"Aw, you guys look like preps! How sweet!" Lily exclaimed when
she came down from her room to meet the Marauders for breakfast. She had
fashioned her hair in a bit of an odd way, taking up most of it but leaving her
long curls down.
"We do not look like preps." James insisted as they walked out of
the portrait hole.
"Coming from the boy who looks the preppiest.." Lily teased. This
was her private entourage this year (in alphabetical order, of course): James,
Munguldus, Peter, Ronan, Remus, and
Sirius.
"I do not look preppy!" James exclaimed. He had actually tamed
his hair and indeed looked like a student attending Eton.
Sirius, of course, managed to make his uniform as close to
against dress code as possible, and he looked cool and casual (he had selected
the long-sleeved sweater this morning). Munguldus had ditched his blazer (which
Lily was wearing) and Peter looked like a barrel in his sweater vest. Ronan and
Remus looked almost identical, wearing their varsity jackets instead of the
blazers. None of the group wore their robes, considering the amount of layers
on their bodies were considerably adding up, and had there not been a fat lady
in a portrait stuffing her face with croissants, nobody would have been the
wiser if they claimed they were in a Muggle boarding school.
"Prep."
"Not prep."
"Improper grammar, prep."
"Will you two shut up?" Munguldus demanded. "You're getting on my
nerves."
Lily smiled coyly. She had won. James kissed Lily on top of her
head and put his arm around her shoulder, and they walked into the Dining Hall.
"Like I was saying, he was all over me and I am betting you that
today he'll ask me to be his girlfriend." Sarah was gossiping 'politely with
her Ravenclaw friends. A hot seventh year, some David guy, spoke up.
"Good then, he won't be in my way with Lily. God, I can't believe
my brother would do something like that!"
"What do you mean, David?" Sarah asked, taking one of her blonde
curls by the finger and twirling it.
Their brief conversation was made even shorter as the Marauders
and their entourage (or, for none-Marauder fans, Lily and her entourage) showed
up as preppy-popular as could be.
Sarah and David's jaws dropped to the floor as they saw how
chummy James and Lily were (considering their argument last night, no one
besides the Gryffindors knew what that was about).
"Remus said they're always like that. Fighting one minute and
goofing around the next. We have nothing to worry about." Sarah reassured
herself with very little confidence.
"Right, and I am the queen of England." David muttered.
"Professor, I don't believe Miss Evans's skirt is following
regulation. Look at the sight of her legs!" Professor Vector insisted to
Dumbledore as Lily and her friends passed by the Head Table, giggling (Lily)
and laughing (the boys) on their way to class.
"Only an inch of skin is showing, Professor." Dumbledore said,
bored. "That is hardly a violation."
"Only an inch of skin! Maybe the fact that her ways of covering
up that skin include tight stockings and a short skirt! That is why I am so
upset! We invented these rules to keep students from being distracted!"
Professor Vector insisted.
"No, we came up with these rules because the board decided we
didn't look disciplined enough. And if the male students were to be distracted,
it would be because they choose to be. Notice how Mr. Potter, Mr. Figg, Mr.
Fletcher, Mr. Black, Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. Lupin are hardly noticing at all
that Ms. Evans's skirt is so short." Dumbledore reasoned.
"Probably because they've seen her more naked than this."
Professor Vector muttered.
"My dear Professor, don't you have a class to teach?" Dumbledore
asked exasperatedly. His ear was about to be talked off.
"Fine, fine.. But can I take points off?" Vector asked eagerly.
"If you do, I will restore the points and add double its amount
to the Gryffindor house. That should make your faithful Slytherin students very
happy."
"Oy! Lily! Do wait up!" David called through the rushing
corridor. Lily got a bit angry and ignored him. James's grip around her became
tighter. She was glad for this. James helped her up to a good seat, in the top
row of Charms and Sarah Barnes, several rows below, looked furious.
After Charms, James split from the group for his Arithmancy class
while the others headed for Divination. For the most part, the Marauders didn't
have class together. They didn't even run into each other between classes that
much. Except this particular morning, Dumbledore decided to have James go from
one side of the castle to the other to deliver a message, and he also sent for
Lily.
