A/N I really should learn not to write cliff-hangers. It means I have to
think up something appropriate for the next chapter, which is hard for me
to do. Oh well, I expect I'll muddle through! If you want to read a
disclaimer, either go to chapter one or one of the other thousands of
Lily/James fics out there. I'm sorry this one is short, but hopefully the
next chapter(s) will be a bit longer. Thankyou dearly to everyone who
reviewed this! Now, all I can say is, R/R! ~Stef
1 Chapter Ten
The great hall was a sight. She just stood and admired it for about three minutes, before she realised that she was a prefect. Sighing, she told the girls to get lots of pictures, and quickly, before she went to sort out the mess. She took a lot longer than she ought to have done, so Anna (the only one with a camera on her) could take photos.
First, Lily headed to the Slytherin table. They were all wearing Gryffindor robes, which bound them to their seats. Their hair was… different. It was all styled in the fashion of the judges of the past (long, with ringlets.), except it wasn't grey or white. Everyone's hair was a sort of mouldy green, with grey stripes, designed to clash with the Gryffindor robes. It stank of Sirius. It was the kind of thing he would do, perfectly thought out, and, of course, it worked well. Knowing Sirius's good grades in almost all of his subjects, Lily thought that the Slytherins would have a hard time undoing the spells.
With a few good charms, Lily took the binding spell off of the Slytherin prefects, allowing them to deal with the rest of the Slytherins. She really didn't want to, but what choice did she have? Glancing at the other house tables, she saw that all of the prefects from the other houses looked normal, apart from that they, too, were stuck to their seats. None of them looked remotely unhappy about this, and James was grinning from ear to ear. Again. She set off to free him, trying her best to smother her own grin. It didn't really work.
"Sirius, I take it?" she asked when she was in hearing distance.
"You've got no proof, and none of the other houses, except Slytherin would incriminate him. And everyone knows they hate him, anyway." Lily's smile widened, and she freed him, and then went to free the Ravenclaw prefects. James went to the Hufflepuff table, after dealing with the other Gryffindors.
When everyone was freed, they set about cleaning the floor of the red and gold confetti sprinkled all over it. It was several inches thick. Lily devoutly hoped that Anna had loads of photos.
With that done, made considerably easier by magic, Lily turned to the ceiling. Gold and red streamers hang from the roof, and they wouldn't be removed. Lily grinned again. Sirius must've enlisted the help of Remus, Jonathan, and Mark to get all of that done! He wouldn't have bothered with Peter, Lily knew that for sure. The kid was sweet, but he couldn't even raise a streamer into the air, let alone enchant it to flash red and gold and make it stick there.
"Hey James, give me a hand, would you?" she called over to James, who was trying to change the Slytherins' knives and forks back to their normal silver. He ran over to her, and together they spoke the spell that would bring down the streamers. It worked, but only because they were the strongest students in the year. There were shouts from all over the hall as people suddenly found themselves buried in red and gold. Lily just laughed.
"It was Sirius, then?" she asked James softly.
"Who else?" he replied. "I helped him with the planning, but told him he had to stick me to my seat like all of the other prefects. I hope you got someone to take pictures, before you came in and undid all of our hard work?"
"Of course!" Lily said. She pointed to Anna in the corner, clutching a camera. James laughed, and he pulled Lily back to help him with the Slytherin table. Lily blushed as she remembered that morning, but let James pull her along. His hand lingered a while before he took out his wand. She smiled shyly.
"Which spell should we use?" Lily asked.
"It's going to have to be a charm, I'm afraid." James said ruefully. Then he leant in to whisper to her, "Actually, I told Sirius to use a 'colorum' charm, so it's going to have to be 'reversi colorum.'"
Lily nodded. "Let's try it. On the count of three, ok? One… two…three!" They said the charm together, and the table turned back to its usual colour.
The other prefects had dealt with all of the other transformations, so Lily grabbed James's hand and pulled him towards Anna and her other friends. The Marauders, save James, were nowhere to be seen.
With just a slight blush on her cheeks as she let go of James's hand, Lily said, "You did get pictures?" Anna smiled wickedly.
"Coming from a Gryffindor prefect! Really, Lily! You should be ashamed of yourself."
"Anna." Lily said warningly, a smile beginning to spread across her face. She glanced around, and then spoke quietly to the girls and James.
"To add insult to injury, we can owl it to the Slytherins' families over Christmas!" Lily said. "Let's see, there's Snape, Malfoy, Crabbe…" Anna smiled a smile very similar to the one she assumed after she beat Jill in the Chess match.
"…Goyle, Avery, and Nott." She finished.
"Don't forget Parkinson." James told her. He looked slightly angry. Marcus Parkinson had tried to kiss her on her third day back. She had tripped him as he advanced on her, and James had twisted his arms behind his back until he apologised about twenty times. She smiled at him. She didn't usually approve of violence, and neither did James, but it seemed necessary in this case.
Molly waved a hand between Lily and James, breaking their eye-contact. They both blushed, and Lily realised she had been staring at him for over a minute. Molly tried to keep a straight face as all the other girls snickered.
