Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters, places, and ideas belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers, not me.
by Auror5
Lily and her father slowly strolled toward Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley. They had just finished purchasing textbooks for Lily. Zinnia was unable to accompany them for Petunia had taken ill.
It must be my imagination, Lily thought. She noticed that some of the wizards and witches were behaving a bit hostile towards her and her father. The atmosphere in Diagon Alley seemed less friendly to her than last year or the year before.
"Bloody Muggles," muttered an evil appearing wizard as he approached Lily and Wesley. Once he reached them, he spat on the ground next to Wesley. His shoe was splattered with slime.
"Who the bloody hell do you think you are?" yelled Wesley.
"Dad. Dad, let's go. Forget him." Alarmed by the cold malice seen in the wizard's face, Lily pulled on her father's arm.
"Listen to your little Mudblood, expletive," sneered the wizard.
"Who the bloody hell are you calling an expletive, pond scum?" Wesley got right up in the wizard's face.
"Dad, NO!"
Too late, the wizard yanked out his wand and pointed it at Wesley.
Without thinking and before the wizard could utter a curse, Lily whipped out her wand and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
The wizard was thrown backward onto the sidewalk. His wand flew toward Lily, which she deftly caught while keeping her wand pointed at him.
He leapt up from the ground with a murderous expression on his face, and growled, "Give me my wand, you little bitch."
Wesley slammed his fist into the wizard's mouth, and a scuffle immediately ensued with Lily shouting, "LEAVE ME DAD ALONE! HIT HIM, DAD!"
Shortly afterwards, several wizards rushed onto the scene. Lily glanced around and saw James, Sirius, and Remus flanking her with their wands out. James' father and another man were attempting to separate Wesley from the hostile wizard. Finally, they succeeded in pulling them apart. Lily noticed that her father's nose was bleeding and he had a black eye. The hostile wizard bled from the mouth and nose, and had a large swelling on his jaw.
"Let go of me, Potter," the wizard snarled.
"Not until you have convinced me that you will go on your merry way after I let you go, Mulciber," replied James' father.
"I'll leave when my wand is returned," Mulciber sneered.
"Who has his wand?" said Mr. Potter.
"I do," replied Lily.
"Here, give it to me."
Lily, with a brief hesitation, handed the wand over to Mr. Potter.
"Here! Now leave us!"
"You're going to come to a sticky end, Potter. You mark my words," Mulciber glared contemptuously at Mr. Potter, and then sauntered off.
Mr. Potter briefly stared at Mulciber's receding back, and then turned to Wesley.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Wesley mumbled while wiping blood from his face.
"Dad, I can fix you. Here." Lily pointed her wand at his face, and said, "Evanesco." The bruises disappeared from his face.
"Thanks, sweetheart." Wesley held up a handkerchief to his bleeding nose.
"Why don't we walk over to Florean Fortescue's to, er, cool off?" Mr. Potter suggested.
"All right. My daughter and I were already heading in that direction when the village idiot appeared."
"By the way, I'm Edward John Potter. This is my son, James Godric, and his friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin."
"Pleased to make all of your acquaintances." Wesley shook their hands. "I'm Wesley Evans, and this is my daughter, Lily."
"How do you do, Lily? It's so very nice to meet you." James curtsied before her.
"Yes, it's nice to meet a fair lady once in a while." Sirius bowed.
"Oh, quit it," Lily replied with a half smile on her face. She noticed "Merlin" was still etched on their foreheads.
Once inside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, Lily and the boys found a booth to sit in. Wesley and Edward occupied one just behind them. Florean Fortescue came by a moment later to take their orders, and shortly afterwards, the ice creams arrived. Lily ordered a strawberry soda with scoops of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. It was topped with a plump strawberry, a sprinkling of nuts, and loads of whipped cream.
"Lily, which lesson did you sign up for?" James inquired while licking ice cream from a spoon.
"Muggle Studies."
"Muggle Studies? Why? Aren't your parents Muggles?"
"Yes, but Fiona and Samantha begged me to sign up for the lesson with them. So, I did. It should be really easy for me since I know everything about Muggles. Also, I think it would be interesting to know how much the magical world knows about Muggles."
"Not much," Remus put in.
