Disclaimer: I don't have my name on Harry Potter or any part of the wizarding world. ^_^ I'm just a mere muggle trying to create an alternative world for this brainchild, which is owned by none other than Joanne Kathleen Rowling. :^) And I don't own Meteor Garden, either, from which some of the characters' personalities are based.
Author's notes: This fanfic was inspired by the television series Meteor Garden, and the animated film Spirited Away. ^_^. By the way, I'm sorry for the crammed and crappy last chapter. As you may have noticed, the dialogues and descriptions seemed a bit rushed, which may have made the characterizations a bit shallow... anyway, I hope this chapter will be a better read for all of you.
And in reference the Sorting Hat song you are going to come across in this chapter, I borrowed it from one of my old fics in my old account (it's been abandoned, and I'm not planning to update there anymore. I cleaned up that account for the mere, shameful reason of valuing reviews at that time, and I decided I would just do a better version of stories in this new one here and not do it for the sole purpose of receiving reviews.). ^_^
Oh, and I'm sorry for the late update! I'm getting to be a very slow writer now for some reason... if I can call myself that. Maybe it's early writer's block. =/ I've also recently been infected with a certain little virus called Varicella... also known as chickenpox. =D It's incredibly annoying that I hadn't gotten it when I was younger.*sticks tongue out at lesions* And since school is about to start in a week, please don't expect any quick updates. I'll try to continue writing as soon and as quickly as possible, okay? ^_^
Yike, almost forgot... my other fic, "It's All in the Diapers" is currently on hiatus. ^_^ I'm still deciding if I should extend the plot or finish it within the sixth chapter already. I'll be trying to write as fast as I can, okay? ^_^ Hopefully I won't be giving in to sloth anytime soon... ^_~ Anyway, here's chapter three. ^_^
*I added two short paragraphs at the end, just to keep that part of the plot out of the way already. :-)
Lily opened her eyes silently, and suddenly realized that she wasn't in the train compartment anymore. Instead, she was sitting on a patch of grass from the Hogwarts grounds, just before the Great Lake. Before she could even take in her new surroundings, a familiar figure materialized slowly before her.
Remus Lupin stood there, giving her the most handsome smile she had ever seen, with strands of sandy hair falling freely on his smooth forehead. His hazel eyes sparkled in the distance, like a pair of golden snitches Lily would have agreed to catch, even if that meant having to learn how to play Quidditch. She looked at him dreamily as he came walking towards her, pausing only until the only thing that separated the two of them was less than a foot's length of wonderful green grass.
All of a sudden, he covered his head with both hands, tugging at his ruffled, sandy hair as though he was in great pain.
"What's wrong?" Lily asked somewhat frantically, leaning in to take a good look at him. "Rem... are you alright?"
But it was already clear that he wasn't. Lily watched in horror as shoots of mangy, black hair sprouted over his once sand-colored ones, and unknowingly kept her jaw agape as his hazel eyes morphed into a darker shade. Feeling her heart beat faster, she jumped as she felt a cold tentacle suddenly poke her from behind.
"Hey, Lily!"
She turned around to look behind her with another slight jump, and saw the giant squid rising from the Great Lake, smiling at her with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. "..M--Mundungus!?"
The giant squid with Mundungus' face merely smiled and continued poking her with a slimy tentacle. Trying to ignore the queerness of it all, she looked back to face Remus again, except this time she couldn't do that, exactly.
Because someone else had taken Remus' place. Or at least, Remus' head.
"James?!" Lily cried, bringing a hand to her mouth in absolute shock.
The boy laughed mischievously, looking extremely out of place with his head on Remus' body. Lily screamed, unable to move in shock, and at the same time listening to the giant squid call her from behind.
"Lily, Lily! Hey, Lily!"
+_+_+_+
"Lily! Lily, wake up!"
Lily pried her eyes open with a slight jump. She gave out a startled squeal as Mundungus' eager blue eyes suddenly came into place.
"Lily! Agh, finally! You know how much time it can take for you to get up? I've probably called your name---" he began counting on his fingers, "--thirteen times already! I reckon we'd be the only ones left here if we don't get a quick move on. And you were telling me to go away too, what was that all about? I mean, I know you get all grouchy when you wake up but I didn't think you'd be that grumpy."
"Oh, erm, right," Lily managed to croak out, looking around and realizing that she was still in the compartment, and not sitting by the Great Lake. "Sorry."
