Disclaimer~ Anything in this text that you recognize is not mine. However, if you don't recognize something (more than likely) it belongs to me.

Hello Everyone ! Thanks for the reviews ! I've finally got 100 and I owe it to you guys. Thanks soo much. Well…I guess I don't have much else to say, so…

on with the fic…

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New Year's Eve was one of the last true gatherings of the school year for the eight Gryffindor friends. Of course, they went to Quidditch matches and classes together, but they never had chances to be together just for the fun of it. This was mainly due to Miss Lily Evans and her crazy study schedules for her three girlfriends (the boys had somehow escaped receiving schedules from Lily).  Lily insisted the exams would soon be approaching and decided to nominate herself as "The Only Responsible One."

It was a gorgeous day in late May that Lily, Robyn, Melanie, and Arabella could be found sitting in the enveloping red cushions of Gryffindor common room's couches. Large books with tattered covers were scattered haphazardly across the wooden coffee table that was in front of them. Their faces were all scrunched in looks of concentration and frustration as they scanned the various texts the books held. It was at this time that Arabella threw her charms book to the floor and flung her hands in the air, "That's it! I have had enough! I've been studying so much that I've forgotten the stuff I knew before I even started studying! I'm taking a break," she paused to catch her breath and stood up. "Considering that the whole common room's empty, I'm guessing the rest of Gryffindor got the idea long before us!" Arabella turned abruptly and marched out of the common room, arms crossed over her chest and her blond curls bouncing against her black robes.

After recovering from the shock of the sudden outburst, Lily said in a sharp tone, "Fine! She can be that way if she wants to. She'll be the one running to me the day before exams, crying about how she's going to fail!" Lily's face gained an edge of contempt, "And you know what? I'm not gonna help her. Not one bit!"

It was after this that Lily noticed she was yelling at no one. She turned in time to see Robyn and Melanie scurrying out of the portrait hole. As it was being closed she yelled, "And I won't be helping you either!" At this point, Lily began muttering to herself in tongues. Soon she returned to her studies.

Nonetheless, she just couldn't seem to get her concentration back to one hundred percent. The windows in the common room were all open, and she could feel the warm spring breeze graze her cheeks as it slid past flimsy curtains. It was tainted with the joy of the students outside, who she could tell were having fun in the beautiful weather by their gleeful shrieks and cries.

          After a moment's longing, Lily shook her head and decided it wouldn't do her exam results any good to lose concentration at such a critical time. All the same, she found her thoughts wandering once more to the outdoors. Giving up, she closed her Transfiguration book and stood up, raising her arms over her head and stretching with a yawn.

          She exited the Gryffindor common room and walked towards the Entrance Hall. Once there, she opened the great wooden doors and was greeted with the scent of spring—the scent of…freedom. She walked out of the castle and onto the school grounds. She felt the springy grass under her feet and the warm air against her skin. She was in a state of bliss. That is, until a certain James Potter pelted her with water balloons which, of course, were charmed to follow her every step.

          "Why you evil little prat!" Lily exclaimed while James laughed heartily. She whispered a drying spell and was pleased to once again be waterless. Surprisingly, she didn't retaliate immediately to James' antics. Instead she searched the grounds for her friends until she spotted them sitting by the edge of the lake. She hustled over to them and gave a quick "hello."

          They ignored her.

          "I said, 'hello.' Aren't you people supposed to say something back?"

          They said nothing.

          "Oh, c'mon guys. I didn't mean it. You know how I get!" Lily was trying her best to avoid apologizing. "Please. I didn't mean to yell. I just was so frustrated, y'know?"

          Once again, they said nothing.

          "You guys are being childish!"

          This comment caused Arabella to humph,

          "Okay, that may not have been the best thing to say," admitted Lily, "but I really am sorry! Please forgive me! I'll help you study!" Lily was almost begging.

          "Ok," said Melanie with a smile. "We were just checking to see how long it would take before you cracked."

          "You guys are evil, do you know that?" asked Lily bitterly. "But I need your help at the moment, so I can get over it."

          "What do you want us to do?" asked Arabella as she pulled a buttercup from the ground and placed it behind her ear.

          "Well, do you guys have any good spur-of-the-moment prank ideas?" asked Lily as she plopped down onto the grass. "Potter decided he'd pelt me with stalking water balloons."

          "Sorry, my mind's blank," said Robyn, "But why don't we just do the same thing he did to you? He wouldn't expect it."

          "But that's not creative at all!" pouted Lily. She took off her shoes and socks and then placed her feet in the cool lake water, splashing water with her toes. "Plus, his prank was pretty amateur if I say so myself."

