A Hogwarts Cinderella

By: Tiger Lily21

Chapter 7

A/N: Well, this is the chapter you've all been waiting for. I hope it's long enough for all of you who wanted longer chapters. If it's not, don't complain. It was over twelve pages written out by hand. If you guys can't deal with that, tough beanie-weenies.

By the way, thanks! 145 reviews? You people are the best! I mean, I got onto my email one day and I had forty-seven reviews out of forty-nine emails! That was really, really inspiring! I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations!

And now… The chapter you've all been waiting for!

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The first Hogsmeade weekend was on Halloween of that year. Violet, finally made human again by Professor McGonagall, had consented to Lily's sleeping in the dormitory (under threat of expulsion) and on this particular day was playing "Alarm Clock".

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" she sang, sounding like she was still a parrot.

Lily pulled back the hangings of her four-poster bed and yawned.

"What time is it?" she moaned.

"Six-thirty!" said Rose in a sing-song voice while bouncing on her bed in excitement. "And today is a Hogsmeade weekend!"

"I know, I planned it," moaned Lily. "Why did you wake me up to tell me about something I planned?"

" Because along with that James asked me to meet him in the Astronomy Tower tonight," said Violet, idly brushing her hair. "I suspect he's going to propose."

Lily, now fully awake, snorted. "As if," she said. "More likely he'll turn you into a Peppermint Toad and give you to Peter."

"Shut up!" screamed Violet, clearly indicating that the conversation was over.

Lily, smiling at her victory, pulled on a pair of jeans, a skirt and a sweater, took her notebook from the night table and left.

(A/N: Hey, just a note. You remember how in the first chapter James told Lily she should write a retelling of Cinderella? Well she took his advice and that is why she has the notebook. Just had to clear that up! Toodles! Oh, wait! One more thing. On the weekends students are allowed to wear Muggle clothes unless it's for a Quidditch game. But there won't be any Quidditch matches in this fic. Sorry! Toodles for real now!)

Lily wrote for a while. James wandered down around seven and, when he saw her, sat down next to her on the couch.

"Morning James," said Lily, not looking up from her writing.

"How do you do that?" asked James.

"Instinct," said Lily, still not looking up.

"What are you writing?"

" It's a retelling of Cinderella. The main character is a girl named Ariella. She tutors Prince Richard Charming until his mother fires her because she doesn't like the idea that her son is being tutored by a peasant. The rest of the story is about how she gets back to the palace, attends the ball and gets Prince Richard to realize who she is despite the fact that she looks like a noblelady instead of the normal girl he's used to. It's kind of like you and Lady Gryffindor I guess. I mean, at first he's only looking at her dress and her jewels but when he looks with his heart instead of his head herealizies that true love was right under his nose."

Lily then realized that she had unwittingly given James a big clue as to who Lady Gryffindor was and bent over her notebook again.

"Wow," said James, "It sounds really good. Can I read it?"

"When it's done," mumbled Lily.

" Okay," said James. Then something she'd said sparked his curiosity. " Lily," he asked, "Where'd you get the idea for that story?"

Lily blushed. She had gotten the idea for the story when James had told her she should write a retelling of Cinderella three years ago at the ball and had been fiddling with it ever since.

"Well, to be honest, you gave it to me," she said.

" I did?" asked James, confused.

"Well yeah," said Lily. " I actually started it to teach you a lesson about Lady Gryffindor. You don't have to search the whole school for her. Just look with your heart and she'll come to you. She's probably right under your nose."

That same big hint. Lily hoped that James would continue to be ignorant to the clues she was giving him. For some reason she felt like it wasn't time for him to find out who Lady Gryffindor was. She'd let him know when the time came. If it ever came.

"Well, we'd better go to breakfast," said Lily. "I'll see you in Hogsmeade, okay?"

"Okay," James said. Then he remembered something he had to do.

"Hey Lily," he said," Meet me at the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. I need to tell you something about Violet but I can't tell you here. She might hear."

Lily, who had an idea as to what he was going to say,smiled and said," Okay. I'll see you then. Bye James."

After she left James sat on the couch, waiting for Sirius, Remus, and Peter so he could tell them that they would meet at the Shrieking Shack after he ditched Violet, who would probably cling on him until they reached Hogsmeade.

"Jamesie!You waited for me!"

