SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1~*~ Ambition and Audacity ~*~

~Senses sprung, death's cover brung

~Spread light o'er failure

~Destruction of the barriers

~Whispers deep, courage to seep

~Ignit is the internal flame

~Flickering thro' the nothingness

~And lay the dusk to rest

James and Sirius wanted to be Aurors. Bella wanted to become Minister of Magic (ambitious, no?). Hilary wanted to be in fashion. And me? I didn't have a clue.

Wednesday morning in Transfiguration, and McGonagall hands out subject selections for next year. The list contains about ten subjects, ranging from Divination to Arithmancy. By the looks of it none of them appeared to be any use for any jobs in particular, so I didn't understand how we were supposed to choose based on our intended career path.

'If it waz me, I would choose Care of Magical Creatures,' Ariel said, leaning over my shoulder. 'I love animals.'

'I'm going Care of Magical creatures,' Bella agreed, listening in.

'Me too,' added Hilary.

Scanning over the list again, I decided it sounded like one of the better subjects. 

'And I think I'll do Muggle Studies, too,' I murmured.

'I'm doing that too,' sighed Hilary.

'But you're a muggle born!' Bella exclaimed. 'Well, sort of. And Hilary! You're practically a muggle, too!'

'So?' Hilary and I said in unison, grinning.

'Whatever. I'm going Divination.'

'Oh, I want to try that too,' I said, biting my lip.

'Try it then. You can do three, it says. But I think you're both mad. Divination sounds like a load of rubbish,' Hilary muttered.

'That's good, then,' Bella said with satisfaction. 'Nonsense is what we're best at, isn't it?'

I laughed.

'Indeed it is. Sounds like a good opportunity to do nothing, too, if you ask me.'

'Well, no matter what you say, I'm not doing Divination. I'll stick with two subjects.'

'Yep, same here,' Bella nodded.

'You do realise that means you'll get double Charms and Transfiguration, don't you?' I asked, raising an eyebrow.

'That's alright, I guess. Besides, I like Transfiguration. I suppose you'll pick Charms as your double then, since you only have space for one more subject?' Hilary queried, circling Transfiguration on her sheet.

'You know me too well,' I grinned.

'Do you have subject selections at Beauxbatons?' Bella asked Ariel.

'Oui, but not until fourth year. And ze choices are not az many az yours.'

'Interesting,' I murmured softly, reading the course outline for Divination.

'Do you think we'll be reading The book?' Bella asked, reading over my shoulder.

'Hahaha,' said Hilary. 'No. Dumbledore probably took it off the list.'

'I guess.'

The rest of the lesson was surprisingly enjoyable, since we had the whole time to make decisions on our subjects. The fact that all we did was giggle and talk is completely beside the point.

When it was finally lunch time, I ate a small meal and ventured outside to look for James and the boys. I found them over near Boganville, some others from their year in their presence.

'What are they up to?' Bella called, running across the grounds towards me. Hilary and Ariel weren't far behind her.

'Don't know,' I replied, waiting for them to catch up. As we got closer, I noticed Gray and his gang were also there, along with Reilly and Toni. They seemed to be playing a game.

'What on earth is that?' Bella asked curiously once we were close enough.

'Soccer,' I said, a smile spreading over my face.

'Sounds fun,' she replied.

'Sport,' Hilary muttered, rolling her eyes.

'Can we play?' Bella yelled to the guys. They all turned around. One of the third years that I didn't know laughed.

'Girls don't play soccer.'

'Wanna bet?' Reilly asked challengingly, just as Toni protested, 'We can too!'

'We can do anything you can do,' Bella said stubbornly, sticking her chin up. Then her lips caused one word that sent all they guys into fits of laughter: 'Better.'

'Give them a go,' Sirius said loudly.

'Don't judge them until you've seen them,' backed up James, who had picked up the ball.

'Ooooooooooh, Jamsie has a soft spot for the girlies,' some of the guys cooed, pinching his cheeks and slapping him on the back. James shrugged them off.