          Melanie gained a furtive look. "Well, actually, it's not as bad as you think. Imagine if we did the same thing to him, but filled the balloons with…green paint."

          "Why, he'd look like a frog!" cried Robyn.

"No…he'd look like…a Slytherin!" whispered Arabella appreciatively.

"Exactly," said Mel  

          "Mel, I really love you sometimes," said Lily with a grin.

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Meanwhile, under an oak tree…

          "Why'd you have to prank her, James?" whined Peter. "All it ever does is get you- not to mention us- pranked back!"

          "Because…," James paused for thought, "it's fun!"

          "Well, Lily's revenge isn't fun at all! I always end up in the middle of it," Peter whined some more.

          "That's because you don't run fast enough!" explained James. Peter punched James' arm playfully and was staring in the distance when his face blanched and he abruptly stood up and started running away from James at an oddly fast pace. He was soon followed by Remus and Sirius who dropped their sandwiches and ran also.

          "Where're you going?" shouted James.

          Sirius pointed behind James and continued jogging alongside a sprinting Peter.

          James turned around to see what Sirius had been pointing at. The sight he saw surprised him. Several silver balloons were quickly zooming in his direction. 'How odd,' he thought blankly.

It wasn't until a few seconds later that he realized the balloons were heading straight for him. After scurrying to his feet, James set off at a run after his friends who were quite a distance ahead of him. He quickly looked over his shoulder to see how far away the balloons were. To his dismay, they were only a few feet behind him…

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By the lake…

          Lily was curled over laughing at the sight before her. James Potter was running like a madman, trying to escape the persistent balloons. He had almost made a full lap around the lake when he (to Lily's delight) tripped on a root and fell unceremoniously to the ground. The balloons came to a halt above James' crumpled form and, as if the spell making them hover had been lifted, dropped on top of him. A boyish shriek was heard over the grounds as balloon met flesh.

Lily guffawed, although she was disappointed to realize she'd lost sight of James. All she saw was grass, grass, and more grass. It wasn't until he stood up from the ground that Lily realized where he was. It turned out the green paint inside the balloon was the same color as the grass James had been laying in. 'What a coincidence!' thought Lily gaily.

She nervously watched James stomp around the lake until he reached her and her friends' sitting place on the opposite bank. The green, paint-soaked boy stood over her, steaming, but was too angry to make much sense. All she could make out was the word "you" and something that sounded curiously like "britches."

"I beg your pardon," said Lily with a fake smile, "But could you speak in the way humans do? I'm sure you want to be a rhinoceros, James, but quite frankly, we don't have a talent for their language like you seem to."  Several people sitting nearby chuckled at this comment.

James blushed and let out several more incomprehensible grunts before violently reaching for his wand. In his fury his glasses tumbled to the ground, exposing the untouched skin that had been hidden behind his specs. Lily took this as the opportune moment to tease him once more, "Oh, look! He's a raccoon!" she shouted in a vitriolic manner. This comment aroused more laughter.

"Be quiet!" yelled James, dropping to his knees and tapping the ground randomly in search of his glasses. A few more chuckles were heard.

"Here," said Melanie, handing James his glasses,

Relieved, James whispered his thanks to Melanie and left before his humiliation could increase. After he was out of hearing range, Melanie turned to Lily with a frown on her face, "That was cruel!"

"What? He deserved it!"

"For water balloons? C'mon Lils, it wasn't that bad. I'm beginning to think the green paint wasn't such a great idea," Melanie stated.

"Why not?" asked Lily, half-angry, half-curious.

"Because you've turned into him!"

"What do you mean by 'him'?"

"I mean you-you're doing the exact thing James does. You're pranking and then humiliating!"

"I'm not like Potter!" she cried indignantly. Flashes of James' falling form and her bitter teasing passed through her mind and her opinion of herself changed instantly. "Oh, no! I am like Potter." This sentence seemed to echo in her mind until she couldn't take it anymore. Lily hastily stood up and ran towards the castle, her braid swishing back and forth across her back as her arms pumped. She ignored the several calls of her friends and ran through the castle doors. After racing up two flights of stairs she ran into the nearest lavatory, ignoring the "Out of Order" sign on the door…

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DanniBannani~ Hello people. I am so proud of myself! I've updated within a few weeks of my last update and I am somewhat satisfied with this chapter. I hope you are too, so please leave a review *that rhymed :)* Also, thanks to all who helped bring me to 100. I AM SOOO HAPPY!!! Well, I must go now..so tata!