"Let's get back to the common room," she told them. Lily nodded mutely, trying to get rid of the blush. It didn't work.
1.1 Chapter Eleven
They all climbed through the portrait hole and into the common room to see Sirius, Remus, Peter, Mark, and Jonathan talking excitedly. Lily put on a very solemn face and walked over to them.
"You," she informed them, injecting seriousness into her voice, "are a disgrace. It took us prefects twenty minutes to clean that up! I do hope you're satisfied with yourselves!"
Peter looked scared, and Mark and Jonathan looked at her uncertainly. They had been a bit self-conscious with her when she came back to school as a girl. Remus just grinned, and Sirius laughed.
"Was it worth it, then? I only had time to take a few pictures before we ran. If we were there when the teachers arrived, we would be really dead. What did the Slytherins do?" Lily laughed.
"Ohh… it was funny! You should have seen the Slytherin prefects' faces. And James's. All of the other prefects looked perfectly sombre, and he's sitting there with a huge grin on his face!"
James came up behind her, and touched her shoulder briefly before talking. This time, Lily didn't blush.
"It was funny. And Anna took photos, too!" James pulled Lily down onto a sofa next to him, and all of the girls followed suit, some sitting on sofas, and others on the floor.
"What did she take photos of?" Jill asked, coming down the stairs behind them. She looked perfectly composed, apart from the dirty look she shot at Anna. Anna just grinned impishly.
Everyone explained, talking at once, until Jill got the gist of things. She laughed until she cried. Then, when everyone had calmed slightly, Anna said, "So, have you decided yet?" Jill glared at her.
With all the dignity she could muster, she said, "Yes, actually, I have. I'll speak for myself, otherwise you will blow things way out of proportion. And I'll do it today. Sirius, could I have a word, please?" A slight flush rose in her cheeks, and so did one in Sirius's. He carefully raised an eye-brow, and stood up. Lily, grinning, offered to let Jill use her room, and the girl agreed.
Lily ran up and told Ferdinand the password, and asked him to let Jill and Sirius in. He agreed, and she went back down to join the others, passing Jill and Sirius on their way up. As she arrived at the bottom, she heard Sahi filling the boys in on the chess game. They all smirked.
"Should we listen at the door?" Remus suggested slyly. Everyone grinned, but they decided, after a quick argument, not to. A minute later, Jill and Sirius came back down, with un-believing smiles on their faces. They took one look at the grins on the faces of their friends, and fled up to their separate dorms.
It took the friends about six seconds to chase up after the fleeing couple. Lily went with the boys to interrogate Sirius. She told herself it had nothing to do with the fact that James was following Sirius. The girls would fill her in on that side of the gossip later. Meanwhile, she had Sirius to question.
Lily followed James in, unaware that she, with James, would be the next target for the match-making group of friends.
1 Chapter Ten
The great hall was a sight. She just stood and admired it for about three minutes, before she realised that she was a prefect. Sighing, she told the girls to get lots of pictures, and quickly, before she went to sort out the mess. She took a lot longer than she ought to have done, so Anna (the only one with a camera on her) could take photos.
First, Lily headed to the Slytherin table. They were all wearing Gryffindor robes, which bound them to their seats. Their hair was… different. It was all styled in the fashion of the judges of the past (long, with ringlets.), except it wasn't grey or white. Everyone's hair was a sort of mouldy green, with grey stripes, designed to clash with the Gryffindor robes. It stank of Sirius. It was the kind of thing he would do, perfectly thought out, and, of course, it worked well. Knowing Sirius's good grades in almost all of his subjects, Lily thought that the Slytherins would have a hard time undoing the spells.
With a few good charms, Lily took the binding spell off of the Slytherin prefects, allowing them to deal with the rest of the Slytherins. She really didn't want to, but what choice did she have? Glancing at the other house tables, she saw that all of the prefects from the other houses looked normal, apart from that they, too, were stuck to their seats. None of them looked remotely unhappy about this, and James was grinning from ear to ear. Again. She set off to free him, trying her best to smother her own grin. It didn't really work.
"Sirius, I take it?" she asked when she was in hearing distance.
"You've got no proof, and none of the other houses, except Slytherin would incriminate him. And everyone knows they hate him, anyway." Lily's smile widened, and she freed him, and then went to free the Ravenclaw prefects. James went to the Hufflepuff table, after dealing with the other Gryffindors.
When everyone was freed, they set about cleaning the floor of the red and gold confetti sprinkled all over it. It was several inches thick. Lily devoutly hoped that Anna had loads of photos.
With that done, made considerably easier by magic, Lily turned to the ceiling. Gold and red streamers hang from the roof, and they wouldn't be removed. Lily grinned again. Sirius must've enlisted the help of Remus, Jonathan, and Mark to get all of that done! He wouldn't have bothered with Peter, Lily knew that for sure. The kid was sweet, but he couldn't even raise a streamer into the air, let alone enchant it to flash red and gold and make it stick there.
