Chapter 8

Teasing Snape

~*AN: Alright, in answer to Sweetie Pies question: We're from Australia, which means we get (we think) the English version of the books, and movie. Thanks so much for reviewing, and thanks for the comment. I checked out your bio, and let me tell you something, anyone who loves to read can write. I'll bet your a fantastic writer. At least try. And remember, if at first you don't succeed, sky-diving is not for you.

Sirius's Crazy Chick: Thanks! That's really sweet. And don't worry, we can't make too much fun of blue-eyed blonds, one of our sisters is one, and one of Ashlie's best friends is one, and believe us, Lauren is far from being a dumb barbie doll. Ashlie: I read your story, Padfoots Little Adventure, and I reviewed. You had better continue it. I haven't quite gotten around to reading your other one, bear with me. We're sorry, but unless we get your email address, we can't email you when we update, like we usually do. We're very sorry!

asTriD(): We're actually going to do that. We hate fics that focus on the first year too, which is why in this chapter we skip ahead a bit. Great minds think alike, eh?

Alyssa awoke the first morning at Hogwarts with the birds. Not that she was upset by this, she always woke up with the birds. James said she was an inhuman robot. She looked over to Lily's bed, and grinned. Time to wake up a certain redhead. She thought mischievously. She tiptoed over to the bed and ripped back the curtains. She hopped up onto the bed and jumped up and down.

"Time to get up Lily!" She said cheerfully. Lily groaned, sounding exactly like James.

"Mmphlipuh." She said, burying her face in her pillow. Alyssa' grin widened, and she leaned very close to Lily's ear.

"You'd better wake up, Lils." She said warningly. "Or I'll bring James in here, and let him see your lavender Chinese silk pajamas."

"You wouldn't!" Lily said, sitting up in bed and pushing a strand of hair back into her braid.

"I would, now get up!" After she'd succeeded in waking up Lily, she moved over to Melody's bed, her evil grin showing again.

"Don't even think about it." A voice floated through the curtains, causing Alyssa to jump. How had Melody known? Melody pushed back her curtains, and got up, her hair all spiky, and her bright red sleep shirt wrinkled. She smiled at them both, more wide awake, if possible, than Alyssa. Her face brightened even more at the sight of Alyssa and Lily, both with their long waist length hair now dangling down in unruly curls. "Ooh, can I do your hair?"

"Uh, ok." Alyssa agreed. After all, if she messes it up, I can always redo it with magic. She sat down on her bed, and let Melody brush her hair. Slowly, she slipped into her usual trance. Alyssa loved having her hair played with. But, what with her mother being a famous Auror, and having two other children, she hardly ever had any time to do Alyssa's hair anymore. She always did her best thinking when someone was doing her hair.

"All done!" Melody's voice cheerfully disrupted her thoughts.

"That was fast." Alyssa carefully inspected her hair in the mirror. "Hey, this looks really good, Mel."

"Yeah, it does, where'd you learn to plait like that?"

"Thanks. My mum took me to Thailand once when she was studying Thai Infernos. She had to do something to keep me occupied, and the Thai people were very interested in me, because of my hair colour. I've always loved doing people's hair, and I used to have really long hair, but it's very dangerous around dragons. One of my dad's got loose a couple of weeks before we came here, and burnt off most of my hair, so I had it cut to even it up. I kinda like it this way, it's easy to look after, and it frames my face well. I don't look like such a girly-girl anymore." Alyssa nodded, she could understand that. She looked at her watch, and yelped,

"Sugar, it's 8.00! School starts in two hours, we've got to have breakfast."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Lily said cheerfully. Melody grinned,

"Yes, what are we waiting for." She looped her arm through Alyssa's and Lily's, and they walked downstairs.

~@~@~@~@~

Lily smiled happily. Today was her first day at Hogwarts, but she loved it already. She had two great friends, a whole bunch of guys who wanted to be her friends, and so far, no-one had taken any points off her. That might be because they hadn't had Potions yet, but she didn't want to think about that. She grinned, time to try out one of those wonderful curses she'd learnt on a certain slimy Slytherin who liked calling her a mudblood.

