Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. don't belong to me. This part was inspired by the song "Everybody's Fool" by Evanescence, which doesn't belong to me either.
You will notice that all the songs used are by Evanescence – they fit the mood. Look up the lyrics to this song to find out what's going to happen in advance!
Chapters wont go up consistently, but on average about once a week.
Part One – Everybody's Fool – An Alternate Universe fic.
Chapter One.
Perfect by nature
Icons of self indulgence
Just what we all need
More lies about
a world that
Never was
and never will be
Have you no shame?
Don't you see?
You know you've got everybody fooled …
~*~
James Potter tore through the corridors, knocking many younger students out of the way in the process. He was over twenty minutes late for his first Head meeting, which was not something he desired. Not because he knew the Head Girl would be tearing her hair out on account of him, but because Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of the school, would be present at the meeting.
James Potter was a person who lacked many qualities some took for granted – love, humility, compassion and respect for others being some. He had his social circle, but in reality, James Potter was a very lonely person. This loneliness had been channeled into a spider web of hate, cruelty and lies that trapped and fed on his soul.
James Potter was also in the 'popular' group, loved to play jokes on others with his friends and always had a smile, a wink, maybe even chocolates for the ladies. These personality traits clashed horribly, but James thought he had it under control. Every day, he wore an invisible mask. A mask that hid his cruel blue-grey eyes and the thoughts that lay behind them. They say you can tell what a person is thinking by looking at their eyes. Not with James Potter. His were jovial and interested, and kept the mask from slipping.
James' twisted thoughts were known only to few, one of those few being Dumbledore. The Headmaster knew that James' attitude was caused by a mixture of childhood problems and an inability to cope, and thus had taken a gamble assigning the Head Boy position to James, who could abuse it in a heartbeat. James didn't know it, but Dumbledore's motive in giving him Head Boy was to instill responsibility upon James, to give him a position in which he could not let others down. From there, it would be James' own choice of whether or not to save himself.
James felt he had no soul; no inner purpose to keep him moving in life, and was happy to sit and wallow in his misery, where nothing was expected of him. But by giving him the Head Boy position, Dumbledore had put in James a sort of thirst to achieve something; to be something, and James didn't like it. He wanted to continue in his cruel ways, and break others without them realizing that it was him, the happy, loving friend that broke them. He wanted to do to others what had been done to him, purely for his own selfish desires.
But right then he came to the portrait that lead to the Head's common room, said the password and rushed in, his book bag swinging madly behind him.
He looked up, not into the cornflower blue eyes of the Headmaster, but into the very green eyes of Lily Evans, the very pissed off Head Girl.
Upon seeing him, she immediately stood up, her arms folded.
"Do you realise," she spoke slowly, as if James were five, "That you are so LATE that Professor Dumbledore gave up on you!" Her volume rose as she continued. "And now, I have to work with an ARROGANT LOSER WHO CAN'T EVEN READ HIS OWN WATCH!"
James knew that she would be angry. This was Lily Evans, teacher's pet extraordinaire who turned up to every class ten minutes early. He found her to be a prissy study freak with a personality about as sweet as artificial sugar, but he didn't hate her. Not because of her generous personality or kindness, but because of her looks. Most males found her to be extremely attractive, and for a good reason too. The only make-up she wore was baby blue eyes shadow and lip gloss, but it served to show off her clear complexion. She wore her school skirt down to her knees, but no skirt could hide the fact that her legs were long and slender.
And then there was the hair. Dark, auburn hair with lighter, natural red streaks through it. Her hair was dead straight, and always in a ponytail.
You guessed it, right then and there James wanted her. He didn't want to get to know her, he just wanted her. Not to rape or anything. He wanted her hanging on his arm, a trophy girlfriend. Did she want him? At that moment, hell yeah. She wanted him dead.
James just ignored Lily's words, and with his typical cheerfulness asked
"Where's Dumbledore?"
"He gave up on you and left! Have you even been listening to what I'm saying?"
"Nope," James grinned, unfazed. He watched Lily grow angrier and angrier in front of him. He laughed silently at his ability to infuriate her.
"You, know what James?" she yelled, getting even louder. "I'm sick of your immaturity, stupidity and all – around moronic behavior! YOU ARE SO RETARDED THAT YOU DON'T EVEN DESERVE THE HONOR OF HEAD BOY!"
"Well, then, let's get down to business, shall we?" James grinned charmingly, watching Lily melt as she lost herself in him. She was so deceivable, so naïve. She had no idea what was really going on inside, how twisted he really was. He watched her sigh, and finally mutter "alright then". They both sat down at the round, circular table in the centre.
James looked around. It was a Sunday, and only the second day back, so he hadn't even been in here yet. If he could have picked one word to describe the theme, it would be opulent. Everything was done in red and gold, with timber and velvet furnishings, and even a gold-rimmed, full length mirror near the doorway.
James immediately made the descision to spend his time here, rather than in the seventh year dormitory with his friends. This was huge, fancy, and offered privacy and plenty of time for privacy. With, of course, the added bonus of a whole common room for just him and Lily. In just days, he predicted, she would be swept off her feet by him.
Lily began to go through with James the things that Dumbledore wanted them to do. They could organise one major event, as well as the Graduation Feast and Ball, and were in charge of keeping the rest of the school up to date with passwords, Hogsmeade dates, etc. In addition to this, they were also to receive other miscellaneous events and assignments from the Headmaster throughout the year.
James grinned charmingly at Lily once again, looking forward to surprising her. He waited politely until she was finished explaining before he spoke.
