Authors Note ~ Yes no need to tell me, it's been a while, but you know I'm a busy girl. I still love you all though. I was reading a fanfic the other day, and it was written by a girl from America. Can I just say, we don't say 'git' all the time, I'm not moaning, I just found it quite funny.... anyway, I am amused easily. Thank you everybody who reviewed my story. Especially Karly, her reviews are really sweet! Thanx! In this chapter, we find out what everyone thinks of Serena's new look! See ya babez! BE A GOOD READER, REVIEW!
Disclaimer ~ Everything you or Ms J K Rowling recognise in this fanfic belong to her. I only own Serena, Reemi, Penny and Alaine. Oh yeah and Meana, but I don't really want to own her (Slytherin Scum...)
4. Reactions
Serena had the best holiday she had ever had at Lily's house. Lily's family were so welcoming and kind (all except Petunia of course), Lily's parents made her feel like she was part of the family. All in all she was sad when it was time to leave for Kings-Cross station.
"Rise and shine girls, it's going to take an hour to travel down to London, and you've got to get ready. I know you'll want to look nice for your first day back!"
This is torture thought Serena. She looked at the clock on Lily's bedroom wall, it told her it was seven o'clock in the morning.
"Your dad's about to leave for work as well, darling," said Lily's mum to her daughter, "I knew you'd want to say goodbye before you left for school."
Lily was up and out of bed. She looked wide-awake.
"Where is he mum?" asked Lily, "It's seven o'clock. I'll have to say goodbye before he leaves."
"He's in the kitchen dear, packing his briefcase," Lily ran down the stairs, said goodbye to her father and gave him a big hug, he then told her 'not to do anything he wouldn't do' and left. Lily ran back upstairs to hear the rest of her mothers briefing.
"Right girls, the plan starts with a shower for you both, then you can dry your hair. This should take no longer than forty-five minutes. Then you can wash your faces and clean your teeth, that should take us to about eight o'clock. While your doing that I'll feed Forna dear," she said, as the black kitten jumped off Serena's sofa bed. "That means I can have breakfast ready for you at eight o'clock!"
She said all this very quickly, Serena thought it was a wonder any of it actually went in, but thankfully it did. After a ten-minute shower, Serena dried her hair which took her up till seven forty-five, just as Lily's mum said it would. She then washed her face, cleaned her teeth and went down stairs ready for breakfast. She opened her mouth in shock, she couldn't believe her eyes. Mrs Evans had laid out on the table a full English breakfast, complete with eggs, bacon, toast, grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms and everything else you could imagine. Serena felt like she was already back at Hogwarts.
"Wow Mrs Evans, this is amazing!" said Serena breathlessly, "This must have taken ages, you needn't have gone to all the trouble though!"
"Oh nonsense, I like cooking, it's my speciality, now I know you probably all sit and eat junk food on that train, so I want this table clear, no food left, do you understand?" It was more of a threat than a question.
"Yes!" the girls chorused enthusiastically. They were both starving, Mrs Evans purposely gave them a small dinner the night before so that they could eat a large breakfast on the morning. After an hour of picking at Mrs Evans' amazing cooking, the two witches went upstairs to get dressed. Lily had picked both sets of clothes. She was wearing a sky blue paisley (this is the 70's) halter-neck top, a red mini skirt and a pair of platform shoes. Serena was wearing a baby pink v-neck top with short sleeves, a short denim mini skirt and a pair of black knee high boots shoes, she was also wearing a pair of rather large silver hoopy earrings. The girls then did their hair, put their make-up on and travelled downstairs.
"Now girls, is there anything you've forgotten?" said Mrs Evans looking flustered, "toothbrushes, books, stationary, no? Okay then, we best be off!"
"See you soon, house," Lily said as they walked out of the front door and into Mrs Evans' mini (Mr Evans had the family car), somehow they managed to fit all of their stuff for Hogwarts into the small car.
The trip to the station was a very nervous one for Serena. What if no one liked her new look? What if they all thought she was doing it to get attention? Serena was sure her new look would get her attention, yes. But that wasn't why she was doing it. She was doing it for herself, because she wanted to come out of her shell. The shell that she had been caged in by people like Narcissa Hamilton, Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. Serena was ashamed to admit it, but she also found that she was doing it to show a certain person how she was not made for Peter Pettigrew, but for people like him. Serena slapped herself mentally, she wasn't doing it for him she was doing it for herself.
"Are you excited then?" Lily asked, she obviously was, her smile reached from one ear to the other.
Serena took a moment to think, "Yeah, I think I am, I'm dying to see the look on Narcissa's face when she sees me like this. She'll die. The last thing she said about me was when we were on the Hogwarts Express remember? She told you to listen to your 'ugly friend'"
"I still don't know why you never let me hit her," said Lily, "I mean, she called me Lillian for goodness sake!"