Violet, adorned in purple Muggle clothes from head to toes, came down the girls' staircase and rushed at James.

"Hi Violet," mumbled James.

"Well let's go to breakfast," said Violet. "Then we can spend the whole day together!"

"Oh goody," said James sarcastically.

He let her drag him into the Great Hall and push him into a seat. He stared at Lily, who was laughing and chatting with Remus,and completely ignored Violet, who was talking a mile a minute.

"So James, we're going to the Three Broomsticks and to Honeydukes and to Zonkos' for you, right? Oooh this'll be so much fun! James, are you paying attention to me?"

James tore his gaze away from Lily and looked at Violet.

"Huh?" he asked," Oh,sorry Violet. Look, I'm supposed to spend today with the guys, But we're still on for tonight, I promise.DOn't be mad."

"Mad?Why should I be mad?You're only ditching me, your girlfriend, for those stupid idiots you call friends. And for Evans,I suppose. Whatever happened to my fifteen-minute rule?"

Violet jumped up so fast she nearly knocked over the table and ran out of the Great Hall. Lily smiled at James from across the table and mouthed, " Ding-dong the witch is dead!"

"As for the fifteen-minute rule," he muttered," It won't be effective after tonight. I am not your property anymore!"

With that he stood up and moved to sit with his friends.

Half an hour later Lily and James were at the Shrieking Shack. The others were, for some reason, unfashionably late so the other two started without them.

"So James, what did you want to tell me?" asked Lily.

"Well I,uh, I've decided that I can't stand Violet holding me under her thumb anymore so I,um, I invited her up to the Astronomy Tower tonight and I'm going to break up with her."

"HALLELUJAH!" shouted Lily and hugged him. "You're not as dumb as I thought. Good luck!"

James, half-stupified by the hug, stammered, "Well, uh, thanks. I, uh, I guess. But Violet won't be happy."

Lily muttered," That is the understatement of the century."

"She'll go ballistic," said James. "And she'll probably blame you for it."

"So what?" asked Lily, still too happy about the fact that James was finally coming to his senses, about Violet anyways,to care. "So I have to sleep in the common room for a while. So what? Turn her into a parrot again."

"I can't," James said. "McGonagall forbid the spell. It'll backfire on me if I do it again."

" Oh well," said Lily. "Too bad. Maybe you could make her a slug."

And with that she hugged James again and skipped down the hill just as Sirius, Remus, and Peter were coming up.

The boys found James standing on the hill, watching Lily as if he was petrified.

"What'd she do to you?" asked Sirius.

"She hugged me," said James vaguely. "She hugged me twice."

"Why would she hug you?" asked Sirius.

"I told her I'm breaking up with Violet tonight," said James.

"Finally," said Remus. "It's about time you realized she's not the one for you. No wonder Lily hugged you."

"Yeah," muttered James, more to himself than to the others. "But what I don't get is why Iiked it so much."

Peter piped up. "Maybe you like her."

"Yeah right," said Jaems, snapping back to reality. "Lily's a friend. Just a friend."

"If you say so," said Remus but he could tell James wasn't so sure about it.

A/N: Hmmm. Should I stop it there? Or do you guys want more?

Oh all right. After all, you did all send me those wonderful reviews so I guess you deserve to read about the big break-up. Read on!

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James and Violet were sitting in the Astronomy Tower. Violet sat next to James, holding his hand and waiting for him to say something.

James cleared his throat and began the speech he'd been working on for four hours straight.

"Violet, we've been going out for three years and lately I've been thinking that maybe I put the shoe on the wrong girl's foot that day. Lady Gryffindor was dream-come- true for me. She was smart and funny and imaginative and pretty to say the least. She loved Cinderella. When I talked with her it was like I was in Cinderella as the prince and I was falling in love with the perfect girl. But that wasn't you. Lady Gryffindor is the only girl I will ever love. And that's not you. So this is goodbye, Violet. I am no longer your slave. I can talk to Lily for as long as I want. We're friends and nothing more. I'd like to be friends with you too but I don' t think it's possible. Goodbye, Violet."

With that he stood up and walked to the door of the tower. Violet tackled him from behind and he fell on her. She crawled out from under him and slapped his face as hard as she could.

"Evans did this to you," she snapped. "She gave you these silly ideas, these foolish dreams of love and happiness. Well I'm here to tell you that fairy tales aren't real. Love isn't real. Evans is lying to you and you are lying to yourself. You are mine. Is that clear?"