'You're just scared we're better than you,' I said, rather boldly, hands on hips. James and Gray's gangs all whistled.

'Yeah, Cummins. You're scared,' said April Hopeturn, stepping forward and elbowing the boy that had first laughed at us. She turned to us. 'They wouldn't let us play either,' she said, gesturing behind her where Brigette and Juliet stood. Chrissy and Paige were under a tree a few metres away, flicking through magazines.

The boy scowled.

'Alright. You're on. Girls versus boys. If we win...' he looked around at us.

'You have to go out with us!' someone else called out.

A few people laughed.

'Alright,' Bella said. 'If you win, you get to go out with any of us for a week. But if we win -'

'If we win, you have to go to breakfast tomorrow in your boxers,' Toni interrupted.

'No way!' Peter called.

'Fair's fair. Besides, I think we have the worse end of the deal,' I said. 'Who would want to go out with you lot?'

'You did,' Geoff called, nudging Gray. Gray nudged him back.

'I think this is a fair contest,' he said, ignoring Geoff's sniggering.

'The teams are uneven,' Remus pointed out. 'There's twelve of us and only eight girls.'

'Nine,' said Hilary, sighing. 'I guess I'll play too.'

'You go girl!' Brigette whooped, grinning.

'That's still uneven,' said Gray.

'We'll be fine, won't we, girls? Nine girls to twelve boys is a pretty even match when you consider our skill, don't you think?' Bella asked loudly.

A few of the guys snorted, but the girls all backed her up.

'We need a team name!' Juliet said, lifting her legs up in turn and clapping her hands beneath them.

'Screw team names,' the boy named Cummins said. 'Let's play ball.'

'Boys think team names are sissy,' James whispered in my ear, coming up beside me.

'Oh? What's the problem with that? Boys are just sissy altogether,' I replied, jabbing him in the stomach. He caught my hand and grinned.

'We'll see about that, won't we?'

'Who wants to be goalie?' asked Reilly, hands on hips. She had her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, with stray wisps escaping all over the place. Her boyish look reminded me of the old Joey.

'Me! Me!' said Brigette.

'OK. Up that end.'

Reilly took charge and gave us all positions. Not everyone knew much about soccer, so it was a little hard, but we mixed them up with those who did and hoped they would catch on easy enough. I ended up in defense with Hilary; Reilly, Toni and Juliet were in midfield and Bella, Ariel and April in attack. I could see straightaway that Hilary wasn't going to be overly enthusiastic since she had suddenly become very interested with her nails, so that left me pretty much alone and Brigette without much cover.

James had the ball. April tried to take it off him, but he dodged her. He was coming closer.

'Ready to miss a few, Bridge?' he grinned, his feet moving rather quickly.

'Bring it on, Potter,' she replied boldly, slapping her chest provokingly. Narrowing his eyes, he moved to the left and just as Brigette moved to cover it, he changed its direction. There was no way Brigette was going to stop it. James was looking very smug, getting ready to cheer...

Just as I slid in front of the ball.

'Woo hoo Lily!' Juliet yelled, coming over to take it off me. I stood up and walked to be next to James.

'Got you there, didn't I?' I grinned.

'Beginner's luck.'

'I'm not a beginner,' I replied. 'I used to play soccer all the time with Joey.'

'Girls don't play soccer,' he said in shock. 'At our school, they were never allow to play.'

'And you think that stopped us?'

He looked at me and shook his head, smiling, before jogging forward.

Sirius was the boys's goalie. I must say we all had our doubts, but he was doing surprisingly well.

'Come on, Black!' yelled Gray as April dribbled the ball up the other end. She took a shot but Sirius dove and caught it, throwing it back in. Another one of the boys grabbed it.

'Nice try, June,' Cummins grinned, shoving April playfully.

'It's April,' she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

'Whatever, July.'

I was happy to see April looking so cheerful and having such a good time. I didn't know what I'd have done if my mother died. I shuddered at the thought.

