Chapter 9 The Ball
James POV
Damn, today is the bloody ball. These girls won't stop their giggling. I hope they don't give me a makeover. Really, one is enough. And it was just the other day, so I don't need one. Oh God, now I'm thinking like one of them. I hopped out of bed to find Ellie and Kay gushing over Mary's dress. I brought my hands to my mouth and said, "Oh my god! That dress is so nice! I love the texture and the color! Oh the color will so bring out your eyes, Mary!" Mary was giggling.
"You think so, Lily?" Mary said, clapping her hands and jumping. I barely supressed a smirk. Then Mary stopped jumping when she realised it was me, James Potter, she was talking to. She frowned and put the dress away. I waved at her and went to the shower. I took a long bath, so that the girls would be forced to wait. They were pounding on the door by the time I finished and I smirked when I left the bathroom. The three girls glared at me and Ellie ran inside the bathroom. I put on my robes and left the dorm, leaving three rather hyperactive girls.
I was met by a smirking Sirius and I frowned.
"What did you do, Sirius?" Sirius frowned. Oh. For once he isn't smirking because of something he's done.
"I didn't do anything, Evans. And even if I had done anything, I wouldn't have told you, since it's none of your business." I pursed my lips in a way that's considered to be Lily's trademark.
"Kay won't be so happy when she hears you've been rude to me, Sirius." I smirked at him and he paled.
"Sorry, Lily, for being rude. Please don't tell Kay."
"I'll think about it. I better get going, don't want to miss breakfast."
"Of course. I'll, erm, wait for Kay. You can go on."
"Right. But you are aware you'll have to wait a long time?"
"Oh. Then I suppose I can honor you with my company." I snorted. Sirius must've forgotten who I really am.
"Sirius, it's my last day in this. You might as well admit it was all a plan."
"Your last day? What do you mean? What plan?" I must admit that Sirius looked remotely confused.
"Forget it." I hurried to the Great Hall and saw Lily stuffing herself. I burst out laughing but soon stopped when she glared at me.
"Hey there, Lily." Lily looked at me, swallowed and smiled.
"Hi James," she said.
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Lily POV
Being in James's body has an advantage. I won't be forced to wake up with my giggling ex-best-friends. In fact, I was the first one to wake up and this has never happened on a ball morning. I took a quick bath and when I finished getting dressed Remus was waking up. I grabbed James's bag and ran to the Great Hall. I really don't feel like seeing the boys smirks today.
I sat down and started piling a bunch of food on my plate. I began eating when laughter interrupted me. James was laughing at me. I think it's because he probably never saw me eat so much food. I glared at him and he stopped laughing. Good. I started eating again and I heard him say, "Hey there, Lily." I looked at him, swallowed my food and replied, "Hi James."
"So, excited?" He asked as he got a huge pile of pancakes. I stared at him.
"James, stop! Those pancakes are going to go straight down to my butt!"
"What?"
"I'll get fat because of all that food. Stop this instant."
"No! You can exercise later." Arg.
"Okay, whatever. Anyway, no, I'm not excited, although I am happy that I didn't have to wake up with the girls this year."
"You're lucky. They must be gushing over their dresses til now."
"Yeah. I'm surprised you're here so early."
"Oh, I woke up early and while they were saying how, oh my god, the dress made Mary thin, I went to the bathroom."
"Smart. I usually do so, but every now and then they ask my opinion about the dress and won't let me go until I give a detailed opinion about it. Which doesn't make much sense, because even if I don't like the dress, what'll they do? Go to Hogsmeade and return it on the day of the ball?"
"You're right. They don't make much sense. But then, when have women made any sense?"
"Hey!"
"Except for you, of course, Lily." Damn, he's so sweet.
"Right. I'll pretend I believe you."
"You don't believe me?" James made some puppy dog eyes, and I, of course, laughed at him. He frowned and fake glared at me. At least I think he fake glared.
"Aww, poor Jamesie. Don't worry, I believe you. Oh, and we have a half day today. Everyone, that is."
"Excellent. These past three days have been the best of my life."
"So you admit that you love being in my body."
"No, they'd be much better if I was in my body, of course."
"Whatever you say."
"I hate you."
"I love you, James." I winked at him and we burst out laughing.
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James POV
Lily is so nice. I finally remembered why I wanted to go out with her a long while ago. But I don't remember why I began hating her. Maybe it was because I'd never been turned down so many times. Sure, I've been turned down quite a bit, but I think that of the, say, 70 something times I've been turned down, Lily's no's make up about 85 of it. That didn't make much sense, did it? And now that I realise it, 70 something times isn't so big, since there are a lot of people at Hogwarts. Hah, so Sirius can't tease me any more about the amount of times I've been turned down.
"James? Hello, earth to James?" Lily was waving her hand in front of my face, laughing at me. I grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry, I was day-dreaming."
"About?"
"You." Oh no, I did not just say that. Lily looked funny at me and laughed feebly. I'm so stupid.
