A Hogwarts Cinderella
Ch. 13
By: Tiger Lily21
Lily ran until she reached the library. She sank down in a chair, put her head down on a table and sobbed. Her dreams were all coming true. It hadn't been the dress or the jewels or her beauty. James loved her because of who she was and she loved him.
"Lily, what are you doing in here?"
She looked up, half expecting to see James. But it wasn't James. It was Remus.
"I ran away again," she said. "I don't know why. Violet pulled off my mask and James started announcing to everyone that he loved me and I just ran."
"Cinderella didn't run from the prince when he told her that," said Remus. "Her fairy tale ended with 'happily ever after'. Don't you want that?"
"Yes, well Cinderella danced in glass shoes and worked like a slave for her stepfamily. This hasn't been a classic Cinderella story since the moment James put the slipper on the wrong girl. We're writing our own story and we're not going to end it with 'happily ever after'. We're going to go on and live through the good and the bad. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find James."
As she left the library Remus smiled. Maybe this wasn't going to be a Cinderella story after all. But then again, who said it was in the first place?
**********
James ran up staircase after
staircase, from floor to floor, desperately trying to find Lily. At last he saw
her coming his way down the Charms corridor.
"Lily!" he called. "Come here please!"
They met near an empty classroom. He noticed her tearstained cheeks and touched them lightly.
"Why were you crying?" he asked. "Did I upset you? If I did, I'm very sorry."
Lily blushed slightly. He had never touched her like this before.
"I was upset. I don't know why. I guess all the tears I've wanted to let out these past three years or so just spilled out. But I'm better now and I want to tell you something. I love you, James, and I would be honored if you would be my boyfriend."
James, laughing with delight, picked her up and spun her around. When he set her down they kissed, a long, passionate kiss that said more than any words could.
When they broke apart they headed back to the Great Hall. To their astonishment Violet no longer had cheese, salsa, and punch dripping from her hair. In fact she had no hair at all. She was completely bald.
"What happened here?" asked James in surprise.
A young man in a jester's costume stepped forward.
"When you left she was screaming for someone to 'fix her hair'," he said. "I couldn't remember the cleaning spell so I just vanished it."
"Put it back!" yelled Violet.
"Oh but Vi you look better that way," said Lily.
"At least now you can wear that old wig you have," quipped Rose.
"Oh a wig?" asked Sirius, who was the jester. "What kind? Is it a clown wig?"
"Humph," snorted Violet.
She stomped out of the hall but tripped over her own feet and lay spread- eagled on the floor. The hall erupted with laughter. James put his arm around Lily.
"And so Cinderella and her prince lived happily ever after," he said.
Lily smiled. "Well, until Violet's hair grows back at least," she said.
Well, I have to tell you, Violet's
hair did grow back and they didn't live 'happily ever after' after that. You
see, as Lily said, this was not a normal Cinderella story. It was a Hogwarts Cinderella story and at
Hogwarts or in life in general, nothing is ever normal. But that's a good
thing. Isn't it?
A/N: The last thing James says is from one of my favorite "out-of-the-ordinary"
Cinderella stories, Ever After.
I hope you all enjoyed this story. Oh, who am I kidding, of course you did! There
are 550 reviews! Thanks so much for sticking with me, even though I put off
things so much. There is a sequel up now, Happily
Ever After, and I will be adding more shortly. Please review this chapter and the first
chapter of the sequel. It would make me happy and get you another chapter of
the sequel! (If you think I'm bribing you, you are absolutely right.) Toodles!
--Tiger Lily