"Yo, Snape!" She yelled. He turned around, and frowned when he saw who it was.

"What do you want mudblood?" He asked waspishly. She grinned evilly and pointed her wand at him.

"Tresris Curlris. Flamboytum Incantatum." She said, grinning. Snape howled, as his hair turned gold, and curly, and a blinking red sign over his head claimed, 'I am a stupid slimy git! Curse me! No, I insist!'

"Miss Evans!" Lily's heart sank. Shit, it's McGonagall. "I demand you explain yourself! 10 points to Gryffindor!" Lily turned around, puzzled. Alyssa and Melody were standing there, grinning. Melody opened her mouth again,

"And you, Mr. Snape! How DARE you harass one of my darling students! 10 points from Slytherin." Lily burst out laughing. It was Melody!

"Miss Evans, Miss Potter and Miss Blaze! What is the reason for this blatant disregard for the rules, and disrespect towards a teacher!" McGonagall's voice rang out. "15 points from Gryffindor and detention. GIRLS! GET BACK HERE!" Lily, Melody and Alyssa ran...

~@~@~@~@~

*5 years later*

"Miss Evans, Miss Potter and Miss Blaze! Detention!" Professor McGonagall's familiar voice rang through the halls. Students looked around, curious, but went back to what they were doing when they saw who it was. 16 year old Lily, Melody and Alyssa ran behind a wall.

"That. Was. So. Much. Fun." Lily gasped, bending over to regain her breath. Her green eyes sparkled, and her red waist-length braid hung over her shoulder.

"Yeah." Alyssa agreed, her brown eyes dancing. Her black hair was up in it's usual messy bun, black curls spilling everywhere.

"Did you see Snape's face?" Melody gasped, her blue eyes wet with laughter tears, and her sleek copper hair mussed from running.

"Yes, Los Amor-Polluelos strike again" Lily said, referring to their name, which was Spanish for 'The Love Chicks.' They didn't know why they called themselves that, maybe because they were some of the prettiest, most sort after girls at Hogwarts (and oh so very modest.) Or maybe, just maybe, (and Lily didn't hold much hope by this) the name inspired them. They all had nicknames, of course. Melody was Cancio'n-Drago'n, which meant Song-Dragon, Lily was Lirio-Flor, which meant Lily-Flower, and Alyssa was Deletrear-Cantante, which was Spell-Singer. For short they called each other Lirio, Deletrear and Cancio. No-one knew exactly where these nicknames had come from, least of all the girls. Melody had just started calling the other two by them one day, and had never stopped. The last member of Los Amor-Polluelos was Arabella Figg, or Belle, for she was undoubtedly the beauty of the group. She had big blue eyes, and long cinnamon coloured hair. She was currently serving a detention for turning Mrs. Norris purple, and then 'not knowing' how to turn her back. She hadn't used a conventional spell either, but one of the old ones that Lily and her had dug up from an musty old book. She had promptly 'lost' the book, so she was cleaning the bedpans in the Hospital Wing, and Mrs. Norris was still purple. Professor Dumbledore claimed not to know the counter-curse, but the girls were pretty sure he just didn't want to turn Mrs. Norris back, and were considerably warmer (if that was possible) towards the old Headmaster. Just then, one of the more serious students came walking down the corridor.

"Oh, in trouble again, girls?" She asked calmly. They nodded, still laughing.

"You should be more careful, Lily. You're going to lose your prefect badge. Then what would your mother say? And worse, how would the sister that your always going on about react?" She continued walking, leaving a rather subdued Lily behind.

"I never thought of that." Lily said, standing up straight. "Maybe I should stop."

"Yes, do that, Evans. You girls will never live up to the standard of the Marauders." Potter said. With a swish of his invisibility cloak he, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew were standing in front of them.

"But out, Potter, it's none of your business. I wish you wouldn't eavesdrop on other people's conversations so much. You're acting like Snape." With that the three members of Los Amor-Polluelos swept off to see McGonagall about their detentions.

