A/N – This is my second fan-fic, so please be nice and R&R
Disclaimer:
Methinks as thou art scrolling,
It will be obvious to thee,
That 'Harry Potter' etc. belongs to J.K Rowling,
And most definitely not to me.
A/N : Many Thanks to my awesome reviewers
Shaniqwa: Thanks for your review! I'm glad you like it. Awesome name by the way.
Adi Gallia1: Thanks for your review! That's two I've had from you now! I got the name Chhaya from an Indian baby names site and it means shadow. As for the correct pronunciation, I'm honestly not exactly sure, but I pronounce it Chay-a, with Lily calling her Chay for short. Thanks for asking. I love it when people ask questions.
LostConscience: You're right, James is the best, but ever so closely followed by Sirius and Remus. Thanks for your review!
hermione565: Thanks for your second review! Much appreciated!
dreamy-crazygirl:Thanks for another fun review. I'm glad you liked this chapter! Sorry, I don't understand the banana thing either, or the jimmy thing for that matter. Actually jimmy is my brother's name, but if it's a long story that you don't want to tell, I won't ask.
ditzychick1228: Thank you so much! You are way too kind!
Someone: Thanks for your review. I quite like getting anonymous ones, even though they're kind of impersonal.
Piper-Loves-Leo: Thanks for another lovely review. I'm glad you thought it was funny!
Snaped: Thanks for your review, and I'm happy that you imagined James the same way as me!
Sirius-ly Psycho: Thanks for your review! I love your name by the way. It's excellent!
Celi: Thanks for reviewing again Celi! I'm happy that you think it's cute and funny!
ElspethBates: Thanks for another sweet review!
Chapter Five – Mary Poppins, Abaigeal and the cone of silence
"Potter!" Lily yelled, banging her fist on his bedroom door. "I know you're in there! We have patrolling duty in 5 minutes!"
"Come in." He called through the door. Immediately it opened, sending a very surprised Lily sprawling into his bedroom. Lily pulled herself up and dusted off her robes while glaring at him. James smirked lightly in response.
"It's voice activated." He said smugly. Lily rolled her eyes.
She looked over at his desk and noticed that he was writing in large, multicolored letters on a piece of light blue parchment with fluffy white clouds drifting lazily across it. Every so often, Quidditch players would fly across it, either passing or scoring with the quaffle, smacking a bludger or catching the elusive golden snitch.
James noticed her looking at his letter and smiled.
"It's my personalised, novelty parchment." He said, grinning at her. Lily rolled her eyes nonchalantly.
"Sit down, Evans." Said James, gesturing to the armchair near the mahogany desk at which he was sitting. "I'm just finishing a letter to my sister. I'll be done in a minute. Then we can go to duty."
Ordinarily, Lily would have been very offended by him ordering her around like that, but she barely even noticed this time.
I didn't know he had any siblings. Lily thought to herself. She had always assumed that he was an only child, due to his spoilt and pampered manner. Chhaya had never mentioned James having a sister, but then Lily and Chhaya avoided talking about James, unless Lily was ranting uncontrollably about how much she disliked him. In those situations, Chhaya would sit back and listen, but never comment. James and Lily were both her friends, and she didn't want something as simple as Lily hating James' guts to change that.
"I didn't know you had any siblings." Lily said, this time out loud.
"Yeah, I do. Abaigeal. She's 11 years younger than I am. Mum and Dad had her after I first went away to Hogwarts."
"Were they missing your company?" Lily asked, with a slightly sarcastic edge.
He seemed to not notice her mocking tone.
"Yeah." He said grinning. "Either that or they waited until I was out of the way before they had any more children. Apparently, I can be quite a handful."
"Is that so?" Said Lily, raising an eyebrow.
Lily's eyes roamed again to his desk where several photographs were framed elegantly in ornate gold picture frames. The first photo that caught her eye was of James, it looked fairly recent and had probably only been taken last summer. He was sitting on a large black leather couch with a small girl, who looked about 5 or so. The girl was very similar looking to James, but her face was slightly heart shaped and her eyes were large chocolate brown orbs fringed with thick eyelashes. Plaits restrained her thick jet-black hair and her gaze was transfixed on the book that her brother was reading to her. People who Lily recognised to be James' parents were standing a bit behind the couch gazing fondly at their children. All four Potters seemed oblivious to the camera's presence.
"Padfoot took that while he was staying with us last summer." James explained, noticing her looking at the photograph.
"We didn't know he was there, he was hiding in the fireplace."
Lily nodded slightly, but continued gazing at the picture.
James cleared his throat.
"I'm finished. Shall we go?"
"So…" Said James as they walked down the eerie halls, illuminated only by the small light at the tip of each of their wands. "What's your favourite film then?"
Lily stared at him. "Er…"
"No, don't tell me … A Little Princess." James smirked.
"What!" Lily shrieked. "Well what's yours then? Dr No?"
James grinned. "Potter. James Potter." He said suavely. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I like Dr No, but it's not my favourite film." James said, raising his eyebrows and making his eyes twinkle mysteriously.
Lily ignored him and tried to look nonchalant, but she was actually quite interested.
"So, what is it then?" She finally asked him, clearly exasperated.