Lily twirled a curl around her finger, taking her time to walk
across the castle. She always enjoyed the scenery outside Hogwarts, all of
which could be seen from the floor-to-ceiling windows. She greeted the Gray
Lady as the two passed each other, and walked the empty corridors looking up at
the magnificent moldings in the ceiling. Around the corner, James Potter was doing
the same thing, and like a classic Marx Brothers moment, the two collided.
"Sorry... Excuse me.." James said, helping his unidentified
victim collect her books. It was definitely a female, he caught the color of
the skirt and knew they were not the boys' slacks. "I'm such a klutz."
"Yeah, me too." Lily whispered timidly, helping the prefect pick
up her books. It was definitely a prefect, she saw the badge on his blazer
similar to the one she wore on her sweater. Outside the corner of her eye, she
saw a Marauder logo.
"James!"
"Lily!"
The two started laughing and the feelings that had reached Lily
before her birthday party came back. She felt as if Cupid had filled his arrow
with extra love and shot it right at her heart.
Stupid cupid,
you're a real mean guy
I'd like to clip your wings so you can't fly
I am in love and it's a cryin' shame
And I know that you're the one to blame
Hey, hey, set me free
"I'm on my way to Dumbledore's office, from my DADA tutoring
session." Lily said uncomfortably, as James handed her books to her.
"Funny, I'm on my way to the library from Dumbledore's office."
James said casually. Lily was acting a bit weird. They both laughed without
very much ease.
"See you at lunch, then?" He offered, breaking the silence.
"Lunch then." Lily said breathily. She was about to go when..
"Wait, Lily.. I notice we were almost late for Charms this
morning.. We should meet up earlier. How about half past eight?" James asked,
inches away from her.
"Fine, fine.. I think I'm about to hyperventilate soon... Gained
some sort of claustrophobia over the summer.." Lily lied, scrambling off.
"I wonder what's with her?" James asked, then shrugging. She
turned back around and whispered something in his ear.
"Prep."
Then she ran off to Dumbledore's office, feeling stupid and
victorious at the same time.
"She was all over him."
"I know, what a slut."
"Barnes!" It was Coco. "Don't ever call Lily a slut unless you want
your face rearranged."
Sarah stared at Coco, ready with a snappy comeback, but then she
saw Mia. And Clarisse. And Leola, Diana and Jennifer.
"Sorry." Sarah muttered, leaving with her two Hufflepuff friends.
"I need to find out what this is all about." Coco said
determinedly. "Or else Lily's rep will be ruined."
"I see London, I see France, I see Jamsie's underpants." Diana
said quickly to the Fat Lady, and the portrait swung open. Lily sure had fun
playing around with the passwords.
Leola led the way to Lily's room, but it was empty. Jennifer went
downstairs to see if she was in the Common Room, Clarisse went up to the boys'
dormitories, and Mia ran to the Dining Hall. Coco, however, checked Lily's
bathroom.
"Do you have any idea, Remus?" Mia begged as Remus took another
bite of his sandwich.
"Anything, Munguldus?" Clarisse asked, but Munguldus just secured
his Quidditch poster above his dresser.
"No idea, huh, James?" Jennifer asked exasperatedly. James
captured Tad's queen.
"This is frustrating, Sirius!" Diana exclaimed. "We must talk to
Lily!"
"Pull on the dowel right below her bookshelf. You'll find her."
Sirius said simply, as he and Peter played Exploding Snap. Sirius looked away
for a second, and Peter was covered in ashes.
The six Ravenclaw girls headed up the spiral stairs and saw a
lovely hideaway, with millions of glowing and different colored bubbles
floating about.
"Hi, Lily." Coco ventured. Lily turned around from her seat on
the couch and smiled.
"Hi guys.. I guess you figured out the password pretty quick,
huh?" She asked, getting up. "Come join me. Plenty of room."
So they all sat down. Diana and Lily ended up sitting on the arms
of the old couch, but it was alright. They sat in silence for a while.
"Sarah Barnes is calling you a slut." Diana said after a while.
"I know."
"Aren't you going to do anything about it?" Leola asked.
"No."
"Why not? Our Lily wouldn't just sit around while people call her
bad things." Coco exclaimed loudly.
"She's just hurt. The only reason why people get mad is because
they're hurt, and she's mad at me. She thinks that James loves me, which is
entirely untrue, and her prudeness just makes her think that because we hang
out really closely, that we're practically married." Lily muttered.
