"Underneath it all" by marauderyears
James' POV
Within a day, the news of the new Defense teacher had spread like wildfire. Everyone liked his way of teaching. He wasn't the nicest teacher, but he had fun lessons. All the girls agreed that he was the best looking teacher. James didn't like it. He didn't like Professor "Brody" at all.
"Hello.....Professor." James said coldly as he entered Brody's office.
The teacher looked up at him nervously, not really making eye contact.
"Oh...hello Mr. Potter...." The teacher busied himself with some files as James stared straight at him.
"What do you think you're doing here? And teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts of all subjects. You know nothing—"
"I know a lot more about the Dark Arts than you do—"
"Yeah, I bet you do..."
"And I'd appreciate it if you not talk to your professor like that. It's rude. But I'd guess you know nothing of manners, eh Potter?"
"I know more manners than you...'Brody'. Where'd you get that ridiculous name? Unfortunately you're a Potter..."
"I didn't think you'd want a lot of people asking why you have the same name as me. So I'm using this name—"
"That's real clever that you use a name that means 'brother'. Your no brother of my dad's..." At this point, James knew he was getting at the professor. That didn't stop him.
"You know the Potters are the only wizarding family that can be traced back to Godric Gryffindor? Wasn't Gryffindor known for his loyalty, because you don't seem very loyal!" And with that James left the room, slamming the door behind him and leaving a stunned professor in a very empty room.
Lily's POV
"I can't believe him. So shallow. He's so...ARGHH!!" Lily screamed as she kicked her dresser, only causing a sharp pain in her toe, making her more irritated.
"Well, better the dresser than me I guess." Lena said as she entered the dormitory. Behind her stood Anna and Gwen. They all lay down in their respective beds.
"No. Better Potter than the dresser. He's so shallow. Do you know what he did today? He asked me to that stupid ball—"
"He did?!" Anna squealed. Gwen raised her eyebrows. Lena shushed them.
"He is so shallow. Only going for how a girl looks like..."
"You know," Gwen started, "James may be arrogant, but so are you. You think he wants to go out with you for your looks? That means you think he thinks you're pretty. So you think of yourself as pretty. That in itself is shallow."
There was a stunned silence as what she said sunk in. That had to be the single most smart thing she had ever said in her life. And confusing.
Lily was in a moment of shock as she tried to retaliate. Instead, Anna started talking. She looked mad.
"You know you are so lucky that James notices you. Alright, so even I'll admit that he's vain, but at least guys notice you. You shouldn't complain. You are so pretty. Some of the rest of us would like a little attention from hot guys, too. You are an ungrateful prat of a witch." With that, Anna stormed out of the dorm, with tears welling in her eyes.
Gwen shook her head at Lily, and followed Anna. Lily looked at Lena in distress, but Lena just shrugged and walked into the bathroom with her pajamas. Lily let a frustrated scream out into her pillow.
Today was a confusing day. Three girls just did something they'd never done before. Gwen had said something smart. Anna had said something meaningful. And Lena had said nothing. It must have been the apocalypse. No one but Gwen and Anna were on speaking terms with each other.
This blowout didn't go by unnoticed. The sixth year boys all noticed.
James' POV
"Is it just me or are all the girls....quiet?" Sirius asked, confused.
"Yeah, they are."
"Prongs?"
"Yes, Padfoot?"
"I'm scared." He whispered.
Remus smacked him on the head. "It's obvious that their all fighting."
"Why?"
"Padfoot, does it look like I know?"
"...yeah. After all, you did know like exactly what Lily was thinking. It was kind of creepy."
Remus rolled his eyes. "I can't read minds. I just use my common sense. Something you and Prongs should look into doing."
Sirius cocked his head to the side with a grin on his face. "What's...calm-in cents?"
James and Peter laughed. Remus sighed and continued playing his game of Wizarding Chess with Peter.
James stood up suddenly. "I've got an idea!"
Sirius, Remus, and Peter mocked gasped. "Write that down in his baby book!"
James tried to glare at them, but instead laughed. "Very funny guys."
"Yes I rather thought so." Sirius puffed out his chest.
"I'll ask Anna and Gwen what's wrong. I think they'd answer me. They love me. It's cause I'm hot." James said trying to glare at Sirius, but failing, and instead ended up laughing.
Later at lunch, James saw Anna and Gwen walking toward the other end of the table. James jumped up and met them half way there.
"Hello ladies. How are you this fine afternoon?"
They looked at him and giggled. He led them back toward where the marauders were sitting.
"So.....Why are you, Evans, and Tenyck not talking?"
Anna and Gwen exchanged a glance that did not go by unnoticed by James.
"Well...."
"To put it bluntly, it's because of you," at James' confused expression, Gwen continued, "Lily was upset at you..." Gwen briefly told him about the blowout, leaving out certain parts that Anna had said.
Lily's POV
The sunset was always something of importance to Lily. She had always admired its colors and unpredictability. The sunset never looked the same twice. She sighed as she watched from the Astronomy Tower, the small dots in the sky. Lily didn't usually go to Quidditch matches. It was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin.....Hufflepuff? She couldn't remember. Lily had a surge of guilt go through her as she realized that she wasn't very supportive of her own house team.
Maybe it was because Potter was on the team, but she never really looked into understanding how the game was played. It was then that she decided before this school year ends that she would figure out the rules of the game.
