classes were to resume. James
and his friends had spent the entire holiday poring over all the
Transfiguration books, searching for scraps of information on Animagus
transformations. He was beginning to spend more time in the library than the
Ravenclaws, if that was humanly possible. He decided to take a break and have a
little fun by getting back at Lily Evans before she got him. It was his turn,
anyway, but who knew whether that damned red-head would play fair or not?
James was
sitting up in bed, reading a book from the ample light given off by his wand.
It was a book of curses that he and Sirius had managed to swipe from the
restricted section. They hadn't really used it yet, unless you counted the few
harmless pranks pulled on Severus Snape and his Slytherin posse. But now James
was scouring the pages looking for the perfect spell to cast on Lily while
Sirius across the room kept making random suggestions over Peter's snores.
"Sprouting another arm? Hmmm… nah, that's too cruel,
even for me," James said, slowly flipping through the pages.
"How about Spontaneous Hair Sprouting?" proposed
Sirius.
"Er, no," said James, "I don't want anything that
will gross me out too."
Growling with frustration, he kept flipping through
the book, nearly tearing the pages out. Suddenly, he stopped and looked at one
of the curses. An obedience charm! How perfect! Lily'd have to obey
every command issued to her, even embarrassing or hard ones. Even if the
teachers caught him, they'd probably love him for giving them a whole new
definition of teacher's pet.
James grinned gleefully as he carefully closed the
book and tucked it in its hiding place behind the nightstand. Remus, who had
been having trouble getting to sleep due to the slowly waxing moon, called out
softly, "Just don't be too hard on her, James. She's only a 1st
year, after all."
James snorted. Being a 1st year didn't
seem to stop Lily from pulling one on him whenever she could.
"Don't worry," Sirius assured Remus. "She's only getting
what she deserves."
'And then some,' James added silently.
***
Lily sat at the Gryffindor table, nibbling on her
toast and smiling. She was remembering the horrified look that had come over Petunia's
horsey face whenever Lily had done some magic trick in front of her over the
holidays. Not real magic, of course, just joke stuff that Lily had picked up at
Dervish and Bang's just for the occasion. Suddenly, she felt a sharp tingly
feeling at the base of her spine. She rubbed the spot and the feeling went
away. She glanced over at James suspiciously, but he wasn't looking at her.
Shrugging, she went back to eating her breakfast.
She was half listening to a 7th year girl
named Kay moan about how she hadn't finished her Potions essay. Lily started to
say that she probably wouldn't have had any trouble finishing her essay had she
not spent all her free time chasing after boys, but stopped just in time. She was
only a 1st year after all, and she had heard disturbing stories
about what the upperclassmen would do to impertinent 1st years.
Unfortunately, Kay had sharp ears and overheard Lily's first words.
"What did you say?" asked Kay, arching her
pencil-thin eyebrows.
"Um, nothing," said Lily quickly.
"Tell me," ordered Kay.
Strangely, Lily found herself unable to stop herself. "I said, you probably wouldn't have any trouble finishing your essay if you hadn't wasted all your time chasing after guys," she said, then clamped her hand over her mouth in horror. Beside her, Kyla began to giggle.
Kay turned red and started to stand up. "You'd better watch it, little girl," she said slowly. "I'll let you off this time, because you're only a pathetic little 1st year, but if I catch you saying anything like that again, you're going to be getting to know Madam Pomfrey really well."
"I-I'm sorry," Lily managed to squeak, but Kay had already left.
"Why'd you say that?" asked Kyla, half admiringly and half nervously.
"I don't know," said Lily honestly. "I just couldn't help myself."
It was like that for all of her morning classes. Lily found herself unable to stop herself from obeying any and every order issued to her. Thankfully, the stupid Slytherins didn't notice and didn't order her to do anything too drastic. Lily, of course, knew what was happening, and who'd done it, but she didn't know how long it would last. She shuddered to think what Snape would do if he learned of her predicament.
During lunch, as she and Celeste were walking to the Gryffindor table with loaded trays, another tingly feeling penetrated her spine. This time, when she looked over, James was looking at her with a smirk on his lips. She glared at him as he mouthed, "Gotcha."
She felt somebody else looking at her and saw at Kay at the other end of the Gryffindor table, glowering at her.
"Great," Lily muttered. "I now have a nearly fully trained witch for an enemy."
"Not to mention, she's twice your size both vertically and horizontally," remarked Celeste. Lily giggled, then sobered up. She hoped that the second tingly feeling meant that the curse was wearing off.