'Lily!' called Hilary.

I turned to see she had the ball.

'This is surprising, I must say,' I grinned, relieving her of it before one of the boys could tackle her.

'Shut up,' she said, but she was smiling.

'Oi, Reilly!'

I passed to her, and she dribbled it up to April who took it back up near the goals. Some boys blocked her off and she was in trouble.

'Over here!' called Bella suddenly, running up from the side. April passed quickly and while Sirius was still covering April she kicked it up and head butted it in.

'Goal!' Juliet screamed, jumping up and down. Brigette did a little dance while Juliet and April dashed around hi-fiving everyone on our team.

Sirius had been cheering Bella for a moment but had stopped abruptly when a few guys glanced at him oddly.

The game went on for about another ten minutes, in which the guys managed to score a goal. When McGonagall came down and yelled at us to go and get cleaned up since we only had five minutes until class, we were still on one all, which meant there really wasn't any winners. We were also all pretty grimy and dirty and dusty, but no one really seemed to mind other than Hilary.

'Who wins?' Toni asked.

'We both do,' Sirius grinned.

'What, you mean we both have to do our forfeits?' Bella asked.

'Yeah. You guys get to go out with us for a week, but you also have to go to breakfast in your boxers tomorrow morning,' I said, nodding.

'Well, we get to pick now then,' Marc said.

'James gets first pick because he scored the goal,' Sirius said, slapping his friend on the back. 'Who do you want, Jamie?'

He grinned.

'I reckon you should go first, Sirius. You stopped all those goals, after all.'

'Bella's mine!' Sirius said immediately after that.

'Defenders, next.'

'Pick me, Marc! Pick me!' April called out, chewing on some gum.

'Do I have any choice in the matter?'

'Nope,' April grinned, messing up his hair. 'And we all know who Ethan's going to pick.'

'Come on Bridge,' the boy named Ethan laughed, extending his arm. Brigette jumped up and brushed herself off, accepting it.

'And now for James, who kicked our goal!'

'James Potter, pick me now or suffer death!' Hilary moaned.

'I am most certainly not going out with my sister for a week,' James replied, frowning.

'But I don't want to go out with any of them!'

'Sorry, Hil, but I ain't picking you.'

'Pick Lily,' Toni grinned, slinging an arm around my shoulders. 'Be a protector and save her from all the rough and tumble guys, Potter.'

'Ah, but does said best friend want to be picked, or does she have her eye on someone else?' James asked teasingly.

I shrugged.

'Who'd want to go out with you, anyway?' I asked airily.

James narrowed his eyes.

'For a comment like that, I am most certainly picking you,' he said, folding his arms. 'And that also answers your question.'

'But I don't want to go out with you, I'm being forced to go out with you.'

'That is completely and utterly beside the point.'

Juliet ended up with Cummins, Reilly with Gray (I grinned at her after that), and Toni and Hilary escaped without being paired up with anyone. The remaining boys didn't seem to mind.

I, on the other hand, was now James Potter's girlfriend for a week.

This turned out to be mildly challenging, to say the least.

The next morning, all twelve boys stuck to their word and made an amusing group entrance that nearly gave McGonagall a heart attack. James somehow managed to worm them all out of detention, but class for the second and third years was delayed half an hour while they were being reprimanded and getting dressed. This was mainly because the two teachers doing the reprimanding happened to be the two teachers that the two year groups had first up.

The morning passed relatively smoothly up until lunchtime. We were all seated at Gryffindor table in the Great Hall when James and his guy friends entered late. They took the only seats left, which were near ours. James took one opposite me, and I gave him a hello and a quick glance before turning back to my conversation with Ariel. However, I had to do a double take.

James was filling up my glass with pumpkin juice for me, and had a red rose between his teeth. I looked at him oddly. He removed it and grinned, offering it to me.

'For my lady love,' he said dramatically.

'You are going to take every opportunity to humiliate me with this, aren't you?' I sighed, taking the rose.

'Yep,' he replied, filling his own goblet.