What a weird dream, she thought, dazed, as she followed Mundungus out of the Hogwarts Express and into Hogsmeade station. A crowd of voices instantly surrounded them, with the rest of the students already making their way towards a row of more than a hundred horseless stagecoaches on the rough mud track. Mundungus spotted an empty stagecoach at the end and immediately climbed aboard it with Lily, shrugging away the fact that it smelled of old straw.
Just seconds before the two of them began to trundle on with the carriage towards the familiar, iron-wrought gates leading to Hogwarts, Lily peered through the carriage's tiny window and realized that she was looking towards the end of Hogsmeade station. With slight difficulty in the darkness, she spotted that the blanket of watery black that was the Great Lake, which currently just looked like a puddle in the distance, was now being sailed on by the first years for their traditional boat journey to the castle.
The two of them didn't say much for the first part of trip, what with Lily staring outside the window and Mundungus reading a wizarding comic book ("The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle"). Although she was still feeling slightly groggy from her short nap in the train, it was Lily who finally broke the silence seconds after the platform gradually vanished behind her.
"You know what?" Lily said, the wind turning her shoulder-length hair into a stream of red. "I dreamt you were a squid. You know, the Giant Squid from the Great Lake, and you were poking me from behind like crazy."
"A squid?" Mundungus asked, slightly flabbergasted as he looked up from what he was reading. "That's nutty! How did I look?"
Lily grinned. "No difference, really."
"Hey! I don't look like a squid! Besides, I don't think can't imagine myself dripping ink everywhere like that... imagine what Filch would do to me if I were transfigured into a squid!"
"Not a bad idea, Fungus," said a new voice from the suddenly opened carriage door.
Lily and Mundungus turned towards the source, both suddenly realizing that the carriage had already halted. And as though it Lily had been expecting it as part of her daily schedule, she instantly locked glares with her disadvantageously wealthy, mis-sorted housemate.
"Potter," she said, eyeing him angrily. "Sod off."
James, who was standing in his school robes just outside the carriage, raised an eyebrow suavely. "Why, I was only picking up new ideas from stubby old Fletchley here. And what an excellent idea it was, to transfigure geeky little gits into squids."
"It's Flet-cher!" Mundungus corrected adamantly.
James smirked at him. "Oh, is it, Fungus?"
Lily continued glaring at the abominable boy. "What is your problem, Potter? Can't you just get a move on without using your foul mouth on other people?"
"Not if you don't watch your own damned one, Evans," he said with a nasty glare. "We prefects can't let this kind of behaviour spread around the school. Speaking of which, you two really should be making your way towards the Great Hall now. You wouldn't want Gryffindor to suffer because of your own worthless shows of tardiness, now, would you?"
---
"Ooh, what a prick!" Lily grumbled after James finally left them, joining the crowd up the steps towards the castle. "Can you even imagine him as our prefect?"
Mundungus rolled his eyes as he and Lily passed through the gigantic front doors towards the entrance hall, which contained several flaming torches and a splendid marble staircase at one side. "Puh. He can't even get my name right."
Following the rest towards the open door at the right of the said chamber, Lily and Mundungus joined their other schoolmates in entering the Great Hall. It looked magnificent as ever, with the flames of floating candles reflected on the countless golden utensils laid on four long tables, which were already occupied by handfuls of babbling students. Lily looked up to see that the enchanted ceiling was covered in early evening cirrus clouds before she took a seat with her best friend at the Gryffindor table.
"Oh, Lily! Gus!"
A very pretty black girl sat herself right across Lily. If someone were to see her for the first time, it would be unmistakable to say that her eyes would be the first assets that person would be able to notice. The girl had warm, light gray eyes that complemented her complexion very well, and yet stood out so distinctly that it added Galleons to her charm.
"'Lo, Ed," greeted Mundungus, suddenly feeling rather hungry from the long train ride.
"Hey, Edith!" Lily greeted, face lighting up upon seeing her roommate and close friend. "I didn't see you at the train a while ago. Where'd you go off to?"
Edith gave a small shrug. "Well, I got a bit caught in the traffic and arrived-- I don't know-- maybe a good three minutes before the train left. It was actually fortunate I made it at all!" Her eyes suddenly shot past Lily, and towards a group of Gryffindors walking past the other tables to take their own seats.
"What's wrong?" Mundungus asked, looking behind him quickly.