The girls and Mrs Evans sat and talked about anything and everything for the rest of the journey. When the girls were complaining about last years Defence Against Dark Arts teacher Professor Macnair, Mrs Evans told them off and said that they should be grateful for having such a wonderful gift of magic, and they should love everything about that school, including it's nasty teachers. She then went into a lecture about what she would have given to receive an acceptance letter from Hogwarts as a child. The girls praised the lord when they finally arrived at Kings-Cross station. It meant that Mrs Evans' lecture was over. Like every year, the girls felt very self-conscious walking through the train station with old-fashioned trunks tagging along behind them, and like every year they received some very strange looks, but not as strange as the looks that people with owls got.
"What time is it mum?" shouted Lily, trying to make herself heard over the low rumbles of the passing train, "We don't want to be late!"
"It's okay honey you've still got just under quarter of an hour, we'll make it in good time, if these tourists would get a move on!" she shouted loudly.
Finally they arrived between platforms nine and ten with eight minutes to spare, ready to say their goodbyes.
"Thank you so much for having me these holidays Mrs Evans, I've had a great time and you've all been so welcoming." Lily let out some laughter. Her mother looked at her sharply.
"What Lily?" asked Mrs Evans, confused.
"Well Petunia hasn't exactly been welcoming now has she, she went out of her way to be as rude and obnoxious as she possibly could have been," said Lily, chuckling to herself.
"Yes, well she's been under a lot of stress lately, what with her friend and all," lied Mrs Evans. "Anyway dear, you've been no trouble at all. You can come again anytime you want. It's been a pleasure to have you." she then gave Serena a big hug, then turned on Lily, "Oh Lily honey, have a wonderful time and keep working hard, I'll miss you lots, remember to write to us at least once a week."
"I will mum," she gave her mum a hug, said goodbye and grabbed Serena's arm. "Are you ready for this?"
"Sure."
Serena's heart was pounding as she stepped through the barrier onto platform 9 ¾. The platform was as busy as ever; parents were rushing around telling their children to stay put so as they wouldn't loose them. The older students were talking about their summers animatedly to their friends. Lily saw the other three Gryffindor fifth year girls amidst the noisy crowd of students.
"Come on Serena!" shouted Lily, "I want the others to see you!"
Lily had a look of triumph on her face, as if she had created a masterpiece, she dragged Serena through the crowd, not caring how many people she knocked over in the process.
"Hi!" shouted Lily over the loud crowd, the girls looked up from their discussion.
"Hi Lily," Reemi said happily, she then looked to the girl beside Lily and gasped dramatically, "Merlin's Beard! That can't be you, Serena!" at this, the other two girls suddenly gasped as well.
"In the flesh," said Serena, she felt more confident even as she spoke, "I let Lily loose on me."
"Well she's done one heck of a job, that's all I can say!" screamed Alain, as she ran up to Serena and gave her a hug.
"I must warn you though, just because of my new look it does not mean I'm gonna turn into a dumb blond, no offence Penny," Serena said apologetically, looking at Penny's bobbed blond locks.
"None taken," said Penny obviously still shocked by Serena's new look.
"Anyway, we'll see you at Hogwarts," smiled Lily, "we're gonna find a compartment." Both of the girls skipped off positively beaming.
The girls opened the door to the train and found an empty compartment at the end of the Hogwarts Express. They then tucked their trunks under a table and settled in their seats ready for the long journey back to Hogwarts. Two minutes later they were interrupted by three rowdy fifth years and their tag along friend.
"Hi, can we sit with..." James started but he couldn't finish, it dawned on him exactly who was sat next to Lily. His face was priceless, Sirius's even more so. Remus's face displayed a large smile and Peter looked confused.
"Who are you?" asked Peter, who honestly didn't seem to recognise Serena, this made Serena chuckle to herself.
"It's Serena you idiot," hissed James, still looking shocked.
Remus sat down next to Serena still beaming at her, "I knew you had it in you to be who you wanted to be," he whispered in to her ear.
James and Peter sat down, James next to Lily and Peter next to Remus. Sirius was still stood in the doorway.
"Are you going to sit down Sirius or are you going to stand there looking like a Pratt all day?" asked Serena sarcastically.
"What...oh yeah," said Sirius looking thoroughly embarrassed, as he sat next to James.
"So Serena, I've noticed something different about you," said Remus in a fake tone of voice, "Are they new earrings you're wearing?" The compartment shook with laughter.
"Funny you should say that," Serena said pointing to the hoops in her ears, "But yes, they are new."
After a few of the marauders' jokes, Lily went into a full-blown story of how Serena had come to acquire her new look. She didn't tell them about the part where Serena had promised to fix her and James up. She did tell them about the numerous muggle boys who had asked Serena for her phone number at the Discos they went to. At this Serena went pink and Sirius went white. Serena didn't see this, but Lily did.
"Is there something wrong Sirius?" asked Lily, trying to conceal the smile that was forming on her lips.
"Erm... no, I'm just not feeling to well, headache" Serena didn't notice that he was lying and stood up.