'Paige will get annoyed, James,' Hilary tutted. 'You never gave her roses.'

'She never gave me roses, either,' he said distractedly, too busy piling up his plate.

'Don't expect any from me,' I laughed.

'From you, Lily my dear, I expect nothing. Just having your beauty in my presence is enough for my poor soul.'

'James, you suck at that romantic crap,' Hilary said bluntly.

'I would like to hear Lily's opinion on that,' he told her poetically.

'James, you suck,' I said dryly. We all laughed.

'Shot down,' Sirius grinned, slapping James on the back.

'Thank you Lily, I love you too,' James said, pretending to be offended. 'Girls are so mean. You're so mean, Lily.'

'I'd watch it, mate. She may be your girlfriend for the week but it doesn't mean she has to speak to you,' Remus pointed out.

'Yeah, James,' Hilary said, slapping her hand down of her brother's.

'You know what I feel like?' Bella asked slyly, taking a sip of her drink.

'What?' we all asked.

'Another episode of the homey touches show.'

There was a general murmur of agreement.

'Ariel hasn't seen the homey touches show, has she?' Remus asked.

'Nope. We'll have to make it a good one, Jamie,' I said.

'OK, Lily dear,' he grinned. 'I'll let you go first.'

I poked my tongue out at him before smiling at Ariel, who was listening intently. I turned back to face James.

'No, James. The pink heffalumps will simply not allow the man in the moon to dance while it is the shoes that lives in your earlobe that are ringing that bell because the roof is not green,' I said, as seriously as possible. James looked at me blankly for a moment. Then he caught on.

'But if it is the tooth fairy who declares himself king, then the marshmallows shall fall from the sky, all because of the orange thirteen painted on that tree which is simply so short there is no way you will reach the top of it. Especially not while the heffalumps are chasing the beansprouts that eat the purplangagoes.'

Everyone sitting nearby were all either in fits of laughter or giving us odd looks. I continued, still keeping my expression quite grave.

'But how shall you justify the watermelon in the pit of your stomach while the tree grows and the mermaid in the sky is delivering shoemakers below? It simply won't do, not while the coconuts are turning twenty one. They'll throw a party and the eyebrow tweezers might lose the legs the monkey huts gave them when they swung their tails.'

James seemed to have trouble coming up with something to add on, because he was trying to contain laughter.

'Ah, yes. Now I see what you mean. That could create a problem,' he said, not-so-intelligently. That was it. I lost it too.

After we had caught our breath, James and I looked at each other for a moment, grins on our faces and our eyes sparkling.

'When's the wedding?' April asked amusedly, coming up behind James and leaning on his shoulder.

'As soon as I can convince her,' James said, without skipping a beat.

'Which will be never,' I replied smoothly.

'Ah, this one I woo is such a tricky one. You know, back in my day, where I come from, they called her the ice maiden,' he said in a wheezy voice. I giggled.

'See what I mean? Why would such a young, drop dead gorgeous person like me want to marry an old man like him?'

Everyone laughed.

'I swear this on my grave, Lily flower; one day you will be wearing my ring on your finger.'

'You go on dreaming that, Jamie,' I responded, taking a swig of pumpkin juice.

'Nah, Lily. He dreams of much more interesting things,' Sirius said evilly. 'Still about you, though...'

'Another thing. Men have only one thing on their minds, and if you wait around for me, James, you will be dying a vessel of virtue. Because I don't plan on having sex until marriage, and as I have said, there's no way I'll be walking down the aisle with you.'

'Lily Flower, how you hurt my heart,' James said somberly, placing a hand to his heart.

By now quite a few people we listening in on our little charade.

'But still, I will not give up. And I'll have you know that right after marrying you, the next point on my to-do list in convincing you to share my bed.'

I shook my head.

'That is even less likely than marriage. Though then again, men are rather afraid of such a big commitment like that, aren't they? I daresay a man who can't keep a girlfriend longer than a week isn't going to fare well in being wed.'