"Okay then," he said slowly, as if pondering something. "Why don't we, instead of having students go and check the notice boards every week, create a newsletter or something, it'd be easier and we could control what goes in it."
The shock of having James Potter actually living up to his duties and contributing something registered on Lily's face.
"But …" she said slowly, as if in a daze, her beautiful eyes not quite meeting his. "That's a great idea …"
"Of course it is," laughed James. "Were you expecting anything less?"
"Well, yeah," she said, snapping out of it.
"Well, relax then. I'm here to work as well, you know," he said, looking deeply and sincerely into her eyes. They were crocodile eyes, he noted absently. Light green around the outside, green with brown flecks towards the centre. At that moment he forgot himself. He forgot that he had no intention to work, but only to capture and break Lily Evans. He forgot that he was a depressed and tortured soul. He looked into the eyes of Lily Evans and saw good. Not naivety, prissiness or innocence. Good, and it made him want to be a good person as well.
They worked well for an hour or two on the newsletter. Called The Grapevine, it would contain room on the first two pages for articles of aspiring journalists about topics relevant to the school. Then, there would be notices for the whole school on a different page. After that, pages for each house, as well as columns on Quidditch tips and the like. All in all, it was shaping up to be an interesting year.
James kept up the friendly, caring, hardworking farce that he was used to, and though he would never admit it to himself, somehow Lily had an effect on him, and he felt good about himself, even though every word that came out of his mouth was a lie.
It had been a long time since James Potter had felt good.
~*~
Lily Evans was almost skipping as she headed back down the stairs, on her way to the seventh year girls' dormitory to get her things so she could move them to the Head's dormitory. The seventh year ones weren't bad, but they looked like the slums in India compared to the Head's dorm.
But the opulence of her new dormitory wasn't the only thing that had put her in a good mood. She had just realised what a loss she had suffered by not getting to know James Potter. He seemed immature, but in reality he was a heard-working, caring guy. Or so she thought.
She smiled and waved as she passed a couple of her friends on the way. She had many friends, but none all that close. They were more like acquaintances to her than anything else. But she felt that in James Potter, she had just made a true friend. She had conveniently forgotten all of James' bad points, and was now idolizing him in her mind.
Did she want him? Badly. In her eyes, he was the perfect boyfriend, and she was looking forward to getting to know him better. Did he want her? God, she hoped so.
A smile graced her face when she thought about him, but that smile was quickly wiped off when she was grabbed roughly by the arm and pulled into a classroom. She winced as the door slammed shut behind her, leaving her alone face to face Lucius Malfoy and Adam Silverfish.
"So, Evans," Silverfish began, baring his teeth in a toothy grin. "Made your descision yet?"
Lily whimpered quietly, trying to avoid answering. Malfoy's grip on her arm tightened until she could bear it no longer.
"Time," she whispered hoarsely. "I need time to think."
The two boys were not pleased.
"The Dark Lord doesn't have time for you to think. You've had all the holidays to think," said Malfoy impatiently. "Are you going to join him or not?"
"Please, Lucius," she begged. "Don't make me do this."
"You have no choice, Evans," Silverfish broke in. "You knew what you were getting into when you started messing with us."
"Well, yes, but-"
"No buts. Yes or no?" Lily was trapped. She had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
"One week, okay? Just give me one week, and I'll come back to you with my descision,"
"Fine," growled Malfoy. "But after one week, if you don't join, someone close to you will suffer."
He let her go, and she ran out of the classroom, not looking back.
Half an hour later, Lily had deposited her trunk and owl in her private dormitory, and dumped all the notes she had taken when she was working with James on her desk. She flopped onto her bed and groaned, wondering just how she got into such a mess.
She knew perfectly well how, of course, she mused as she played with a gold tassel on her bedspread. Last year, feeling curious, rebellious and mixed up, she had befriended Malfoy and Silverfish in secret, eagerly taking part in their experiments with Dark Arts. At first, it was nothing serious, not for her anyway. But then Voldemort, a Dark wizard rising in Eastern Europe had come into the picture. Malfoy and Silverfish, already members of Voldemort's band of 'Death Eaters' were now pressuring her to join. She had done stupid things, and now she was suffering the consequences.
She flipped over onto her stomach, trying to work out a way to get out of it. What would James think if he knew? She wondered silently, feeling so ashamed of herself. She took out a quill and several sheets of parchment so she could write all her thoughts on the matter down and clear her head. An hour later, after a few tears, she had figured out a plan of action.
She would say yes to Malfoy and Silverfish, but refuse to do anything until she was out of Hogwarts. Then, after graduation at the end of the year, she would flee to Australia, where she had an aunt and two cousins living in northern Sydney, thus escaping all trouble to come, and preventing anyone from pursuing her.
What about James? What if she got together with him, and they lasted until they were out of Hogwarts? Leaving him would break his heart, she thought, and resolved to deal with that later, even if it meant taking him to Australia with her.
She felt considerably more refreshed and invigorated after doing that, and as she stuffed the parchment she had been writing on into her bedside drawer, she felt as if a load had been lifted off her shoulders.
Lily walked down to dinner with a genuine smile on her face, a smile that got even bigger when James, entering at the same time as her, asked her to sit with him and his friends. She accepted, and for the first time she was able to look on in amusement rather than disapproval at the antics of the infamous Marauders. For the first time in a long while, Lily Evans was happy.
A/N: I'm quite happy with that. If you leave a review could you please give the chapter a rating out of 7? 7 being fantastic and 1 being not worth reading?
Thank you for reading!
snowflakey