"No," said James, ignoring the pain in his cheek and trying to stay calm. "You're wrong Violet. Fairy tales and love are the best things in the world. Lily and I are smart enough to believe in them. You on the other hand are too ignorant to realize what I have in me for Lady Gryffindor so I won't bother to explain it to you. I belong to no one but myself."

Violet laughed cruelly. "Foolish boy," she said frostily. " I don't care what you feel for your fairy tale princess. She doesn't exist. The only girls who exist who are worthy of you are my sister and myself. Pick one of us or suffer the consequences."

James matched her tone as he said, "Shut up you sad, sad excuse for a human being. This is the end. Goodbye."

He stood up and this time Violet let him go. But as he walked calmly down the stairs she screamed," YOU WILL PAY POTTER! I'LL MAKE SURE YOU PAY! AND EVANS WILL PAY TOO! THIS IS HER DOING, I KNOW IT! YOU ARE MINE, POTTER!"

James turned and said silkily," Do what you want with me but leave Lily out of it. Everything I told you tonight was my idea. Lily had nothing to do with this. You will leave her alone."

Violet zoomed past him down the stairs. James began to run, knowing that she had not heard a word he'd just said and that she was heading for the library, where Lily was.

Lily was absorbed in Beauty by Robin McKinley when Violet reached her. Suddenly the book was snatched from her hands. Lily could only watch as Violet ripped out the pages of the book, screaming all the while, "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, EVANS! JAMES WAS MINE UNTIL YOU CAME ALONG WITH YOUR STUPID ROMANTICAL IDEAS AND RUINED IT! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!!!"

Finished destroying the book she turned on Lily and slapped her with all her might.

Lily's eyes filled with tears.

"I didn't give him any ideas," she said, choking back sobs. " Why are you blaming me?"

"Because," said Violet, "If that wimp hadn't met you he would still be my boyfriend. I would still be happy. But since you came along and brainwashed him I am going to make your life as miserable as mine!"

She raised her hand to strike again when Madam Pince, the librarian, grabbed her wrist.

"I will not allow squabbling in my library," she said. "Both of you are going to see the Headmaster now. Come along Ms. Evans."

She lead them to Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Have a seat, ladies," he said. Lily sat. Violet stood in clear defiance, arms crossed, face one big scowl.

"Ms.Thompson I said have a seat," repeated Dumbledore. Violet sat.

"Madam Pince tells me you struck Miss Evans. Is that correct?"

Violet nodded.

"Why did you do it?" asked Dumbledore.

"She lost me my boyfriend," said Violet sourly.

"How?"

"She put stupid ideas about love and fairy tales into his head," said Violet. " She made him break up with me."

"Is this true, Miss Evans?"

"I assure you, Professor, that James did it of his own free will. The fight started when she tore up my book. I didn't do anything to her."

Professor Dumbledore turned his stern gaze on Violet once more.

"I have warned you before, Miss Thompson, of what would happen if you continued to act this way," he said. "For now you will receive a month's worth of detention. You will also give Miss Evans enough money to buy a new copy of the book you destroyed. You may go now. Miss Evans, stay here for a moment please."

Violet, still scowling, left the office. Lily stayed seated and silent but tears were running down her face for some reason.

Dumbledore looked at her kindly,

"Miss Evans," he said, " I am afraid that despite the punishment she has been given Miss Thompson will not be as forgiving as I would like her to be. If she ever bothers you again please feel free to come here and talk with me about it. Also, I would like to recommend that you and Mr. Potter start planning a Christmas ball. Perhaps another Masquerade? You may go."

Lily wiped her face on her sleeve, smiled at Professor Dumbledore, and left the office.

"Well, well, well," said Dumbledore as she left. "It seems that Cinderella will be going back to the ball."

A/N: Well that is a very good place to stop. This is eleven pages on Word. I hope you're all happy because this is as long as the chapters will get.

Before anyone asks, yes Dumbledore knows about the Lady Gryffindor thing. The teachers keep closer watches on romantic issues in the school than most of us think.

Thanks again for reading this and for all those reviews! Let's try to make it to 200 this time! It would make me so happy! And when I'm happy I type faster so make me happy! (Yes I am bribing you and no I don't care.) Toodles!

--Tiger Lily