'But those girls aren't you, Lily. If you would consent, you would be mine for much longer than a week,' he sighed, placing a hand to his head.

'Better pay up, then, because there is a long line of people once I've finished with the likes of you. You can't possibly imagine how this little forfeit is messing up my dating plans.'

'How is it you can speak so carelessly of yourself just after mocking my own dating habits? You are a cruel woman, Miss Evans.'

'But it is not I that is chasing after myself now, is it, Mr Potter?'

'Love is blind; I see past that layer of ice. Into an eternal flame that I wish dearly will one day burn for me.'

'If ever a flame of mine is for you, James Potter, it will be an old one. Unless of course you are speaking of the flame that will be atop your head once I set your hair on fire!'

Our audience erupted into laughter.

Once they quieted down, James stood.

'I shall leave, if it pleases you,' he said with a bow. 'But first let me ask you this; if you do, as you say, think nothing of my courtship, why, pray tell, did you accept my gift?' He gestured to the rose. 'Is it not the same as me giving myself?'

'A woman never neglects a pretty flower, no matter who the giver may be. May I also comment that if you did try to give yourself in a rather similar way I would not accept, since prickly thorn bushes do not classify as a pretty flower,' I said as delicately as possible, giving James a satisfied smile. Everyone ooed. One thing was for sure. I had won that round.

'And I'm terribly sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but that is the end of the homey touches show for today,' James said, his eyes never leaving mine. Bella and Sirius clapped, and most of the other people that had been listening in shook their heads in amusement. We didn't have a chance to say much more, because at that point McGonagall strode over and hurried us all along to our next class.

* * *

'You like James, don't you?' Ariel asked with amusement that afternoon in the Common Room. I was reading a book, but looked up from it to stare at her.

'As a friend.'

'No, I zink you like him more zan zat. He likes you, too.'

'James and I are best friends,' I said, laughing. 'All that back there? It's just an act.'

'It's odd, you know. A male and female being so close to each uzzer as you two are,' she replied, eyes still narrowed playfully.

'I would have thought it was odd too, but after I discovered I was a witch nothing's really been that odd to me.'

'Well, even if you do not like him, I zink he likes you.'

I shook my head.

'James likes Tara,' I said, eyes wandering back to my book.

'Tara? Is she in your year?'

'No. James's. She's in Gryffindor, though.'

Ariel nodded.

'I also find it strange how you all hang around so much with ze year above you. At Beauxbatons, everyone keeps within zeir year.'

'James was the first person I met here. Him and the boys came into my compartment. Then I met Bella and she came and sat with us. I talked with James and she talked with Sirius. Plus Hilary is James's sister. We just all enjoy each other's company. Well, maybe James and Hilary don't enjoy each other's company, but anyway...' I grinned, trailing off and shrugging.

We were interrupted by a high pitched scream, and minutes later Sirius and James came down the stairs holding their arms up to shield their faces and ducking pillows that Bella and Hilary were throwing at them from the second landing.

'Jerks!' Bella screeched, throwing her slipper. Sirius got hit in the back and he cursed loudly. I gazed up at them in bewilderment.

'We were just -'

'You could have knocked! I was getting dressed!' Bella exclaimed angrily.

'It's a bloody girl's dormitory! You do not just waltz in!' Hilary added, tossing another pillow at her brother. He dodged it.

'Geez! Settle down! It's not like we saw anyth -'

'I DON'T CARE! YOU DO NOT JUST THROW OPEN THE DOOR AND COME IN WHENEVER YOU WANT!' Hilary screeched, taking the second slipper from Bella and throwing it hard at Sirius. It hit the wall.

'We get the point!' James yelled back.

'Don't talk to me!' Hilary huffed, picking up the remaining objects and dragging Bella back upstairs.

Ariel and I looked at each other and giggled.

James shot me a furtive look as he and Sirius sat down on the couch facing ours.

'Hey, hot stuff,' he said, grinning suddenly. I rolled my eyes.

'Hello, James.'