"So, then, what are we doing up here?" Clarisse wondered.
"No idea." Mia said, conjuring up a bowl of popcorn.
"Ditto." Jennifer and Lily agreed.
"I got my cassette player to work." Lily said. "Want to listen to
a few tunes?"
"Sure." Was the ultimate reaction.
"So we're all dancing to some disco song, Arabella screaming out
orders and Sirius is American Southern Gary Stu and Lucius Malfoy is drooling
in Arabella's direction.. Or, as Gary Stu put it: 'Mister Lust-Y-Ous.. Miss Mary
Ellis would gosh darn appreciate that you did NOT memorize every curve of her
gluteus maximus.' So we had fun... It's hard to forget those times." Lily
explained as Coco helped her up (a trick stair by the portrait of the Gray Lady
dropped for the Ravenclaw students when they uttered the correct password).
Sarah Barnes looked up from her seat and saw slutty Gryffindor
she had just been referring to looking very comfortable in the Ravenclaw Common
Room. She wore somebody's Gryffindor Quidditch jacket, probably James's, over
some jeans and a sweater.
Now was the time to face the music.
"Excuse me." Sarah said, tapping her on the shoulder. Lily turned
around and smiled.
"Hi, Sarah." Lily chirped, knowing Sarah would wince. She did.
"I need you to clear something up for me, please." Sarah
requested. Lily gave her an interested look. "Are you and James going out?"
Lily and her friends began laughing so hard the milk Mia was
drinking came out of her nose. Clarisse was banging on the wall with her fist,
Jennifer was clutching her belly, and Coco tried to keep as dignified as one
can be when snorting.
"James and me? That has to be the most ridiculous thing I have
EVER heard, next to a drunk Sirius's version of 'You Make Me Feel Like A
Natural Woman'. Quite amusing, actually." Lily said after ten minutes of trying
to calm down. Leola was still rolling on the floor with laughter.
"God, it wasn't THAT funny, Lee." Diana muttered sarcastically.
"Well, you guys have gone out before, haven't you?" Sarah pushed,
making Lily change to seriousness. "You're wearing his jacket, aren't you?"
"That was an act of bad judgment, a silly fling that lasted about
two weeks. Beyond that, we have no history and you can put your slutty hands
all over him. I don't mind. I don't care. It will be bad judgment on his part
if he lets you, but, as the French say, c'est la vie." Lily snapped. "Gotta
split girls.. I've got Quidditch practice to attend.. I'm the new captain."
And Lily climbed the little rope ladder out of the Ravenclaw
Common Room.
"Lily, wait up, for the love of Father Christmas, wait up!" David
called after her.
"Why should I, you asshole?" She screamed down the hall of third
years. Several Gryffindors (among them the official and unofficial members of
the Marauders) stopped to stare at the fight about to erupt.
"Because that wasn't me who dumped you." David explained.
"Oh, was it your identical older brother Diego?" She asked
sarcastically.
"Well, kind of." He said.
"Do you expect me to believe that?" Lily asked him, placing her
hand on her hip.
"Diego is a Death Eater. He put me under the Imperious Curse to
torture me.. I sort of got him mad.. He knew if I ended it with you, I'd be
miserable." David whispered, getting down on one knee.
"Oh no, the knee thingy." Sirius muttered. "LILY!"
Sirius dived into the crowd and on top of David. "Lily, run, run,
as fast as you can!! He's going to propose!!!"
"What?" Lily asked in distress. Sirius had just jumped on top of
her ex.
"Get off me!" David demanded. "I wasn't going to ask her to marry
me, I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend!"
"What?" Both Lily and Sirius asked, looking at him pointedly.
"Yeah.. I know you must hate me.." He whispered, running a hand
through his hair.
"She can't be your girlfriend!" Munguldus exclaimed.
"Why?" He asked.
"Cause she's got a crush on somebody!" Ronan said simply.
"Who?" David, Coco, Clarisse, Mia, Jennifer, Leola and Diana
demanded. The Ravenclaw girls had just shown up.
"Shut up, you prats!" Lily hissed quietly. "Nobody.. I'd love to
be your girlfriend... Those guys have been sniffing too many Dungbombs.. Hate
to kiss and run but I've got a Quidditch practice!"
And she ran off.