Sure enough, when a 3rd year Lily didn't know unknowingly ordered her to pass the juice, she was able to refuse, beaming widely. She breathed a sigh of relief, ignoring the 3rd year who called her a little brat to his friends.
***
Sirius, however, was rather disappointed.
"You only cursed her for half a day?" he asked, incredulously. They were back in the library, doing what they always did in their spare time after they finished eating. "Please don't tell me you're losing your touch. All this time being surrounded by books must have made you gone soft."
"Shut up," snapped James, irritated. "Half a day was enough."
"I thought you really hated her," Peter piped up.
"I do!" yelled James quickly, too quickly. That wasn't entirely true. He didn't have a crush on her, (oh, hell no!) but he did admire her just the tiniest, most miniscule bit for being the only girl in the school who was willing to retaliate instead of tattling on him every time he played a prank. He grabbed a book and started thumbing through it. He wasn't even reading, just trying to hide his furiously red face. His friends wisely decided not to say any more, though they exchanged grins when James wasn't looking.
***
"I don't see what you're grinning about," said Celeste, surprised. "If I had an bowling ball like Kay for an enemy, I'd be running for cover."
Lily giggled. "Don't worry about it," she told her friend. "This is the one time where 'Elephants never forget' isn't true. I reckon Kay's memory is worse than Peter Pettigrew's, and he's famous for forgetting his own name once a month. But anyway, I need you to help me…"
Lily glanced around to make sure nobody else was listening, then illustrated her plan to get back at James to Celeste. By the time Lily finished, Celeste was grinning too.
"Oh, I wish I could see the look on his face…" Celeste said a bit loudly.
"Shush," scolded Lily. "It hasn't happened yet, and who knows how it'll turn out? Just help me learn the charm and we'll see what happens."
***
James and his friends were just about to enter the Transfigurations classroom when a pretty girl with a huge smile plastered on her face bumped into him. He didn't know who she was, but apparently she knew him.
"James Potter!" she cried dramatically, "What a surprise to run into you here."
He recognized her now. One of Lily's friends; a 1st year, most likely. Calista or something.
"Er, I go to school here," he said.
"So you do," she said. She seemed to be struggling to make small talk. "You, um, you're on the quidditch team, aren't you? Seeker, right?" As she said this, she was looking around wildly, as if trying to find something or someone.
"Um, yeah," he said suspiciously. His friends had entered the classroom without him and he knew he had to join them soon or McGonagall would have his head.
"Listen, um, Calis--"
"Celeste," she corrected him.
"Oh, yeah, um, Celeste. I kind of have to go--"
He stopped abruptly as a burning feeling penetrated his throat but quickly disappeared. He rubbed his neck, surprised, but Celeste grinned at him and sprinted off, giving him only a hasty "See ya."
Shaking his head, he entered the Transfiguration classroom.
***
Celeste ran straight to Lily, who was hiding behind the corner.
"Did it work?" Lily asked in a hushed tone.
"I'm not sure, but I think it did. It should work. Muris Vocis isn't a complicated charm, and you're good at charms anyway," whispered Celeste.
Chuckling, they walked outside to the greenhouses for Herbology.
***
Meanwhile, James was finding himself in a very serious predicament. Any small feelings of admiration he might have had for a certain red-head had utterly vanished, along with his voice.
Normally very pleasant sounding, his voice now sounded very much like tiny Professor Flitwick's, which was not good, especially for a young teenage male. He sat there, ignoring his friends' suppressed chortles, dreaming up exotic curses to use on that little twerp, and praying like hell that the professor wouldn't call on him. Unfortunately…
"Mr. Potter, what is the incantation used to turn a mouse into a ball of cotton?" came Professor McGonagall's voice.
James shot a desperate look at Sirius, who only shrugged and snickered. James glared at him, then whispered hesitantly, "Um, I don't know?" Several people around him giggled.
"What was that?" asked McGonagall sharply.
"I don't know!" James squeaked furiously, trying vainly to make his voice as normal-sounding as possible. At this, the entire class broke out in titters. James felt his face going very red. He knew the spell, of course, but he didn't think his voice could handle it.
Professor McGonagall looked at him with a pitying look. James knew that she assumed his voice was only going through natural changes. So, thankfully, she was gentle with him.
"I'm surprised at you, Mr. Potter. Transfiguration is your best subject! And exams are only a few weeks away! But, I guess, nobody can know everything. Just pay attention next time!"
James nodded miserably. Professor McGonagall didn't call on him again during the entire class, but the damage was already done. Snape would hear about this soon enough, and he'd have to deal with him, but first, Lily was going down!