'No, Lily! He was talking to me,' Sirius insisted, fluttering his eyelashes at James, who gave him a disgusted look.

'You're not going... gay on us, are you?' he asked.

'Kiss me,' Sirius whispered dramatically, fluttering his eyes and blowing James a kiss.

This only seemed to revolt James further.

'I'd do anything for you, James dear!' Sirius sighed, standing. He wobbled dizzily, then placed a hand to his forehead and fainted at James's feet.

'Get away from me, freak,' he said, pushing Sirius away.

'Don't hit me there! That's where I got hit with a slipper!' Sirius whined.

'You're the one that went in the girl's dormitories. You're not meant to go in there.'

Sirius put a hand on his hip and looked at me.

'That is so not the point!' he said in his hi-my-name-is-Paige-and-my-head-is-up-my-arse voice.

Ariel laughed.

'Your friends are crazy,' she said, shaking her head. Her long braid of silvery blonde hair swung with the movement.

'No! It is you who is crazy!' James said, shaking his head. 'We are perfectly normal.'

'Normal my ass.'

'Speaking of which, Lily dear, you really do have a nice ass.'

I gaped at him disbelievingly.

'And you would be looking?' I asked him.

'All the time,' he grinned.

'James!'

As much as I was used to our little joke sessions, I couldn't help my cheeks growing slightly warm when he said that.

'James, keep it in your pants, mate,' Sirius said. 'So Ariel. You're leaving at the end of this week, right?'

'Oui. Back to all the freezing weazzer,' she sighed, giving a shiver. 'I 'ave grown used to ze warmer climate 'ere. It will be strange, going back.'

'I'm going to France. One day,' I said wistfully.

'You will 'ave to come and visit,' Ariel smiled.

'If I'm ever there, I will come and see you,' I grinned. 'I have to go to New York and see Joey, too. Plus Bella wants to drag me off to Italy. Don't ask me where I'm going to get the money to pay for airfares, though.'

'Apparate,' Ariel suggested.

'Can't. It's too far, you can't apparate from country to country,' James said, staring at something on the ground.

'You should be able to though, I reckon,' Sirius said. 'It would be so much easier.'

'Nah, because then a holiday wouldn't be special since you could go anywhere whenever you wanted,' I said.

'Freak fury thinking again,' Sirius mouthed, pointing his thumb at me and doing the crazy sign.

'Shut up Sirius,' I told him, rolling my eyes. 'You're so childish.'

'Yeah, Sirius,' James said in a girly voice. 'You're so childish. Act your age, not your shoe size.'

I laughed.

'My mum says that,' Sirius groaned.

'My mum says, act your age, not your IQ,' I said.

James acted horrified.

'That's not very nice. Either way. Because if she's saying you're acting childish, then that's insulting your IQ. And if she's implying that you're acting too old, that just insults your youth.'

'James, shut up,' I grinned.

Sirius laughed and poked him.

'Yeah, James. You're so childish...'

I rolled my eyes.

God save me from the teenage boys.

~~~~~~~~~~~

WOOHOO! LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG CHAPTER! *does some freaky dance that hopefully doesn't scare you all away*

I am very happy for some reason. We did the 1km run today and I feel buggered and we had maths last so don't ask me why I'm happy I just am. Oh yeah and I now have a boyfriend thanks to my friends who asked someone out without asking me first so now I'm going out with this guy I hardly know. Hmm. Odd.

*babbles on about absolutely nothing for the next ten minutes* *meanwhile everyone is falling asleep*

For those of you that are still awake: thank you for all the reviews! I had a little writers block with this chapter, so it's mainly a load of bull**** but I tried to make up for it in humour and length. Hope it's OK.

Happy pink elephant day to you! (The cauliflowers told me I had to say that)

SezZie

PS: You know that load of nonsense James and Lily say? That's an actual conversation me and Christy had the other day. We call it nonsense debates and if you make sense you're out. *laughs hysterically* OK I'm jut a tad hyper. Toodles!