"Ed, don't tell me... the Marauders just walked behind me again, didn't they?" Lily said, not even bothering to turn around as she heaved a tiny sigh. She knew that look very well; Edith had been admiring them ever since she became Sirius' seatmate in her first year.
Edith, who immediately realized that her eyes were following the Marauders to their seats at her left, snapped out of the brief trance at once. "Oh, righ-- I mean, how did you know?"
"Oh believe me, I'm psychic," Lily replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Edith's recurring display of infatuation. Seeing Mundungus staring at the Marauders as well, she shoved him and winced. "Gus, please! Not you too! I mean, they may be good-looking and all but you're a boy for goodne--"
Mundungus looked at his best friend, and eyes widening, he suddenly realized what she was talking about. "Hey, gross... yuck... gross! No way!" he blurted out at once, waving his arms in front of her to shrug any indecent thoughts off her head.
He was, in fact, looking in their direction, but this time, fortunately, it wasn't due to infatuation. "That's sick! Of course not! I'm straight, okay? And I was just looking at Peter! He's acting all wei--"
"Peter?" Edith asked, theatrically baffled.
Lily mocked a strong grimace. "You like Peter?!"
But neither Lily nor Edith bothered on finding this out anymore, because before Mundungus could even reply, a faint shout came out from where he was staring.
+_+_+_+
"Ouch!" James exclaimed faintly, waving his thumb madly. It was now furrowed in the middle and glowed a nasty shade of red. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Pettigrew?!"
Peter looked up at him wearily, looking as though he was only beginning to realize that biting people's fingers was actually queer. "Er... I.. I...er.. got you there, now, didn't I?" He attempted to flash a good-natured smile at him, which looked absolutely forced.
"Hey, Petey boy," Sirius said teasingly, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're hungry and all, but I didn't think you were that famished. Care for another thumb?" He waved his own in front of Peter's face mockingly.
"Are you alright, Peter?" Remus asked, bending over from the seat across his friend.
Peter forced a hearty laugh. "Hey, heh, it was a joke, you know!"
James looked at Peter oddly, feeling completely in need of reassurance from his strange behaviour. Crazy git, he thought unsurely as he got a glimpse of Evans and her stupid little friends staring at them. He stood up and gave them a good, piercing glare before he returned back to his seat.
+_+_+_+
Lily felt a pang of annoyance rise up her spine. "Oh, that Potter is just getting on my nerves!"
"What was up with Peter, there?" Edith asked conspicuously, tearing away from her gaze towards the Marauders. "That was completely disgusting! He bit James' thumb!"
"He deserved it, anyway," Lily said with a scowl as she watched a stern-looking witch by the name of Professor McGonagall carry a three-legged stool into the hall. She immediately noticed that the first years had already entered the Great Hall.
"Or maybe, Peter Pettigrew is actually a Cannibal lurking beneath a secret, undiscovered potion that can turn you physically into any other person you'd like to be," Mundungus began, narrowing his eyes dramatically. "And unbeknownst to us all, he might have recently created a demented plot to devour all of his supposed Maraudering allies along with the Slytherins... limb.. by... limb."
He caught the odd glances he was receiving from his friends and quickly added, "..or...erm, not. Hey, finally, the Sorting's starting."
Everyone soon stared at the patched and frayed wizard's hat settled atop the three-legged stool. The entire hall fell almost completely silent, except for a snicker Lily thought to have heard from somewhere at her far left, as a wide tear near the hat's brim opened into something of a mouth, and began to break into song:
With crude stitches on my brim
But once a sit atop a tuft
Something comes out from within
The memories of Godric
Who's got Gryffindor to own
Brings a thought of stunning bravery
With courage on its throne
And there's Rowena Ravenclaw
Of cleverness and wit
The place of valued learning
Where ready minds do dare sit
Of course there's Helga Hufflepuff
Whose loyalty at heart
Has patience far from withering
And difficult to thwart---
But the next part of the song seemed to have been cut off. The Sorting Hat suddenly froze in front of everyone, and it began to cough-- or at least it seemed that way, sending a blister of murmurs to erupt among the tables and the crowd of first years at the entrance. Professor McGonagall wasted no time and immediately rushed towards it; but before she could even touch the stool, the hat's tip shook itself, as though shaking its head, and it cleared its throat completely before returning to sing.