~@~@~@~@~

"Right." James Potter, or Prongs said. "Time for a prank-fest. How dare Evans say we're acting like that slimy git."

"I don't know, James, we've never pranked another Gryffindor before." Peter Pettigrew or Wormtail (DIE EVIL RAT!) said nervously.

"Who cares, they deserve it." Sirius Black or Padfoot put in. "What do you think, Moony?"

"No comment." Remus Lupin, or Moony said. "Besides, you do realise, if you prank Lily, your gonna have to prank everyone else in the group too don't you? Think, Padfoot, that means you'll have to prank Arabella. She won't be happy." Sirius paled at the mention of his aggressive girlfriend.

"Oh, he he, right. Uh, Prongs, do we really need to do this?"

"Yes." James said firmly.

"Really?" He whimpered.

"Yes." James said even more stoically.

"Can we leave Arabella out of it then. Please?"

"Well," James considered. "Alright. After all, she wasn't there." Sirius breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's ok then."

"And you'll be pranking your sister, Prongs. What's Alyssa going to say?" Remus continued. James went slightly white, but shook his head.

"I don't care."

~*~*~*~

James, Sirius and Remus sat downstairs, waiting for the signs that the girls had seen their hair. All four girls came down, Arabella with her usual hair colour, and the other three looking bizarre. Blaze now had bright blue hair that spiralled wildly to her chin. Evans' hair had been slashed at her waist, and was now pink. Alyssa had bright green hair. To the boys surprise, they didn't seem at all upset. They were pointing at each other, and laughing.

"Yay! Now I look like a fairy!" Evans said, dancing around. She had bewitched her eyes, so they were two shades lighter than her hot pink hair. She was wearing her school robes, but had enchanted them so they were a pale pink, and slashed jaggedly halfway down her thigh. She wasn't wearing her shoes, and had given herself wings. She stopped in front of James.

"Don't you think I look like a fairy, Potter." James was too busy looking down her robes, which were unbuttoned. The blouse she was wearing was a bit too big, causing it to gape slightly.

"Gah." He said.

"I'm an alien!" Blaze exclaimed, widening her eyes, which she had charmed so they were now blank, and a grey colour.

"And I'm Belle after she's gone swimming, aren't I Belle!" Alyssa said, giggling madly. Arabella hit her, but she was also giggling.

"I can't wait to see McGonagall's face!" Blaze exclaimed.

"Me either." Lily agreed. "It'll be like when we told Snape we knew about Barney."

"Who's Barney?" Peter asked.

"I'm not telling you, Pettigrew."

"Who's Barney, Belle?" Sirius asked.

"Don't call me that." Arabella hissed at him, smacking him upside the head.

"Ow! Why? Evans, Blaze and Alyssa can!"

"Exactly. It's my nickname with them. Not you. You call me Arabella, or Figg."

"But why?" Sirius whined.

"Because." Arabella answered. There was a hard glint in her blue eyes.

"Ok. I'm sorry." Sirius whimpered. James scowled at Evans when she laughed. No-one was allowed to laugh at Sirius unless he meant to be funny.

"Well, we'll see you later, we need to go get detention for being out of uniform, bye, bye, brother dear." Alyssa said, a strange look on her face that made James cringe.

~@~@~@~@~

"Ok, girls." Lily said, flicking her wand about the dorm to tidy it. "We need to find a way to get the Marauders back for this prank." She had just finished performing the counter-hexes on everyone's hair, leaving them with their normal black, copper and flame red hair. Their hair lengths and types were also back to normal, Lily and Alyssa once again had waist-length hair that was thick and curly. Melody's was back to being fine, chin-length and straight as a pin.

"What do you think we should do?" Arabella asked. Lily was the unspoken leader of Los Amor-Polluelos, just as James was the leader of The Marauders.

"Personally, I like the idea of transforming their robes into pink cuddly pajamas, giving them security blankets, doing their hair and make-up, then getting them to go up to the front of the Great Hall and sing The Rainbow Song." Melody said, looking up from the dragon picture she was painting.

"The Rainbow Song?" Alyssa asked. Being a pureblood, she had no previous experience with this song.

