Previously in "The Strangest Courtship":
"Oh, ho, my friend, I thought it was you who said there was 'no way in hell' Evans'd go out with me, eh? So you've got nothing to worry about, right, old boy?" Sirius elbowed James cheekily, smirking from ear to ear. James looked sullen, and still rather embarassed from what Sirius had said.
But the old Potter pride kicked in. "Fine," said James shortly. "But it won't happen. We're on."
"To Lily," said Sirius. "Because she and I are no longer on a last-name basis." James and Sirius shook hands, then the four Marauders boarded the Hogwarts Express. Their fifth year had begun with a bang.
Chapter Two:
On the Hogwarts Express, Part One
While the Marauders had been making their fateful bet, Lily was looking for Arabella Figg, to no avail. Hoping that her friend wouldn't miss the train, Lily reluctantly boarded the Hogwarts Express as the train whistles began to sound. Arabella was from a wizarding family, so her parents could bring her to Hogwarts if she missed the train; but Lily's parents had long since left with Petunia, so she did not want to be stranded at the station.
As Sirius and James closed their pact and boarded the train, Lily stepped aboard at the opposite end of the Hogwarts Express. She patiently made her way through the throngs of students until she found an empty compartment; she hoped Arabella would be able to find her there.
Minutes later, the door to the compartment was flung open and Arabella rushed in, her mane of brown hair flying behind her as she enveloped her best friend in a big hug.
"Lily!" she cried, "It's been too long! I missed you—everyone in Tahiti is ditsy and tan and dull...." By this point Arabella had sat down across from Lily, crossing her legs Indian-style and pushing her hair behind her ears.
"Whoa, easy does it, Arabella," said Lily with a grin; she was happy to have her best friend back, manic though she might be. "I missed you too....you know you're pretty tan yourself—I hope you haven't gone bimbo on me over the summer."
"Ah, words of wisdom from my favorite pale-skinned friend," sighed Arabella with a smile quirking at her lips. "You look good, by the way. Taller, I think. And I like that sweater."
"You can borrow it whenever you want," said Lily. "It'd probably look better on you, anyway."
"Tsk, tsk—stop with the self-deprecation, already! Speaking of looking good, I've been trying to catch a glimpse of Sirius, but I haven't seen him yet today."
"Ach, don't remind me!" cried Lily. "I can't stand those boys! When will they grow up?"
"Aw Lily, you're too hard on them, you know. They just like to get a laugh....and we all appreciate it when they pull a good prank on one of the Slytherins."
"But not when they 'pull a good prank' on one of us!" said Lily, throwing her hands in the air. "They drive me nuts! Sirius is always making dirty jokes and James is always smirking and Remus is always smiling sardonically like he knows something we don't and Peter is always whining. How they all got sorted into Gryffindor is beyond me."
"Give them a break. At least they're not hard on the eyes," said Arabella with a wink. "So, did you have a run-in with them this morning? Because you are inordinately riled up about the Marauders, considering it's only the first day of school."
"Yeah, I did run into them," said Lily, rolling her eyes.
"Well, what happened?" asked Arabella with a grin.
"Nothing!" Lily groaned, "Sirius was just staring at my chest and the rest of them just eaked out 'hullo's and it was really awkward. I just know they're already plotting something...."
Arabella just gave a little chuckle at her friend's malcontent, though she couldn't disagree that the two of them would probably be the brunt of quite a few Marauder pranks now that school had started again; they always were. "C'mon, Lily," said Arabella finally, "we'd better change; you have to go to your prefect meeting in a half hour." Lily assented with a nod.
....Little did Lily and Arabella know that the Marauders were "already plotting something"—something that would cause more drama than the pranks of years past....
The Marauders, meanwhile, had already begun pranking the Slytherins; just now they had tossed a handful of dungbombs into Snape's compartment. As the four boys were laughing over such an easy victory ("we're starting out on the right foot, eh, boys?" yelled Sirius through his hysterics), James suddently froze.
"I think I hear McGonagall," James said. "We'd better evacuate the scene of the crime or we'll have detentions on our first day back."
"It wouldn't be Hogwarts without detentions!" said Sirius cheekily, but he nevertheless lowered his voice and followed James down the hallway. Remus and Peter were close on his heels.
Professor McGonagall's distinctive voice was now quite audible; she was closer than they'd thought. Without pausing to knock, James and the others burst into the closest compartment, Peter slamming the door behind them.
But when James looked up his breath hitched and his face reddened to match the flaming hair of the girl before him; for not two feet away, clad only in a black bra and panties and her ubiquitous disheveled red hair, was a very angry Lily Evans.
In the next chapter....Lily's fiery temper flares, James feels regret, and Sirius is undaunted....
A/N: First and foremost, thanks to my VERY FIRST reviewers, Kiliana Lupin and kluvhp....you're the first reviewers on my first story, which basically means you're my best friends now. It feels good to get such a quick response! Now, I know these first two chapters have been short, but I think it's better to post often and regularly than to post big long chapters twice a year....yeah, yeah, exaggeration, I know. But please review, because--as all you writers know and most of you readers can imagine--reviews are the fuel for our souls. They really truly do make us write faster, because we know that someone is actually looking forward to the next chapter....and we love to please. So just drop a line or two, or more if you want (wink, wink). It only takes a second, and you'll get your chapters longer and faster. So what are you waiting for; go REVIEW!!