"Are any of you taking Muggle Studies?" Lily sipped some of her soda.
"No," all three boys responded at once.
"We signed up for Divination," Sirius stated.
"Oh."
"Lily, watch this." James levitated three scoops of his strawberry ice cream, and then placed a green straw underneath them. "Voila! A flower!"
Lily shook her head, and ate more of her ice cream.
"Oh, I can do better than that. Lily, look." Sirius levitated two scoops of his vanilla ice cream, and then placed a banana below them. "See? A smiling face!"
"You two are so silly."
"Silly, eh?" James remarked with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Aye, very silly. You two are the silliest boys I've ever known in my entire life."
"Good. I'm glad." James grinned at her.
"Tell her about Crabbe and Goyle," Remus interjected while licking chocolate fudge from a spoon.
"Who are they?"
"Just some stupid Slytherin sixth years. No, they are, erm, seventh years now, I think," replied Sirius.
"Not if they didn't pass their sixth year. Crabbe and Goyle are these big, stupid, ugly, hairy, Slytherin oafs. You haven't seen them around Hogwarts? You can't miss them!" James exclaimed.
Lily thought for a moment. "Nooo, I don't think so. I guess I've never noticed them."
"Well, they are morons. Instead of speaking like normal people, they grunt like trolls. In fact, they even look like trolls," added Sirius.
"Yeah, and I bet they grunt like pigs when they eat," said Remus.
"Like this?" James placed his face into his bowl of ice cream, and then began snuffling and snorting it up. "Ice cream good," he grunted with ice cream dripping from his face and glasses.
Lily giggled.
"Want try some, too." Sirius put his face into his bowl of ice cream and started slopping it up and grunting.
Lily giggled a little louder, for both James and Sirius were slurping up their ice cream.
"More," Remus grunted, and plopped his face into his ice cream. He began snuffling it up while oinking like a pig.
Lily doubled up with laughter.
The boys continued snorting, slopping, and slurping up their ice cream. Very soon, they attracted the attention of the other patrons in the parlour, who eyed them as though they were lunatics. Lily nearly screamed with laughter.
"What the hell are you boys doing?" yelled Edward Potter.
James, Sirius, and Remus looked up with ice cream dripping from their faces.
"Look at you three! Embarrassing the hell out of me in public. Every time I take you out, James, you see fit to make a bloody fool of yourself. Now, clean that mess off your faces and stop showing off!" He glared at them briefly, and then swung back around.
Lily caught an expression of amusement on her father's face.
James softly oinked. Lily, Remus, and Sirius doubled up with silent laughter.
***
The students arrived at Hogwarts without any unusual incidents occurring on the Hogwarts Express. After the sorting and the introduction of the Prefects and Head Boy and Girl, Professor Dumbledore made a brief announcement.
"It would seem that some of the scuffles between houses that started last year continued into the summer holidays. As you are aware, magic is only permitted outside of school in cases of self-defence and for practicing lessons. It seems that several of you, during the summer, have used magic for aggressive acts. I will see those individuals to discuss their detentions after the feast.
"A reminder: the Forbidden Forest and the Whomping Willow are forbidden.
"Cielo! Arthur! Osiris!"
***
Nearly a month elapsed since the start of the term. Lily and the rest of the Gryffindors sorely missed Professor Sandolini, especially after meeting Professor Kettleburn, who had returned as the regular professor of Care of Magical Creatures. He was totally bald and a bit on the grumpy side. He also had a knack for angering or annoying the creatures in his care.
Lily thoroughly enjoyed Muggle Studies because she found it rather entertaining. Since she knew so much about Muggles, Professor Arkayika occasionally asked her to assist with teaching the lessons.
One day, in early October, Professor Kettleburn surprised the students with a centaur. Lily thought the centaur, with his black, shiny hair and vivid, emerald green eyes, was handsome.
"Students, this is Raven. He is visiting us from the Forbidden Forest. Now, conversing with centaurs can be annoying for they have an irritating habit of speaking in riddles or in abstract terms."
Raven glared at Professor Kettleburn.
"Centaurs have a tendency to spend much of their time searching the heavens for dubious messages. Sometimes, they spend so much time trying to explore the hidden meanings in the stars that they forget they are on earth. As a result, they become completely out of touch with reality."
