Something Like Deception
Disclaimer: it's not mine unless J.K. gives it to me and I don't want it
Chapter 5 - angry outbursts and suspicions
"Why hasn't the potion worn off yet!?" Remus said to his confused looking friends. He was on the verge of hysterics.
"Moony, calm down . . . maybe, maybe I got the potion wrong, or something . . ." James said, nervously.
Remus glared at him and crossed his arms. "Well, maybe you better fix it. Right now."
Sirius backed away. Neither of them had ever seen Remus this upset before, and Sirius wasn't trying to get hurt.
"Well, you see, um, the thing is . . . I turned it back in to the Restricted Section - " James stammered.
"I DON'T CARE!" Remus yelled. "I want my body back!"
"I-I can't get it back right now . . . Madam Pince will be in there. She won't let me go to the Restricted Section."
"Then, I'm going to Professor Dumbledore," Remus said abruptly. He headed for the door.
A hand grabbed Remus' arm roughly. Remus (in James' body) was jerked around to face an angry looking Sirius. "Don't be stupid," Sirius hissed. "You do realize that if you go to Dumbledore, you'll get Prongs expelled, right?"
"I don't care!" Remus retorted. "I never said I wanted to be involved in your stupid idea in first place! So just bugger off! And let go of me! I'm going to Dumbledore!"
"Fine," Sirius said coldly. "Go tell Dumbledore. Just don't expect me to be there the next time you transform."
Remus stopped, halfway to the door. "What?" he whispered, turning back around to stare at Sirius.
There was a deadened, hollow look in his friend's eyes. Remus shivered involuntarily. "I said, don't expect for me to be there the next time you transform. You remember what happens when you're left alone, don't you? You remember the way you bite and scratch yourself, the way you came back bleeding every time. Bloody and unconscious, poor pathetic little werewolf loner . . ."
"Sirius, stop - " James started to say. His eyes were darting between Remus' tense back and Sirius' hollow, almost evil, stare.
"Wouldn't it be a shame if you came back from the shrieking shack next time with a missing limb? Because in your poor, demonic state, you simply lost control?" Sirius whispered. "Tragedy that would be, eh Moony?"
"Sirius, that's enough!" James said fiercely. "That's enough!"
Remus couldn't take anymore. He ran out of the dorm and down the common room stairs. Ignoring the stares of "Potter's fan club" he burst out of the portrait hole and collided with Lily Evans.
*_*
James (in Remus' body) stared at the door Remus had just run out of. Slowly, his eyes ran across the room until they landed on Sirius, who was staring back at him with a defiant expression.
"What?" Sirius snapped. "What did I do now?"
"That was - mean," James said in a low voice. "It was unlike you."
"So? It was true, wasn't it?" Sirius growled. "He would be nothing without us! You know how he was when we first met back in first year, Prongs. Remus was nothing but a - "
"I don't care, Padfoot!" James retorted. "He's our friend, now, and you owe him an apology."
Sirius laughed nervously. He didn't like the way James was looking at him . . . it was almost as if his best friend was ashamed of him, or something. "Oh, come on, Prongsie, you know I didn't really mean it - "
"Just go apologize," he said softly, staring at the floor.
Sirius sighed. "Fine."
-_-
"Potter . . ." Lily said, softly. "What's the matter?"
Remus sighed. He still couldn't tell Lily. "Nothing," he said, shortly, trying to brush her off. It didn't work.
"Obviously there's something wrong," Lily said, raising her eyebrows. "You wouldn't be crying if there weren't."
"Why do you care about Ja - me, anyway?" Remus said, trying to look her straight in the eye.
To his surprise, Lily blushed. "Well, um . . . I'm a friend of Remus'," she muttered. "And I figure if he likes you guys so much . . . I could try too, I guess."
"Oh," Remus said, for lack of anything better to say. He just stood there awkwardly for a minute. "Um. Can I call you Lily, then?"
She looked surprised, then she smiled. "Sure," she said. "Then, does that mean I can call you James?"
He almost didn't hear her. He was too busy staring at those perfect lips. And how they would feel against his . . . He mentally slapped himself. 'Don't be stupid, Remus! You're supposed to be Prongs right now, remember?'
"Potter?" Lily asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
"Sure . . . Lily. That's fine," he said, smiling shyly at her. It was almost like when they had first met. Remus smiled, remembering the shy conversations they used to have, and how he'd always be on cloud nine for the rest of the day afterwards.
She smiled back, and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "See you, then," she said, going into the portrait hole that Remus had left open.
"Finally!" the Fat Lady said.