"I'll get my book on curing common illness out, they'll be a headache cure in there," Serena reached up into an over head compartment where she had put some of her books which wouldn't fit into her trunk. The boys in the compartment couldn't help but see how nice her figure was.
"It's not that bad," said Sirius, "I'll be okay in a minute, I don't need a cure, honestly."
Serena sat back down and became involved in a conversation with James about Quidditch; they both followed the same team, Puddlemere United.
"It's so fun watching quidditch, but I wish I could play, I mean I'm quite good on a broomstick but no one has ever taught me how to play," said Serena sadly.
"We'll teach you how to play wont we Sirius," said James helpfully.
"Yeah, we're looking for a new chaser this year, if we teach you quickly enough and you can handle a broom you might make the squad," said Sirius.
"Oh no, I don't want to join the squad, I just want to learn to play, if I join the squad I'll become a competitive freak like you and James," said Serena to Sirius, "Just teach me how to play. Anyway, I think I'd rather just cheer you guys on."
After two hours of chatter Serena left the compartment saying she needed to stretch her legs, five minutes after that Narcissa, Meana (another Slytherin 5th year), Severus, and Lucius came into their compartment.
"Here comes trouble," Pettigrew whimpered, curling into the smallest ball he could.
"Hello scum," Lucius Malfoy said bitterly, Lucius wasn't in 5th year, he was in 6th year, but he still despised the Marauders, this was mainly due to the fact that he was captain of the Slytherin quidditch team, and James and Sirius were two of the best players in the school.
"Hello slime ball," Sirius retaliated, his eyes were filled with fire.
"How's the mudblood wonder?" asked Narcissa, Meana her friend sniggered at her friends apparently funny joke, "We seem to be missing a freak here. Where's the ugly girl... what's her name...you know, er... Samantha."
"It's Serena actually, and she's stood right behind you," Lily said angrily. Narcissa turned around to look at Serena. When she saw her, her cocky, arrogant smile turned into a look of utter disbelief.
Although this look made Serena feel slightly uncomfortable, she answered Narcissa's stare of disbelief with an appreciative smile. Narcissa's face suddenly changed though, when she noticed that Snape and Lucius were paying more attention to Serena than to her. Her face now looked sour and nasty.
"What are you smiling at?" she said viciously to Serena, Serena grew nervous under her cold stare.
"Err... nothing," Serena stammered, feeling like she wanted to disappear. Narcissa let out a sarcastic giggle, much to the surprise of Serena. She looked at Narcissa, confused.
"I must say," Narcissa began, "That even with an external make-over, the stupid girl hasn't changed. She's still geeky, nervous and easy to walk all over. No amount of hair-dye can change that!"
"Shut up!," Serena said. She was sick of people thinking they were better than her, and she was going to set Narcissa straight, "You don't know me, so you can't even begin to judge me!"
"Ohh sorry I was wrong, we got an attitude with the make over as well. Well let me tell you," she said in a deadly whisper, but loud enough for the whole compartment to hear, "you can leave your attitude at home when you're speaking to me! Oh no! Wait a minute! You don't have a home, do you?"
With that the girls left the compartment, telling Severus and Lucius to get a move on. Narcissa looked slightly ruffled.
"You two better watch out this year on that quidditch pitch, this years our year," said Lucius menacingly.
"The quidditch pitch isn't the only place they have to watch themselves," Snape said, an evil grin forming on his face. Both of the boys then left the compartment.
"Looks like we're in for an interesting year doesn't it," James said.
Later
"Ten minutes till we reach Hogsmeade station, ladies and gentlemen, ten minutes!" said a lady over the magical PA system
After this announcement the friends in the compartment decided to get changed into their Hogwarts robes, Lily and Serena had to use a different compartment (they couldn't wear their muggle clothes under their fitted dress robes). After getting changed the students all came back into the compartment where they were first sitting. After a few more gawks from the boys the girls sat down.
"I've decided that this year I'm not going to let Narcissa walk all over me," Serena said talking sternly to the group, "I'll need your help though," she said to the Marauders, "I'm gonna pull so many pranks on Narcissa, she wont know what's hit her. I'm not going to hurt her though," Serena said looking at the nasty grin on Lily's face, "and I'm not going to get a detention either!"
James had a puzzled look on his face, "That my dear, is impossible!"
"You just wait and see."
"I don't know why you all hate her so much, she's always been really friendly to me," Sirius said sincerely.
"That's only cause she fancies the pants off you," Lily said, "But saying that, she fancies anyone in trousers."
Lily and Serena cackled loudly. Just then the train started to slow down, and the blurs outside the window became slightly clearer. Hogwarts was waiting for them.
Eeeeeeee!!!! Well I hope you liked it, and if you didn't what a shame for you....I am a nice person really you know. Anyway, please review, I love getting reviews, reviews make my day (what a saddo). The next chapter will be coming soon people, if anybody has any suggestions about the plot, I would be happy to listen, but don't take it personally if I don't use them. I have a general idea where the story is goin, but I don't have a clue about an ending.......bye!!! REVIEW