Lily observed that Raven appeared angry, and was staring at Professor Kettleburn with an ominous glint in his eyes.
"Now, let's see what Raven has to tell us. Raven?"
"You are the most unwise human I have ever encountered," Raven responded.
Some of the students laughed.
"Ah, well, let's forget about that, shall we? D'you have anything worthwhile to share with us?"
Raven gazed into the sky for a moment. "Jupiter will be in conjunction with Saturn."
"See? What did I tell you? Can anyone interpret what Raven has just shared with us?"
Raven reared up on his hind legs. "You bloody fool!"
"Now, now, let's not start with the name-calling. Just tell us what you mean by this astronomy nonsense."
"You are a fool! Why can't you see the signs before you? There are those whose fate is death!"
"Well, we will all die someday. As much as one may like to, no one can live forever," Professor Kettleburn chuckled.
"Idiot! When the planets align, there will be much death! Some will not come of age. Don't take this lightly!"
The students nervously whispered amongst themselves.
"Come now, Raven, it is not necessary for you to frighten my students."
"When the planets align on a day when the snow falls out of turn, death will come on the heels of a bitter wind to claim a maiden."
The students were silenced with fear.
"Oh, come now, you are terrifying my students, especially the young witches. Let's stop this nonsense. They are safe at Hogwarts."
Raven reared up on his hind legs again. "I will not waste more of my time discussing matters of life and death with a bumbling idiot such as yourself!" With that, he turned and galloped into the forest. He quickly disappeared from view.
"Now, now, just ignore what he said. I assure you, none of you are going to die anytime soon. Why don't we see how the floaches are coming along, eh?"
The students slowly and reluctantly walked toward a shed near the lake.
"Raven said that one of us is going to die," Ivy said in a low voice.
"Well, it's not going to be any of us! Besides, that was just pure rubbish. What do centaurs know? They aren't even human!" Azusa Kernville scathingly retorted behind them.
Fiona turned around and glared at Azusa. "What makes you so sure it was rubbish, Azusa? What if Raven is right, and one of us dies?"
"If it's true, McKinnon, you can bet your skinny little self that it will not be one of us Slytherins." Azusa stared at Fiona with contempt.
"Yeah, that's because none of you are maidens, just a bunch of hags," Lily blurted out.
"I'd rather be a hag than DEAD!" screamed Azusa.
"What if you are killed, Azusa? Then you would be a DEAD HAG!" Fiona yelled back.
Tara Yolke shouted, "Why don't you two leave Azusa alone? You're just jealous of her!"
Remus snorted. "Why would they be jealous of her? Gryffindor has the prettiest girls in our year."
"Butt out, Lupin," Pertinax Avery threatened.
Remus pulled out his wand. "Make me."
Avery yanked out his wand.
They glared at each other briefly, and then Remus shouted, "Papulae" at the same time as Avery screamed, "Vertigo."
"What's going on here?" Professor Kettleburn saw Remus stumbling around as though he had just hopped off a fast-moving carousel. A bad case of acne was erupting on Avery's face.
"Finite Incantatem.
"That will be twenty points from the each of your houses. Mr. Avery, you can see Madam Pomfrey about your face after the lesson ends. Come, the floaches need feeding," grumbled Professor Kettleburn.
James muttered, "Let's feed them a few Slytherins."
Lily absolutely hated working with the floaches: a nightmarish cross between a housefly and a cockroach, and about the size of a large rat. They were exceedingly repulsive creatures with voracious appetites.
Almost to the door of the shed, in which the floaches were housed, Lily overheard Evan Rosier telling Azusa and Avery that he would report the incident to Professor Konrad, so there was no need for them to worry about the lost points. Lily wondered what he meant by that.
***
In mid-October, Professor Arkayika announced in Muggle Studies that Professor Dumbledore approved of their request to have a costume party in conjunction with the Halloween feast. The students clapped and cheered upon hearing the news. At the Halloween Costume Party, they would have the opportunity to vote for the ten best costumes. Later that day, during dinner, Dumbledore announced the Halloween party to the entire school.