Lily swiveled around. She thought that she heard footsteps coming up to this tower. She wasn't very happy about that. This was her thinking place. Why would someone else intrude on her—all of the sudden she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Ah!" She grabbed the intruder's arm and twisted it around as she looked up to see who it was. Whoops
"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, you just....scared me." That was an understatement. Lily could have sworn she jumped a foot off the ledge that she was sitting on.
The light haired boy (rubbing his arm), smiled weakly, "Oh, that's okay; I should have warned you that I was here. By the way, I'm Greg. I don't know if you know me, since I'm in Ravenclaw..."
She mentally scolded herself for not noticing him before. He was gorgeous. In a manly way, of course. He was only a little taller than Lily, who was fairly short herself. He had blue eyes, and his hair came down to his ears and flipped out a little. (A/N: this is based on a really hot guy I know. It's hard to explain, so bear with me)
"I think you might be in my Charms class." Lily managed to say. He grinned.
"Yes. You're really good. Everyone in my dorm talks about you, you're a prefect, aren't you?"
Lily nodded, frowning. People talk about me? Greg, noticing her expression, laughed, "It's nothing bad. It's all good stuff they say. Don't worry about it."
"So why aren't you at the game? Aren't you captain of the Ravenclaw team?" Lily asked curiously. She thought she was one of the very few people who didn't usually attend games.
"Oh, well I thought It'd be a good chance to talk to you, when their aren't very few people around...Plus the game is against Hufflepuff, and I've already got a game plan, so there's on need to watch them..."
Lily nodded, curiously. There was a moment of awkward silence until Greg finally spoke.
"I know you don't know me very well, but would you like to go to the ball with me. I mean I'm not expecting you to want to—"
"Sure, Greg, I'd love to."
"Really?! Well that's brilliant. We could...I don't know get to know each other a little better, too. Pick you up in the Entrance Hall around 7:30?"
"Sounds wonderful. Well, I'd better go. It looks like the game is over. And by the looks of it, our team won. There's probably going to be an all-night party in our common room."
"You don't sound too happy about it." Greg smiled as he raised an eyebrow.
"No, I'm not..." She sighed, but smiled at him as she left the room.
Greg waited until he heard the door close and he did a little victory dance just as the door opened again to reveal Lily again. He stopped dancing and blushed, trying to act casual.
"Oh, I forgot to mention good luck, I think your next game is against us, since the Hufflepuffs lost." She said, her lips twitching. He nodded, as she started to close the door, but opened it again.
"Oh, and Greg. Nice dancing, but I hope you don't dance like that at the dance..." She said, teasingly. She laughed at the look on his face and headed down toward Gryffindor tower. He was cute.
To Lily's dismay, there was a party in the room. Unfortunately, it was put up by the marauders...So you can guess how wild the party was. Firewhiskey was brought by Sirius Black from god-knows-where. The whole party was centered on Potter, irritating Lily.
She was in a quiet corner of the Common room, reading a book on Transfiguration when someone interrupted her. Damn. She had hoped no one would notice her.
"I didn't see you at the game." She didn't have to look up to know who's irritating voice that was.
"No. I don't find people chasing around a ball very entertaining." She said, not looking up from her book. Though her eyes had stopped moving across the page.
"Oh..." Was that disappointment she detected in his voice? "That's too bad."
"Hm."
"So what are you reading?"
"Hm." She held up the cover for just long enough for him to read the title. Transfiguration Made Easy.
"Do you need help? Because I could help you—"
"Hm."
She heard someone else sit down next to herself. She didn't even have to guess as to who would follow Potter around.
"Hey Evans, you weren't at the game." Black said.
"Yes. Potter already covered that."
"Why? Everyone goes to the games." Black said as he tried to read what she was reading. Lily snapped the book shut and looked up.
"Was I really missed that much?" Sarcasm was evident in her voice.
Black and Potter nodded. "We didn't have our favorite redhead to cheer on Gryffindor." Black said, smirking.
"Black, I am well aware that your I.Q level is way below the intelligence of a doorknob, but I didn't realize that you were thick enough to not know that I am the only redhead in this school."
Potter grinned, "You'd be surprised. Sometimes he even holds conversations with walls. Mind you it is a one-sided conver—ow!" He rubbed his head, where Black smacked him.
"You deserved it." Lily and Black said in unison. Black grinned seductively. (Well, what he assumed to be seductively.)
He lowered his voice. "Why Evans, I didn't realize we had so much in common."
Potter glared at him as Lily threw a book at him, effectively hitting him in the head. Lily walked away to cries of pain and Black trying to tell Potter that he was joking. Lily rolled her eyes. Honestly, boys.
A/N: Thank you to my reviewers. And especially to my loyalist reviewer...MonkeyGurl1!!:
MonkeyGurl1: Yes, I'm not real happy about the way it turned out, but it will get better. Lily has quite a temper. That's how I see her as.
OrLIz-sEXy-aZn-gUrL77: Thank you very much. And I wouldn't want you to have a heart attack, so here's the new chapter. Oh and by the way, I read that you liked Blink 182. I love them! I actually just recently went to their and No Doubt's concert at the Nissan Pavilion. It was awesome.
Keep reviewing! I'll update more often now. Reviews help speed my updates....hint hint