Of Salazar's descent,
With abnormal, greasy body parts
And sarcasm to commend
Then you belong in Slytherin,
the house of sneering dolts
Whose sly and cunning attributes
make up for unscrewed bolts!
Peals of laughter erupted from the tables, particularly every one of them but the Slytherins'. Lily was certain that no matter how livid James was of Peter at the moment, the loudest snorts inside the hall were still sure to be coming from their group of four. And she was right. Even Remus, who was normally serious and calm, had an amused grin on his face.
McGonagall's eyes, however, widened into angered globes. "Honestly, that was deliberate! You should be more shameful of your--"
"Now, now, Minerva, I believe our new students do not need this kind of display on their very first day," Dumbledore said sternly at the faculty table fronting the lot of students, enchanting blue eyes scrolling over the students. They seemed to be passing too frequently over the Gryffindor table as he spoke. "Whoever twisted the Sorting Hat's tongue will be dealt with accordingly after the Sorting. Now let us continue."
Lily couldn't help but swear that Dumbledore's tightened line of a mouth was already pining to break into an amused grin.
+_+_+_+
James ran a hand through his jet black hair as he was overcome with a ton of hefty snickers. He couldn't help it; the looks on the Slytherins' faces were just classic!
"Damn, James, that was brilliant!" Sirius exclaimed in a whisper, not bothering to watch as the first new students got sorted. "Did you see the look on Snape's face? Hah, paint his nose yellow and he'd get mistaken for a phoenix!"
James exchanged brotherly knuckles with Sirius as he gradually regained his composure. "Don't blame it all on the prefect, Sirius. It was Rem, after all, who did all the research." He gave Remus a good-natured punch on the shoulder.
Remus shook his head, and yet grinned nonetheless.
"Neat trick you guys," Peter added, still looking worn-out and pale.
"Listen, Pete, are you sure you're alright?" James asked him. The laughter did him good, as the bite he had from Peter a while ago seemed to have gone forgotten. "You look like you could eat an acromantula."
"Really, I'm fine, okay?" Peter replied rather boldly. "Just shove off." He stared at James for a good while, and finally let his eyelids drop. His head drooped down with a clang onto the golden plate set before him.
The second-year girl sitting beside Peter squealed upon seeing him unconscious, and immediately stood up.
"Professor McGonagall, someone's fainted!"
The next unsorted first year stopped walking midway towards the three-legged stool, turning his head around to take a peek at the Gryffindor table. The rest of the population did likewise, conducting a brief silence at first; but soon, dozens of gasps and new murmurs surrounded the Great Hall.
All attention seemed to have been focused on the-Gryffindor-boy-who-fainted at that moment; if this was otherwise, someone would have noticed the wind carry off something-- a card with unusual illustrations of serpents and a dead tree-- as it slid across the floor, halting just beneath the Slytherin table, and smack aside the shoe of a certain unsuspecting, greasy-haired Slytherin fifth year by the name of Severus Snape.
+_+_+_+
A/N: If any of you are wondering, the Marauders aren't using their nicknames for each other yet because they haven't discovered how to change into Animagi yet. But they will in future chapters, so don't worry. ^_^ Thank you all those who read and reviewed!
Chibi-Cola: Hey, thanks... I'm really happy you did. ^_^ I'm also glad you enjoyed those parts and characterizations. It's unfortunate the Netherlands don't have it yet... anyway, if it ever does, be sure to watch out for it! And hey, although you don't have MG there, I don't think being Dutch sounds so bad. ^_^ Thanks for your wonderful reviews!
Doneril: Thanks, I'm glad you do! ^_^ What Lily/James will fall prey to is going to arrive in the later chapters, as I'm planning to place the less significant ones before them. Not all of them will become victims, but several are definitely going to get affected in several ways. :^)
Siriusly Weird: Hehe, the classic pun for a nickname! I like it! ;-) Anyway, thanks! I'm happy you liked Mrs. Evans too. I'll be writing some more, I promise, but I can't guarantee extremely quick chapters. It can take me eons to update at times, I'm sorry. ^_^ Thanks nonetheless!
Sabriel4: Yup, I reserved Envy for someone else. ^_~ I thought it would be better that way, and I wanted to give Peter something outside his stereotype. Thank you so much for the compliments! And for the possible R/L, well, it IS possible. ^_^ Just keep on reading, and things will emerge eventually. Thanks again! ^_^
zwizwi: Hehe, I hope so too. I'm quite happy that my own mother isn't like that. ^_^ Thank you, and I hope it will prove to be promising in the near future. Thanks again!