On Halloween, after lessons ended for the day, Lily and the girls were in their room frantically working on last minute details. Lily, dressed as a black cat, was trying to get her whiskers on properly while Snowball eyed her disdainfully. Finally, she put them on correctly. She smiled at Fiona and the rest of the girls. Fiona was dressed as a banshee; Daisy, medusa; Ivy, a wood sprite; and Samantha, a near-sighted mummy.
"Lily, you really look like a cat, especially with your green eyes." Daisy appraised her admiringly.
"Meow," Lily responded, and giggled.
Snowball stretched and yawned.
"Let's go, shall we?" Samantha suggested in a muffled voice while grabbing her camera.
When they entered the Great Hall, they saw scores of students dressed as mummies, zombies, werewolves, banshees, vampires, trolls, goblins, bats, owls, mermaids, demons, and pumpkins. Some wore costumes resembling some of the creatures they had studied either in Defence Against the Dark Arts or Care of Magical Creatures such as unicorns, hinkypunks, floaches, grindylows, and centaurs. Lily, Fiona, Daisy, Samantha, and Ivy slowly made their way over to Gryffindor's table.
"Hi, Lily."
"Oh, hullo. Erm, nice costume."
Severus was dressed as a vampire. Rosier, standing beside him, wore a demon costume.
"Thanks. You make a nice cat, but watch out for vampires," Severus responded.
"Cats don't have to worry about vampires, silly."
"They should."
Severus and Rosier walked off smirking.
"What did he mean by that?" Ivy said.
Lily shrugged. "I don't know."
Just then, the lights in the hall flickered and dimmed, and they heard several screams.
"What's going on? Why is it suddenly cold in here?" Daisy said in a low voice.
"Blimey, dementors! Look!"
They turned in the direction in which Ivy was pointing, and observed two tall figures, wearing black cloaks and hoods that hid their faces, gliding into the hall.
"Those can't be real dementors. Some of the professors are laughing!" Samantha exclaimed.
"What's a dementor?" said Lily.
"You don't know what a dementor is?" Daisy said, incredulously.
"No."
"They guard Azkaban, and they love darkness and despair. When they enter a room, joy and happiness are destroyed, and each person is left with sad thoughts and memories," responded Ivy.
"Aye, and sometimes, they will steal your soul with a kiss," Fiona added.
"Why, that's terrible! What is Azkaban? Some kind of prison?"
"Yes. It's an awful place on an island in the middle of the North Sea. My dad said that after a time the prisoners in Azkaban commit suicide."
They noticed that the individuals in dementor costumes were gliding their way.
"I wonder who they are," Lily said.
The "dementors" reached them as they were sitting down at the table.
"Hello, Miss Cat, Mummy, Medusa, Banshee, and Wood Sprite. Have any happy memories or thoughts you would like to give away?"
"I should have known it would be you two!" Lily gazed at James and Sirius with admiration. "I like your costumes, though. They are so cool!"
"Thank you. We like yours, too. Don't we, James?"
"Aye, we do, a lot."
Lily blushed. "Thanks."
"So, how did you do it?" Fiona said.
"Do what?" James responded.
"You know, dim the lights and make it get cold in here," replied Samantha.
"We're not going to tell you," said Sirius.
"Oh, come on, pleeeeease?" begged Daisy.
"No. It's a secret," James said.
"We're not going to tell anyone. We promise!" Lily exclaimed.
"Erm, we'll think about it," replied James.
As they glided away, they heard Sirius say, "Let's find Peter, the rat. It's too bad Remus couldn't be here."
The girls watched everyone parade around in their costumes. At some point, except for a few whistles, hoots, and catcalls, silence descended on the hall. Near the door were three fifth year girls wearing black leather micro minis, sandals with three-inch heels, halters in gaudy colours, obviously fake mink stoles, and a ton of makeup and jewellery. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall rose from their chairs and moved briskly toward the girls while frowning and shaking their heads.
"What is the meaning of this? You girls ought to be ashamed of yourselves!" said Professor McGonagall.
One of the girls replied, "Why? What's wrong with our costumes?"
"Oxford, I cannot believe you asked such an idiotic question!" McGonagall retorted.
"Girls, your costumes are inappropriate," said Dumbledore softly. "You must leave and find something more suitable to wear."
"But why, Professor? We are dressed as Muggles. This is how Muggle women dress."