Remus grinned to himself, just imagining . . .for one second, how it would feel to fall in love with Lily Evans all over again.
*_-
James took a deep breath as he mentally prepared himself to approach Evans. 'No, it's Lily, James. Remus calls her by her first name, remember?'
She was surrounded by books and chewing absentmindedly on a piece of her hair. She was completely unaware of her surroundings, and she seemed totally at ease. James smiled. He knew he could never be that relaxed in a library.
"Lily," he said in Remus' soft voice.
Lily spun around to face him. Her face took on a look of hurt. "Hi," she replied, turning back around to her books.
'What would Moony say?' he berated himself. 'Something to do with books, I'm sure.' "Mind if I sit down?" he asked.
Lily shrugged. "I don't own the table," she replied.
James wrinkled up his forehead in confusion. 'Wait. I thought she was always nice to Remus?' "Whatcha readin there?" he tried again.
At this, Lily slammed the book shut. "Fine. Talk. I know you want to say something, and I'm all ears. So go ahead. Start making your excuses."
James stared at her, openmouthed. "Wh-what are you talking about?" he asked, completely dumbfounded.
Lily simply stared at him for about five seconds. Then, she exploded. "I can't believe you!" she said. "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you yesterday!? Do you!? And then, you sit here, like you don't even remember what you did!"
'Oh, right! Yesterday!' James said, mentally hitting himself on the head. 'James Potter, you are a moron.' "Right . . . yesterday," James said, nervously. His hand automatically moved up to his hair and he ruffled it a bit.
Lily narrowed her eyes. 'Oops,' James thought. 'Come on, Prongsie, think!'
"I, uh, yesterday, I was . . ." 'She did say she had searched the entire castle, didn't she?' James thought. Then, he smiled as an idea hit him. "I was in the Room of Requirement!"
"The what?" Lily asked, suspiciously.
"Listen, there's a room inside this castle. It - wait, why am I explaining this to you?" James said, excitedly. "Come on! I'll show it to you!"
"Remus, I'm kind of in the middle of something," Lily said, sighing. She gestured toward her books.
"Oh, but that's so boring! Let's have some fun!" James said. He immediately regretted it by the way she narrowed her eyes at him, again. James smiled, hesitantly. "I-I m-meant, um . . . we always study, don't we? I mean, in this library. We could study somewhere else. Like the Room of Requirement."
Lily continued to glare at him. "I don't know," she finally said. "You haven't even apologized yet."
"I'm sorry," James said, quickly. "Now, let's go! Please?"
Lily sighed. "Fine." Reluctantly, she let him take her hand, and lead her away.
(A/N: somewhere in the middle of all this, they did clean up Lily's books * sigh * details! details!)
-_*
Remus ran a hand through James' hair again. (A/N: that sounded weird, didn't it?) He walked down the hallway. This was impossible! How could he possibly keep his and Lily's relationship a secret now? James was bound to find out in his body, one way or another. And then what would happen?
He walked down the hallway feeling thoroughly miserable, when, "Hey, Prongs!" His own voice, coming out of his own mouth, in his own body was walking down the hallway toward him. He gaped. And his own hand was holding Lily Evans' hand!
"H-Hey," Remus stuttered.
Lily smiled. "Hi . . . James," she said, grinning.
"Lily," he nodded quickly to her, then stared at the real James again. James grinned at him, and he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. 'He knows,' he thought. 'He knows and now he's lording it over me.'
James' smile suddenly widened. "You know what? I think I forgot something up in the dorm. Sorry, Ev - Lily. Wait! Maybe Prongs could show you the Room of Requirement, instead?" He dropped Lily's hand, and practically shoved her toward Remus. Grinning wickedly at them both, he disappeared before either of them had a chance to say anything.
*_*
"So you just left them together in the corridor?" Sirius asked, grinning.
James smiled back. "Yes. Yes I did," he frowned. "I hate the idea of them being alone, but . . . it's for the greater good."
"Yeah," Sirius said. His smile suddenly vanished. "Prongs, I've been thinking - "
"About?" James asked.
"Moony," Sirius said. "I mean, why was he so upset? Two-third of the school's population of guys would kill to be you. Even some of the Slytherin's probably dream about it at night."
"Yeah," James said, smirking. "But Moony's different. Maybe he's afraid I'll tap into his mind or something."
Sirius laughed. "Maybe," he agreed. "Maybe."
@_@
wahhhh! I'm beginning to hate this story! It's not working out the way I want it to, at all! I really have no idea why you guys like it so much. I mean, I like the idea of Remus and James switching bodies, but . . . I have no idea how to make this into what I want it to be. I'm not even sure what I want it to be!