"Um, right, James. We better get going, we don't want to get late for Potions."
"I do."
"James!"
"Okay, okay." Lily grabbed my arm and took me to Potions. We arrived just in time for Potions and Professor Van Deehre frowned at us but didn't coment anything. I remember when Sirius had a crush on her when we were second years. He's still teased by us because of that. And she's not even that good-looking. But then, Sirius has always been weird.
"Good morning class. Today we'll be doing the Aging Potions. The instructions are here, and please follow them closely. I don't want any incidents today." She glanced at me and I gulped. Our last Potions class wasn't so good for Lily's grade.
"Lily, some help here please." Lily grinned.
"Of course. I don't want to get another T." I scowled at the memory.
Thankfully, with Lily's help, I managed to do the potion. It didn't look too bad, but compared to Lily's, it was the worst potion ever. Professor Van Deehre came to us and smiled at Lily.
"Why, Mr. Potter, you've been doing quite a good job these past few days. You, Miss Evans, however, must work more on your potions. This one turned out quite well, but it's a bit too shallow. If you were to take it, you'd age only a few months." I glared at her when she turned around and Lily snickered.
"What?" I asked her.
"It's just weird. I never thought I'd see the day Van Deehre reprimanded me and congratulated you. At least she thinks she did so."
"Did I mention I hate you already?"
"A couple of times today, yes."
"Good." I sat down and sulked until the bell rang.
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Lily POV
James seriously needs some tutoring in Potions. Perhaps I could help him after we change bodies. I never knew that he was bad at Potions. Sure, I've seen Van Deehre screaming at him, but I thought it was about some prank or something. And with Peter, who's, surprisingly, excellent at Potions, you'd think he'd help James. I guess not. James been thinking a lot today. I wonder if he was saying the truth when he said he was day dreaming about me? Probably, since he looked like he wanted to hide in a hole and never come out. It was very cute though. Anyway, here I am, with the Marauders, waiting for a suitable time to get ready. Suitable time being five minutes before the ball. Of course, it's the type of thing James would do, so I have to follow the guidelines. Though it's very weird to be in the common room with only boys, all of the girls are in their dorms getting ready. It's getting quite boring, though it's amusing to see Sirius's chess set curse when he's made a wrong move, which is quite often, I must add. Remus is obviously winning and Peter is playing Exploding Snap with some sixth year. And I am just staring into space, wondering how James is doing, if he's allowing the girls to do another make over on him. I've been thinking about him quite a lot. Okay, enough of this. I stood up and the boys looked up.
"Where are you going, James?" Sirius asked, concentrating on his chess set.
"I'm going to take a walk."
"Take a walk-damn!" Peter said as his cards exploded in his face.
"Yes. And you better fix your hair, I doubt Mary would be happy to go with you to the ball with your hair sticking up." Peter mumbled something and ran to the dorm. I left the common room and went to the Owlery. For some odd reason, being among the owls always soothes me. I think it's because an owl was the first contact I had with the wizarding world.
"Hi James." A voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw this girl with auburn hair and grey eyes. Not a nice combination.
"Hi, er?"
"Jenny. Don't you remember me? We dated for a week last year."
"No, I don't remember you. Um, was there anything specific you wanted to tell me?"
"Well, there's nothing I want to tell you but I've been having this unresistable urge to snog you." EWWWWW!
"Like no way. I already have a girlfriend."
"Who?"
"It's none of your business, Jenny. Now will you please excuse me?"
"It's that mudblood Evans, isn't it?" I narrowed my eyes.
"Don't you ever, and I mean ever, call Lily a mudblood. If you weren't a girl I don't know what I would do. But I must tell you that it wouldn't be nice." Jenny scoffed and stomped off the Owlery. I glared at her and continued walking around the Owlery. After a long while I went back to the dorm.
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James POV
I hate them. I really hate them. Thankfully, Ellie says we won't have time to do makeovers so maybe I'll just strongly dislike them. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not being forced to spend hours gushing over dresses. Mary is still telling me how great this dress looks in me. I'm about to snap at her, but I think I owe it to Lily.
"Lily, I have these perfect earrings that will totally bring out your cheekbones!" Kay said as she looked for the earrings. She showed me some silver loops and I raised an eyebrow.
"Um, okay?" I put them on and when I looked at myself in the mirror I was surprised to see that they did indeed bring out Lily's cheekbones. She's looking great. I'm so proud of myself.
"See?" Kay said smugly. Ellie and Mary looked at me and both of them squealed in delight.
"Oh they look so good Lily! You absolutely have to wear them more times!" Ellie said. She frowned when she realised that she was actually telling this to James Potter. See, proof of the crimes.
"I'll keep that in mind. I'll get going okay, I don't want to keep James waiting." The girls nodded and I left the dorm. Apparently I was the first to leave. Everyone is staring at me and Lily is smirking. I went over to her and she hooked my arm with hers.
"You girls have to go through this whenever there is a ball?" I whispered in her ear.