"WHAT? And where, pray tell me, did you get that information, Carpenter?"
"We saw them, Professor. Muggle ladies dressed like we are."
"Exactly where did you see these women?" Professor Dumbledore quietly inquired.
"They were in London. We saw a bunch of them entering and leaving this house dressed as we are. They were quite popular, and had heaps of boyfriends."
Professor McGonagall gazed at them with an astounded expression on her face, and then sighed. "Girls, follow me." She escorted them out of the hall. Several older boys booed.
Once everyone was seated, the feast began with real bats swooping high above. The food was delicious. While they ate, Dumbledore waved his wand, and spooky, but upbeat, music began playing in the background. After puddings, everyone voted for the best costumes. Lily voted for James, Sirius, Fiona, Daisy, Ivy, and Samantha. The votes were collected and placed into the Sorting Hat. Lily was surprised that the Sorting Hat was being used for counting.
"In a moment, we will find out the ten who were voted as having the best costumes. When I call your name, come to the front of the hall. Please withhold your applause until all ten names have been called. Ah! The moment has arrived!"
The Sorting Hat started spitting out pieces of parchment.
"Leticia King of Slytherin, James Potter of Gryffindor, Daisy Craven of Gryffindor..."
Daisy rose from her chair with a shocked expression on her face. Lily, Fiona, Ivy, and Samantha smiled at her.
"Sirius Black of Gryffindor, Lily Evans of Gryffindor..."
Lily gasped, and nervously walked to the front of the hall while feeling self-conscious She stood next to Daisy.
"Samuel Chapin of Hufflepuff, Gary Packard of Ravenclaw, Dahlia Mackey of Slytherin, George Fawcett of Ravenclaw, and Matthew Stebbins of Hufflepuff."
Once the applause died down, Dumbledore said, "Congratulations to the each of you. Your costumes are quite creative and imaginative, of which your fellow students agree. Your prize is two free passes to Fantasia Realm Amusement Park in Hogsmeade. Again, congratulations!"
The Hall erupted with cheers as Professor Dumbledore shook the winners' hands and gave them their prize.
***
On a very stormy Saturday afternoon in mid-November, Lily, Fiona, and Samantha were in the common room playing Exploding Snap. They were disappointed with the weather, for they would rather be in Hogsmeade drinking butterbeer and eating Honeyduke's sweets. The week before, they had a great time at Fantasia Realm Amusement Park.
"Erm, hullo."
The girls looked up to see Remus, James, and Sirius staring down at them.
"What do you want?" Fiona said, scornfully.
"Why, do you have a problem with our presence, Miss Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum?"
"Oh, shut your gob, Sirius."
Lily shook her head. Lately, Fiona had been getting into battles with James and Sirius, Sirius in particular.
"Actually, James and Sirius would like to know if you three would like to play a game with us," Remus stated.
"What game?" Lily said.
"Wizard Trivia," responded James.
"Oh. Erm, all right. I guess." Lily looked at Fiona and Samantha, and then shrugged.
"Are you sure you want to play, Lily?" Fiona said with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
"Well, yes. All we have to do is answer some questions, right?"
"Yes, just answer some questions. That's all," Remus responded with a devilish expression on his face.
Lily glanced at the boys, and at Fiona and Samantha. She observed that all wore expressions of mischief. Lily eyed them suspiciously.
"James, is this one of your silly pranks?"
"No, not at all," he smirked. "See?" He showed her the rectangular shaped box he held. Lily saw the words "Wizard Trivia" written on the top.
"You've never played Wizard Trivia before, have you?" Samantha said.
"No."
"It's heaps of fun. You're going to like it. Come, let's go," ordered Remus.
"Where are we going?" Lily said.
"Erm, to an empty classroom," Sirius replied.
"Why can't we stay here?"
"This isn't a good place for it. It's better to play it somewhere else," answered Fiona.
"I think all of you are up to something."
"No, we aren't. You'll like it. Really," said Samantha.
"Oh, all right." Lily reluctantly followed them out of the common room.
They eventually entered a room in a corridor on the second floor.
"Are you sure this is all right?" Lily said.
"Yes. No one is going come in today. It's Saturday," replied James.
"Let's sit here on this rug," Sirius directed.