"Hey James, give me a hand, would you?" she called over to James, who was trying to change the Slytherins' knives and forks back to their normal silver. He ran over to her, and together they spoke the spell that would bring down the streamers. It worked, but only because they were the strongest students in the year. There were shouts from all over the hall as people suddenly found themselves buried in red and gold. Lily just laughed.
"It was Sirius, then?" she asked James softly.
"Who else?" he replied. "I helped him with the planning, but told him he had to stick me to my seat like all of the other prefects. I hope you got someone to take pictures, before you came in and undid all of our hard work?"
"Of course!" Lily said. She pointed to Anna in the corner, clutching a camera. James laughed, and he pulled Lily back to help him with the Slytherin table. Lily blushed as she remembered that morning, but let James pull her along. His hand lingered a while before he took out his wand. She smiled shyly.
"Which spell should we use?" Lily asked.
"It's going to have to be a charm, I'm afraid." James said ruefully. Then he leant in to whisper to her, "Actually, I told Sirius to use a 'colorum' charm, so it's going to have to be 'reversi colorum.'"
Lily nodded. "Let's try it. On the count of three, ok? One… two…three!" They said the charm together, and the table turned back to its usual colour.
The other prefects had dealt with all of the other transformations, so Lily grabbed James's hand and pulled him towards Anna and her other friends. The Marauders, save James, were nowhere to be seen.
With just a slight blush on her cheeks as she let go of James's hand, Lily said, "You did get pictures?" Anna smiled wickedly.
"Coming from a Gryffindor prefect! Really, Lily! You should be ashamed of yourself."
"Anna." Lily said warningly, a smile beginning to spread across her face. She glanced around, and then spoke quietly to the girls and James.
"To add insult to injury, we can owl it to the Slytherins' families over Christmas!" Lily said. "Let's see, there's Snape, Malfoy, Crabbe…" Anna smiled a smile very similar to the one she assumed after she beat Jill in the Chess match.
"…Goyle, Avery, and Nott." She finished.
"Don't forget Parkinson." James told her. He looked slightly angry. Marcus Parkinson had tried to kiss her on her third day back. She had tripped him as he advanced on her, and James had twisted his arms behind his back until he apologised about twenty times. She smiled at him. She didn't usually approve of violence, and neither did James, but it seemed necessary in this case.
Molly waved a hand between Lily and James, breaking their eye-contact. They both blushed, and Lily realised she had been staring at him for over a minute. Molly tried to keep a straight face as all the other girls snickered.
"Let's get back to the common room," she told them. Lily nodded mutely, trying to get rid of the blush. It didn't work.
1.1 Chapter Eleven
They all climbed through the portrait hole and into the common room to see Sirius, Remus, Peter, Mark, and Jonathan talking excitedly. Lily put on a very solemn face and walked over to them.
"You," she informed them, injecting seriousness into her voice, "are a disgrace. It took us prefects twenty minutes to clean that up! I do hope you're satisfied with yourselves!"
Peter looked scared, and Mark and Jonathan looked at her uncertainly. They had been a bit self-conscious with her when she came back to school as a girl. Remus just grinned, and Sirius laughed.
"Was it worth it, then? I only had time to take a few pictures before we ran. If we were there when the teachers arrived, we would be really dead. What did the Slytherins do?" Lily laughed.
"Ohh… it was funny! You should have seen the Slytherin prefects' faces. And James's. All of the other prefects looked perfectly sombre, and he's sitting there with a huge grin on his face!"
James came up behind her, and touched her shoulder briefly before talking. This time, Lily didn't blush.
"It was funny. And Anna took photos, too!" James pulled Lily down onto a sofa next to him, and all of the girls followed suit, some sitting on sofas, and others on the floor.
"What did she take photos of?" Jill asked, coming down the stairs behind them. She looked perfectly composed, apart from the dirty look she shot at Anna. Anna just grinned impishly.
Everyone explained, talking at once, until Jill got the gist of things. She laughed until she cried. Then, when everyone had calmed slightly, Anna said, "So, have you decided yet?" Jill glared at her.
With all the dignity she could muster, she said, "Yes, actually, I have. I'll speak for myself, otherwise you will blow things way out of proportion. And I'll do it today. Sirius, could I have a word, please?" A slight flush rose in her cheeks, and so did one in Sirius's. He carefully raised an eye-brow, and stood up. Lily, grinning, offered to let Jill use her room, and the girl agreed.
Lily ran up and told Ferdinand the password, and asked him to let Jill and Sirius in. He agreed, and she went back down to join the others, passing Jill and Sirius on their way up. As she arrived at the bottom, she heard Sahi filling the boys in on the chess game. They all smirked.
"Should we listen at the door?" Remus suggested slyly. Everyone grinned, but they decided, after a quick argument, not to. A minute later, Jill and Sirius came back down, with un-believing smiles on their faces. They took one look at the grins on the faces of their friends, and fled up to their separate dorms.
It took the friends about six seconds to chase up after the fleeing couple. Lily went with the boys to interrogate Sirius. She told herself it had nothing to do with the fact that James was following Sirius. The girls would fill her in on that side of the gossip later. Meanwhile, she had Sirius to question.
Lily followed James in, unaware that she, with James, would be the next target for the match-making group of friends.