Ariana S.
Disclaimer: it's not mine unless J.K. gives it to me and I don't want it
Chapter 5 - angry outbursts and suspicions
"Why hasn't the potion worn off yet!?" Remus said to his confused looking friends. He was on the verge of hysterics.
"Moony, calm down . . . maybe, maybe I got the potion wrong, or something . . ." James said, nervously.
Remus glared at him and crossed his arms. "Well, maybe you better fix it. Right now."
Sirius backed away. Neither of them had ever seen Remus this upset before, and Sirius wasn't trying to get hurt.
"Well, you see, um, the thing is . . . I turned it back in to the Restricted Section - " James stammered.
"I DON'T CARE!" Remus yelled. "I want my body back!"
"I-I can't get it back right now . . . Madam Pince will be in there. She won't let me go to the Restricted Section."
"Then, I'm going to Professor Dumbledore," Remus said abruptly. He headed for the door.
A hand grabbed Remus' arm roughly. Remus (in James' body) was jerked around to face an angry looking Sirius. "Don't be stupid," Sirius hissed. "You do realize that if you go to Dumbledore, you'll get Prongs expelled, right?"
"I don't care!" Remus retorted. "I never said I wanted to be involved in your stupid idea in first place! So just bugger off! And let go of me! I'm going to Dumbledore!"
"Fine," Sirius said coldly. "Go tell Dumbledore. Just don't expect me to be there the next time you transform."
Remus stopped, halfway to the door. "What?" he whispered, turning back around to stare at Sirius.
There was a deadened, hollow look in his friend's eyes. Remus shivered involuntarily. "I said, don't expect for me to be there the next time you transform. You remember what happens when you're left alone, don't you? You remember the way you bite and scratch yourself, the way you came back bleeding every time. Bloody and unconscious, poor pathetic little werewolf loner . . ."
"Sirius, stop - " James started to say. His eyes were darting between Remus' tense back and Sirius' hollow, almost evil, stare.
"Wouldn't it be a shame if you came back from the shrieking shack next time with a missing limb? Because in your poor, demonic state, you simply lost control?" Sirius whispered. "Tragedy that would be, eh Moony?"
"Sirius, that's enough!" James said fiercely. "That's enough!"
Remus couldn't take anymore. He ran out of the dorm and down the common room stairs. Ignoring the stares of "Potter's fan club" he burst out of the portrait hole and collided with Lily Evans.
*_*
James (in Remus' body) stared at the door Remus had just run out of. Slowly, his eyes ran across the room until they landed on Sirius, who was staring back at him with a defiant expression.
"What?" Sirius snapped. "What did I do now?"
"That was - mean," James said in a low voice. "It was unlike you."
"So? It was true, wasn't it?" Sirius growled. "He would be nothing without us! You know how he was when we first met back in first year, Prongs. Remus was nothing but a - "
"I don't care, Padfoot!" James retorted. "He's our friend, now, and you owe him an apology."
Sirius laughed nervously. He didn't like the way James was looking at him . . . it was almost as if his best friend was ashamed of him, or something. "Oh, come on, Prongsie, you know I didn't really mean it - "
"Just go apologize," he said softly, staring at the floor.
Sirius sighed. "Fine."
-_-
"Potter . . ." Lily said, softly. "What's the matter?"
Remus sighed. He still couldn't tell Lily. "Nothing," he said, shortly, trying to brush her off. It didn't work.
"Obviously there's something wrong," Lily said, raising her eyebrows. "You wouldn't be crying if there weren't."
"Why do you care about Ja - me, anyway?" Remus said, trying to look her straight in the eye.
To his surprise, Lily blushed. "Well, um . . . I'm a friend of Remus'," she muttered. "And I figure if he likes you guys so much . . . I could try too, I guess."
"Oh," Remus said, for lack of anything better to say. He just stood there awkwardly for a minute. "Um. Can I call you Lily, then?"
She looked surprised, then she smiled. "Sure," she said. "Then, does that mean I can call you James?"
He almost didn't hear her. He was too busy staring at those perfect lips. And how they would feel against his . . . He mentally slapped himself. 'Don't be stupid, Remus! You're supposed to be Prongs right now, remember?'
"Potter?" Lily asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
"Sure . . . Lily. That's fine," he said, smiling shyly at her. It was almost like when they had first met. Remus smiled, remembering the shy conversations they used to have, and how he'd always be on cloud nine for the rest of the day afterwards.
She smiled back, and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "See you, then," she said, going into the portrait hole that Remus had left open.
"Finally!" the Fat Lady said.
Remus grinned to himself, just imagining . . .for one second, how it would feel to fall in love with Lily Evans all over again.