"Pretty much. Now you know better than to make fun of us."
"Of course. Thankfully, Ellie realised that there wasn't enough time to do makeovers so I escaped." Lily laughed.
"Do you know this Jenny girl? She said she dated you for a week last year. The way she said it looked like she was proud of herself."
"Red hair, grey eyes? Awful combination?" I asked her. I remember her.
"Yeah."
"I didn't date her. She asked me out, but I said no. She's a Slytherin. Her family is very pureblood obsessed."
"I noticed."
"What?"
"She called me, no, you, I mean, she called me, as in Lily Evans, a mudblood. I told her not to call me that again and that if she wasn't a girl I would've hit her, something like that anyway."
"Idiot. Never mind her. I'm now supposed to be hyper."
"Why?"
"I finally got a date with you."
"No! Oh...yeah, you did. I suppose I should congratulate you to finally getting me to go out with you."
"Thank you," I said dryly. Lily laughed and I grinned. We entered the Great Hall and was surprised by the decorations. Although we had decorated everything it was still surprising. And to see it with people is different. Even if there are just a few people.
"Let's sit down," Lily suggested. I nodded and she lead me to a corner table.
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Lily POV
I must admit that James did a great job getting dressed like me. Most boys are gawking at him. And I did a great job combing James's hair, believe me, it took a long while. And it's still slightly messed up. Then I put on the robe that did the trick. It looks great on me. James. Oh whatever. I'm still upset with the Jenny episode but James is right, I shouldn't pay attention to her. And it's not like I haven't be called that before.
"So, what's your opinion about James Potter's lifestyle?" James asked me.
"Oh, just that it's awful. Quidditch completely sucks and your friends are terrible. How do you feel about Lily Evans lifestyle?"
"It's the worst thing I've been through. I'm quite sure women are masochists." We both laughed at this and suddenly song began playing.
"Lily?"
"What?"
"This is my favorite song ever we have to dance!" James stood up and was grabbing my hand.
"Oh no."
"Oh yes."
"Okay, but please remember that you're still a girl."
"Yessir." James started dancing and I danced with him, though it's hard to do so when you're laughing your head off at him. The song ended and we went back to our table, James a little breathless.
"You're weird, you know that James?" I said.
"No, you are. How can someone not like that song?"
"It's good, but the way you danced it was awful."
"It's just original, okay. And is it just me or is everybody staring at us?" I looked around and indeed a lot of people were staring at us.
"No, it's not just you. Let's go to some place private." I winked playfully at him and we hurried out of the Great Hall and into the park we had done. Nobody was there and we went to a corner. We talked for a long time until I got tired an fell asleep. James leaned his head in my chest and also fell asleep.
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James POV
I woke up suddenly when I felt a weird sensation going threw my body. I glanced at my watch, it was 12:01. I looked closer at my arm and noticed how hairy it was. I stood up and heard a small yelp. I jumped up. Yes, finally I have my body back. I turned around and Lily was rubbing her head.
"Lily, we have our bodies back!"
"What? Oh that great! I'm so happy. No more Quidditch, no more disgusting boys!"
"No more makeovers, no more shopping, no more Charms Club, no more nasty scheeming friends!" We hugged each other and Lily grinned at me. She looks so sweet when she grins.
"Is my hair all right?" she asked.
"Yeah, it's fine."
"We won't let all this go by without payback will we?"
"Of course not. Look, I have an idea." I lowered my head and she whispered her idea in my ear. I grinned evilly when she finished telling it to me and we went back to the Great Hall.
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Lily POV
Is it me or are all of the girls here glaring at me? What did I do? Is it just that I'm going out with James? Must be. Oh, it's so good to have my body back. I never thought I'd appreciate it so. I waved at Kay when she and Sirius broke their kiss and she waved back. Then I remembered something that had almost happened earlier and some mysterious spirit took over me. I tapped James's shoulder and he turned around. I took a step closer and then kissed him. I felt James stiffen but then he deepened the kiss. Soon we were having a what Mary calls 'snogathon' and when we finally broke up I blushed. James smiled at me and said in a high-pitched voice:
"I would never date you James Potter." I blushed even more.
"I guess I was wrong. Besides, I didn't know you snogged so well."
"I am James Potter after all."
"Arrogant comment."
"Sorry."
"It's okay. But I think I'll need a bit more of persuasion to completely forgive you." James kissed me and said, "Am I forgiven?"
"Not yet."
A/N: I loved writing this chapter. It might be a bit fluffy in the end, but it was great. I hope you like it. A great way of showing it would be reviewing, right! So, I think that next chapter is the last one, though I'll try to make it bigger. Sorry if you wanted this story to be longer, but I had long since planned it to be small, not like Riot Girl, which I was expecting to be longer, but I got bored(grins sheepishly) and decided to end it. And for those who read The Not So Normal Confessions of Lily Evans, think of the positive side, I'll have more time to update it. And I have posted the fifth chappie. Review!