"I would tell you Evans, but I can't trust you not to laugh at me, or spread it through the gossip mill. My reputation is very important you know."
Lily rolled her eyes.
"Oh please." She scoffed. "I'm no Bertha Jorkins. I swear on my grandmother's elbow that I will never tell a soul."
"Hunh?" Asked James, confused. "Alright, I'll tell you Evans, but if this gets out, you'll face a fate worse than death, you hear?" Lily nodded amusedly.
James raised his arms above his head in the shape of a triangle.
"Do you swear on the cone of silence?" He asked seriously.
"The cone of what?"
"It's this thing Sirius does, don't ask me. Do you swear on the cone of silence?"
"I guess so." Lily replied wearily.
James grabbed her hands and pulled them up in a triangle shape like his own. Then he connected the point of his triangle to the point of hers. And then he chanted:
Nothing spoken here must ever leave the sacred cone of silence,
If it does, I promise you, I will respond with violence.
Lily gasped slightly as she and James were bathed in fuzzy blue light, whichvanished almost as suddenly as it had appeared.
James looked straight into her eyes.
"Ok, are you ready for this?"
"Yes!" She snapped, now very impatient.
"My favourite film…" James said, pausing for suspense. "Is…Mary Poppins!"
"No way." Said Lily, dumbfounded.
Yeah, it is." Said James, blushing profusely.
Moving quickly, he linked his arm with Lily's and started skipping down the hallway.
"Oh, it's a jolly holiday with Evans," He sang, hauling Lily along with him as he skipped. She tried to stop him, but found that the only way she could prevent herself from being dragged along the hard stone floor was by skipping along with him.
"Evans makes your 'eart so light,
When the day is gray and ordinary,
Evans makes the sun shine bright,
Oh, 'appiness is bloomin' all around 'er,
The daffodils are smilin' at the dove,
When Evans 'olds your 'and, you feel so grand,
Your 'eart starts beatin' like a big brass band,
It's a jolly 'oliday with Evans,
No wonder that it's Evans that we love!"
Lily rolled her eyes and sang the next verse, quite sarcastically:
"Oh, it's a jolly holiday with you, Potter,
Gentlemen like you are few,
Though you're just a diamond in the rough, Potter,
Underneath, you blood is blue,
You'd never think of pressing your advantage,
Forbearance is the hallmark of your creed,
A lady needn't fear, when you are near,
Your sweet gentility is crystal clear,
Oh, it's a jolly holiday with you, Potter,
A jolly, jolly holiday with you."
James grinned and let go of Lily, and then sang the final verse:
"It's true that Mavis and Sybil 'ave ways that are winning,
And Prudence and Gwendolyn set your 'eart spinning,
Pheobe's delightful, Maude is disarming,
Janice, Felicia, Lydia – charming,
Cynthia's dashing, Vivian's sweet,
Stephanie's smashing, Pricilla a treat,
Veronica, Millicent, Agnes and Jane,
Convivial company, time and again,
Dorcas and Phyllis and Glynis are sorts,
I'll agree that the three are jolly good sports,
But cream of the crop, tip of the top,
It's Lily Evans, and there we stop!"
Lily rolled her eyes, but giggled. His cockney accent and little tap dance were just too cute.
"You know, I don't think I would ever have guessed." Lily said, still giggling.
"Tell anyone and I'll personally feed you to the giant squid."
"Ha!" She scoffed. "Everyone knows the giant squid is a vegetarian."
James rolled his eyes. "Just don't tell anyone, ok?"
Lily nodded.
"You must have watched Mary Poppins a fair few times to know all the words to that song and the dance routine, Potter." Remarked Lily slyly as they sat in their common room after patrolling duty, reading and drinking hot chocolate.
"Every Saturday morning during the summer with my sister." He said, blushing slightly. "It's her favourite film too."
"Your sister is cute." Lily said smiling.
"What can I say? Of course she is! We come from the same gene pool after all."
Lily rolled her eyes.
"She's really smart and funny too, though. And she has the potential to be an excellent prankster and a fabulous beater. Sirius has taken her on as his protégé." He said proudly, grinning widely.
Lily sighed to herself, wishing that Petunia was like the sister James described. Of course James had the perfect sister. He always had everything he wanted. All he had to do was be born and he automatically received pure magical blood, extremely wealthy and adoring parents, good looks, charm, athletic ability, intelligence and an adoring sister. These qualities came instantly to him, just because he was born a Potter. She was just a lowly muggleborn without blood status, substantial wealth or even a nice sister on her side.
"Typical." She huffed. James looked at her, confused.
"'Night Potter." She murmured as she swept past him and up the staircase to her room.
A/N: Sorry about the slight randomness of this chapter. I have another couple of disclaimers to add: I do not own A Little Princess, Dr No or Mary Poppins. They belong to someone else. I also don't own the idea of the cone of silence, I got that off an episode of Lizzie Maguire, but I did make up that rhyme.
Just in case anyone is confused by my use of the films, James has been to muggle cinemas, as mentioned in previous chapters, so he knows what these films are. I had to use these films because I know that they would have been around when Lily and James were 17. (Dr No is the first ever James Bond film starring Sean Connery. The version of A Little Princess I'm referring to is the old version starring Shirley Temple, not the one made in the 90's that was directed by Alfonso Cuaron).