Stating-the-obvious: Oh, hehe, sorry about that! It's alright though, I've burst into peals of laughter in public several times before for no reason. ^__^ I agree with what you said about the snot and the shallow. Hee.. ^_^ Thanks so much!
CarmenSandiego: Hey! Your nick's one of my favorite games, actually... except I've been playing the really old, DOS version for around 7 years now... hehe... anyway, I'm glad you actually laughed! I've read a load of good humor fics out there and the tiny bit of humor I've placed in here just doesn't seem to amount to that much. So it's a huge relief that you found it funny! And yes, I think she IS mentally deranged! ^_^ Hehe, thanks a bunch!
Andunfeniel: Oh, thanks! I really hope I didn't... thanks a load for the reassurance. I'll keep on writing, but I'm not sure if I can promise quick updates. =/ Anyway, thanks a load again! ^__^
reader: Hehe, thanks! ^_^ I wish I could smart mouth a load of people that way, but I'm quite the contrary. =P Anyway, thanks! And I'll try keeping some of James' lines in mind for everyday insults. ^_~
citrus scented: Thank you! You've been a very encouraging reviewer, and I'm really grateful for that. Thanks a thousand galleons for all those compliments, and I'm really glad you appreciated what I've been writing. I'm also happy you liked that line on the snitch.. hehe ^_^ I used Mundungus because I thought using Arabella might sound too clichéd or something... and I think she's supposed to be older than them. ^_^ Oh, and thanks for the correction! I overlooked the word 'mom' and got carried away...anyway, I've fixed it now. ^_^ Thanks a whole bunch again!!
Angelxd14: Thanks a whole load! *bows* It's an honor to have it placed there! That was very flattering! Thanks! ^__^
phoenixdreams: I'm happy you found it original! ^_^ And yes, I love Mrs. Evans too, even though she acts mentally ill throughout the story. ^_^ Hehe, thanks! And hopefully the plot will materialize soon. ^_^
Stefanorkle: Hehe... I would too! Thanks! ^_~
KirbeeDesirae: Hehe! Thanks! It's great you found the humiliation great! ^_^ Oh, they're in fifth year by the way. ^_^ Just to make the hormones a bit realistic. And I can relate to it more that way, being the same age. Thanks again! ^_~
K. Ashley (kas316@msn.com): Yup, you read my mind! And I completely agree on this one... it really was more tedious for some reason. I guess I just didn't get the feel of it when I was writing. Thanks for the actual constructive criticism. These suggestions can really help with the story. ^_^ And I'll try deepening the relationship between Lily and the Marauders too. Thanks so much! ^_^
Lucy in the sky with DIAMONDS: Nice nick! ^_~ I didn't model Lily on the Weasleys, exactly, but now that you've mentioned it, it does seem that way. ^_^ But a part of her character was based on San Cai, a character on a TV Show called Meteor Garden. ^_^ I'll also try reading your story soon, before our classes begin. ^_^ Thanks!
Cecilia Orechio: Thanks! ^_^ The reason behind James' bullying exterior will be explained in one of the later chapters, probably all the way into December of their schoolyear. ^_^ But you're also right about James having something else for Lily, except he has no idea about it yet. The closest he knows about it is that he just enjoys seeing Lily angry or irritated, and no more. ^_^ And regarding the guesses, we'll find out in the later chapters as well. ^_^ I'll try e-mailing you in my free time, too. I e-mailed you last April but I'm not sure if you've received it. Anyway, thanks a lot! ^__~
Lacey Evans: Thank you! ^_^ That was really reassuring...and thanks for the new word (if it doesn't already exist ^_^)! I hope you're doing well with your fic, too! ^_^ I've recently re-read the first part as well, and I'll really try my best to review it again sometime soon. It's just that there's been so much to do recently especially since school's starting and I've just recovered from my first case of chickenpox. Hehe...thanks a whole lot! ^_^
DarkAngel (Candynss4582@aol.com): I'm really glad you did! ^_^ I'll try writing as quickly as possible! Thanks!
That's it for now. Thanks to all of you! The encouragements and suggestions were really helpful. Thanks for taking your time to give a closer look at the story! ^_~ Please don't forget to review for this chapter! ^_^ Thanks!