They all sat down.
"Er, Lily, you can't sit next to Miss Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum," Sirius stated.
Fiona glared at him.
"Why?" said Lily.
"Rules of the game. Swap places with Remus," he ordered.
"Oh, all right!" Lily squeezed in between Remus and Sirius.
"For Lily, I will explain the game. If you answer a question incorrectly, you will briefly change into some creature. If you answer a question correctly, you will move the number of spaces it says on the card. If you get this card..." Sirius showed them a card featuring a hag with large, ruby-red lips and an arrow pointing left. "You must kiss the person on your left."
"WHAT?" Lily said. "I'm not kissing anyone!"
"Oh, come on, Lily! It's loads of fun," Fiona exclaimed.
Lily glared at her.
"Please, Lily? It's not like you're going to get the card every time," added Samantha.
Lily narrowed her eyes at them.
"Please?" Remus begged.
"Oh, all right!" Lily glowered at them.
"Continuing on, if the arrow points to the right, then you must kiss the person on your right. If you get this card..." Sirius held up a card that had a picture of a vampire with ridiculously large, ruby-red lips on it. "You can choose whomever you want to kiss. The room next door, on the left, is the, erm, kissing room."
Lily rolled her eyes.
"The winner is the first person to get here." Sirius pointed to an image of a white tower at one corner of the board.
"Let the game begin," James proclaimed in a mock deep voice.
Lily shook her head, and wondered why she allowed them to convince her to play the silly game.
"Remus, you're first," said Sirius.
Remus selected a card and read the question. He answered it aloud. Above the circle, green smoke appeared and formed the word, "Correct." They continued on with the game. Fiona was the first person to answer a question incorrectly. What happened when someone missed a question thoroughly shocked Lily. No smoke appeared; the player simply turned into a creature. In Fiona's case, she transformed into a gargoyle for a few seconds. They all shouted and backed away from her. The game resumed. Samantha turned into a flobberworm and Remus, a mermaid.
About forty-five minutes into the game, Lily conceded that it was much fun after all. Then she picked up a card with a hag on it, and an arrow pointing left. Sirius was seated to her left.
"Must I?" she said.
"Yes!" they chorused with grins on their faces.
Smiling, Sirius stood. "Er, let's go."
Groaning, Lily reluctantly followed him out the door. They entered an empty classroom next door.
"I'm ready!" Sirius exclaimed with a broad grin on his face.
"Er, how am I going to kiss you properly, if you're smiling at me?"
"You're going to kiss me on the mouth?"
"No, stupid!"
"Oh." He looked disappointed.
"Close your eyes."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want you looking at me!"
"Oh, all right," he muttered, and closed his eyes.
Lily placed her hands on his shoulders, stood on her toes, and quickly kissed him on the cheek.
"Thanks, Lily." He opened his eyes and grinned at her.
They returned to the room with Lily's face noticeably red. The rest hooted and whistled at them. They continued to play, with James ending up kissing Fiona, and Samantha kissing Sirius. Remus received a card with a hag on it and an arrow pointing to his left. Lily was on his left, and therefore he had to kiss her. In the empty classroom, Remus quickly kissed Lily on the forehead while blushing. They resumed playing with Lily turning into a unicorn for missing a question; Sirius, a hippogriff; and James, a faun. At the end of two hours, each person had kissed the person next to him or her. Lily admitted to herself that kissing a boy was not so bad after all. At least none of them are ugly, she thought.
After two and a half hours of playing Wizard Trivia, James picked up the vampire card. Remus and Sirius cheered and whistled.
"Which of these lovely ladies will you choose, Master James?" Sirius inquired.
James smiled, and his face reddened. "Erm..." He briefly gazed down at the card he held. "Lily."
Lily thought, Great. I hope he isn't silly about it.
They walked into the empty classroom.
"Erm, hi."
Lily raised her eyebrow at him, and then frowned slightly. "Er, hello."
"I think your hair is beautiful." He stared at her with a slightly dreamy expression on his red face.
Lily blushed, and glanced down at her feet.
At that precise instant, James quickly kissed her on the mouth, and before she could react he was already walking out the door.
---------
To those who read Lily: The Hogwarts Years: No spoilers in your reviews, please. ^_~