"Yeah, you know, 'Red And Yellow And Pink And Green. Purple And Orange And Blue. I Can See A Rainbow, See A Rainbow, Can You See It too?" Lily sang. There was an awed silence.

"Wow, Lirio (Lily). You're a really good singer." Arabella complimented her. Lily blushed.

"Not really."

"What?! Are you crazy?! Yes really! That was beautiful! And that's only a stupid kids song!" Melody exclaimed.

"Yeah, Lirio, you are really good."

"No, I'm not!" Lily said shortly. "I'm not good. Not like you're good at writing, Belle (Arabella), or you're good at drawing, Cancio (Melody) , or even you and your music, Deletrear (Alyssa). I don't have a talent!" She threw down her wand, and ran from the room.

"That went well." Alyssa said.

"Someone should go after her." Arabella recommended.

"No." Arabella and Alyssa turned to look at the short Australian. "She's upset about something, I don't know what, but whatever it is we need to wait until we know before we do anything."

~@~@~@~@~

Lily twirled on the spot, doing pirouettes. Her Aunt Kathleen clapped.

"That's wonderful, Lily. You're very talented." She complimented. gliding over to her niece as only a dancer could. Lily hugged her petite, red-headed aunt around the middle.

"Thanks, Auntie Kathy!" She exclaimed.

"In a few years, you could really go somewhere with your dancing. All that sport you do only improves your balance and fitness." Aunt Kathy told her.

"Really? Cool!"

Lily watched in amazement as her Aunt did numerous grande tour jettes across the stage. She did a particularly hard step, which was supposed to end in the splits. Unfortunately, she misjudged the distance. Without even a scream, Kathleen fell over the side of the stage. Her head struck the edge of the stage, and her neck was broken. Lily was frozen in her seat. People filed out of the auditorium, no-one giving her Aunt a second glance.

"Too bad." One lady commented. "She had so much talent. Now it's wasted."

Lily wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I won't be like Aunty Kathy." She whispered. "I won't do something like that and kill myself because of it. I haven't got any talent, not really. Aunty Kathy was much better than me. So there's no need for me to worry about wasting any talent." Oh Aunty Kathy. Her mind wailed. Why'd you have to leave? Why'd you have to perform that dance? Her Aunt's smiling face filled her vision.

"C'mon, sweetie, just one last dance. Then we'll go out for ice-cream." That was what she'd always say. She saw herself, pouting. "Ok." She'd reply. "Just one more. Then we'll go. Promise?" Her aunt would laugh, and give her a hug. "Promise." Lily would watch her dance, then, hand in hand, they'd walk down the road to the ice-cream parlour. "Two hot fudge sundaes please." Auntie Kathleen would say, squeezing Lily's hand. Lily would squeeze back, indicating that she wanted extra fudge. "Both with extra hot fudge." They'd eat the ice-cream, laughing at people who came into the shop. Then Lily would dab at the ice-cream on Auntie Kathy's nose, pretending to be her mother. "Honestly, Auntie Kathy." She would say, "You're an even messier eater than me." Those monthly visits were the only time Lily would willingly don a dress.

But not anymore. She reminded herself. You wore dress robes at the ball last year, and anyway, there aren't anymore monthly visits. She buried her head in her knees, and cried.

~@~@~@~@~

"I'm off to figure out another prank to play on Los Amor-Polluelos. I'll be back soon" James announced. Sirius waved his hand at James distractedly, and went back to drawing wolves biting the heads off people with extremely greasy hair.

James crawled through the portrait shaking his head thinking about Sirius's pictures. He started to walk through Hogwarts looking for the perfect person to prank. He was pulled out of his trance when he heard a sob coming from a supposedly empty classroom.

James walked up to the classroom cautiously with his wand out in front of him, he pushed open the door to find a very distressed and miserable red-head crying her heart out.

"Lily Evans?" James said dumbly. "Are you ok?" He asked.