*_-
James took a deep breath as he mentally prepared himself to approach Evans. 'No, it's Lily, James. Remus calls her by her first name, remember?'
She was surrounded by books and chewing absentmindedly on a piece of her hair. She was completely unaware of her surroundings, and she seemed totally at ease. James smiled. He knew he could never be that relaxed in a library.
"Lily," he said in Remus' soft voice.
Lily spun around to face him. Her face took on a look of hurt. "Hi," she replied, turning back around to her books.
'What would Moony say?' he berated himself. 'Something to do with books, I'm sure.' "Mind if I sit down?" he asked.
Lily shrugged. "I don't own the table," she replied.
James wrinkled up his forehead in confusion. 'Wait. I thought she was always nice to Remus?' "Whatcha readin there?" he tried again.
At this, Lily slammed the book shut. "Fine. Talk. I know you want to say something, and I'm all ears. So go ahead. Start making your excuses."
James stared at her, openmouthed. "Wh-what are you talking about?" he asked, completely dumbfounded.
Lily simply stared at him for about five seconds. Then, she exploded. "I can't believe you!" she said. "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you yesterday!? Do you!? And then, you sit here, like you don't even remember what you did!"
'Oh, right! Yesterday!' James said, mentally hitting himself on the head. 'James Potter, you are a moron.' "Right . . . yesterday," James said, nervously. His hand automatically moved up to his hair and he ruffled it a bit.
Lily narrowed her eyes. 'Oops,' James thought. 'Come on, Prongsie, think!'
"I, uh, yesterday, I was . . ." 'She did say she had searched the entire castle, didn't she?' James thought. Then, he smiled as an idea hit him. "I was in the Room of Requirement!"
"The what?" Lily asked, suspiciously.
"Listen, there's a room inside this castle. It - wait, why am I explaining this to you?" James said, excitedly. "Come on! I'll show it to you!"
"Remus, I'm kind of in the middle of something," Lily said, sighing. She gestured toward her books.
"Oh, but that's so boring! Let's have some fun!" James said. He immediately regretted it by the way she narrowed her eyes at him, again. James smiled, hesitantly. "I-I m-meant, um . . . we always study, don't we? I mean, in this library. We could study somewhere else. Like the Room of Requirement."
Lily continued to glare at him. "I don't know," she finally said. "You haven't even apologized yet."
"I'm sorry," James said, quickly. "Now, let's go! Please?"
Lily sighed. "Fine." Reluctantly, she let him take her hand, and lead her away.
(A/N: somewhere in the middle of all this, they did clean up Lily's books * sigh * details! details!)
-_*
Remus ran a hand through James' hair again. (A/N: that sounded weird, didn't it?) He walked down the hallway. This was impossible! How could he possibly keep his and Lily's relationship a secret now? James was bound to find out in his body, one way or another. And then what would happen?
He walked down the hallway feeling thoroughly miserable, when, "Hey, Prongs!" His own voice, coming out of his own mouth, in his own body was walking down the hallway toward him. He gaped. And his own hand was holding Lily Evans' hand!
"H-Hey," Remus stuttered.
Lily smiled. "Hi . . . James," she said, grinning.
"Lily," he nodded quickly to her, then stared at the real James again. James grinned at him, and he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. 'He knows,' he thought. 'He knows and now he's lording it over me.'
James' smile suddenly widened. "You know what? I think I forgot something up in the dorm. Sorry, Ev - Lily. Wait! Maybe Prongs could show you the Room of Requirement, instead?" He dropped Lily's hand, and practically shoved her toward Remus. Grinning wickedly at them both, he disappeared before either of them had a chance to say anything.
*_*
"So you just left them together in the corridor?" Sirius asked, grinning.
James smiled back. "Yes. Yes I did," he frowned. "I hate the idea of them being alone, but . . . it's for the greater good."
"Yeah," Sirius said. His smile suddenly vanished. "Prongs, I've been thinking - "
"About?" James asked.
"Moony," Sirius said. "I mean, why was he so upset? Two-third of the school's population of guys would kill to be you. Even some of the Slytherin's probably dream about it at night."
"Yeah," James said, smirking. "But Moony's different. Maybe he's afraid I'll tap into his mind or something."
Sirius laughed. "Maybe," he agreed. "Maybe."
@_@
wahhhh! I'm beginning to hate this story! It's not working out the way I want it to, at all! I really have no idea why you guys like it so much. I mean, I like the idea of Remus and James switching bodies, but . . . I have no idea how to make this into what I want it to be. I'm not even sure what I want it to be!
Ariana S.