At that point Lily started to blurt her heart out to her worst enemy. James listened sympathetically. He didn't know why he was feeling so sorry for her, but something about her pathetic stance pulled at his heart-strings. He touched her shoulder gently, and felt his stomach flip over as she leant against him, and sobbed into his robes. He stroked her back gently, letting her get her feelings out into the open. His mum had told him once, after finding him teasing Alyssa for crying, that girls generally needed to cry alot more than guys, and it was alot better for everyone if you just supported them, and let them cry. "Shh, Lily, it's alright, it's alright." After what seemed like ages, Lily finished crying. She wiped her eyes, and sat up. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Potter! What are you doing here?!" She exclaimed.

"Uh, I've just been comforting you." His tone said quite clearly, 'Duh'.

"WHAT! HOW DARE YOU! YOU'VE BEEN SITTING HERE WHILE I POURED MY HEART OUT LAUGHING!" James interrupted her.

"I HAVE NOT! I CAME IN HERE BECAUSE I HEARD SOMEONE CRYING! WHEN I SAW IT WAS YOU, I ASKED YOU IF YOU WERE OK! YOU TOLD ME ALL THAT STUFF WILLINGLY! I DIDN'T MAKE YOU! STUPID BITCH! SEE IF I EVER TRY TO BE NICE TO YOU AGAIN!!" He roared. Evans' mouth was open.

"Oh." She walked over to him and raised her arms. James recoiled, expecting her to slap him. He was quite unprepared for those arms to go around him in what was unmistakably a hug, and flinched because of it. She quickly dropped her arms. "Sorry." She mumbled. "And thanks for listening." There was an awkward moment.

"That's, uh, ok." He said. "I'll just, uh, go now." He practically bolted out of the classroom.

~@~@~@~@~

Lily stared at the door that Potter had just gone out of. She couldn't believe it. He'd actually been nice. It sort of frightened her, but at the same time, it gave her a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach, like she'd just drank a whole bottle of butterbeer in one go. He's sort of cute, with his hair all flopping over his forehead like that. She thought. Oh my god, I did not just think that. I did not just think that James Potter is cute. James Potter is not cute, James Potter is ugly. Think of someone else. Lockhart! That stupid vain Hufflepuff whom I had to take points off the other day because he was admiring himself in the mirror. He's cute. Heck, Black is cute, Lupin is cute, Pettigrew is... ok, well Pettigrew isn't a good example. Malfoy! Malfoy is cute in a cold vicious bastard sort of way. But Potter isn't cute. Potter is ugly, ok, he's not ugly. He's... no, he's not average either, Quidditch has seen to that. Ahh, Quidditch. I love that game. Like being a beater too. Lots of fun. And I'm digressing, lying to myself. Like Melody says, you know you've hit rock-bottom when you start lying to yourself, and can't even be honest with yourself about how you feel. It's funny, Mum used to say that too, before... No, Lily, you aren't going to think about that. Your parents have split, and your dad died from an overdose. Not your fault, not Mum's fault. She was a fool to stay in love with him. But... you can't help who you give your heart to, Alyssa always says. Ok, Potter's cute. Hell, he's gorgeous, and you're attracted to him. But you're only human, and you're not going to act on that attraction, so it's ok. It was nice of him to comfort me. But, he'll probably pretend it never happened, so I will too.

~@~@~@~@~

"Where is she?" Alyssa exclaimed, pacing the room. "Why's she taking so long?" Melody watched her calmly.

"Relax. She'll be back in a moment." Just as she said those words, the dorm door opened, and Lily walked through.

"Sorry for running off like that, I just felt a bit teary." She explained. Alyssa ran over to her.

"God Lirio! You had us so worried! Well, you had me and Belle worried. Cancio wasn't worried at all. She kept telling me to relax." Then Alyssa turned to Melody. "What was with that, by the way, how'd you know she'd be back when she was?" Melody's eyes slid away from Alyssa's,

"Just a guess, I suppose." She lied. Alyssa looked suspicious, but to Melody's relief, decided to leave it alone. "Oops, look at the time! I've got that, uh, extra credit thing, yes, I'll see you guys later!" She bolted.

~*AN: Ooh, what's Melody's hiding? Find out next time. Hee hee hee.

Ashlie and Kassi*~