You Complete ME

By: stargirlr

Disclaimer: I own what I own and don't own anything except for my original characters and any original plots or phrases.

Chapter 2: The Notice Preparations

A few days and hundreds of arguments with Lily about Lara's 'crush' later, a notice posted on the common room bulletin board excited everyone. Lily, noticing the crowd around the board, asked near-by Sirius about it.

"The notice? Well, like, it says, like, there's a, like, a really, really stellar dance two weeks from tomorrow, like, for celebrating the start of Quidditch season! Like, Yippee!" he exclaimed doing a bad impression of a cheerleader.

A large fifth year in front of her moved and she could read the notice.

"Like, Thanks, Siri!" she cheered. She might have been at a cold war with James, but unfortunately his friends were her friends, too…

It read:

A dance will be held in Hogwarts on Saturday the 27th of September to celebrate the commencing of the Quidditch season. Fourth years and above are allowed to attend. Lower years may attend if asked by an older student. The Quidditch team-members and their dates will begin the dance at a quarter past seven. Dancing accompanied by supper and other refreshments may continue up till midnight. Prefects are requested to attend a meeting on the 15th of November to discuss décor.

By order of the management.

Lily turned to meet Lara and the Marauders close behind her. She cast a wary eye on James, but went ahead to talk to Lara. " Wow. A dance… That'll be exciting!"

She could vividly remember the last couple of dances. She had gone with Steven McConnell once and once with a Ravenclaw named Tim Sullivan. Hmmm, funny, both the times the relationship hadn't been very serious. Tim and her were still hi-hello-goodbye sort of friends. Steven, on the other hand…. There was a still a possibility there …Hmmm…

"Exciting!" Repeated Lara breathlessly. "Exciting is the understatement of the millennium, but do you realize that we have only two small measly weeks to find dresses, shoes, purses, make-up and all of our accessories? This is going to be so hectic! I really hope that they give us the entire day on the 27th to get ready!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, hon!" Sirius exclaimed.

At that comment, Lara turned and smartly slapped him. "Don't call me HON!"

He looked a bit surprised, then smiled suddenly and turned back to the conversation.

"But, seriously, you really need an entire day to get ready? You haven't even got dates yet!" Peter asked disbelievingly.

"Why, of course, you can't think that we become beautiful angels for you boys in only five minutes!" Lara said.

"And I don't think we will have any problem whatsoever in finding dates, thank you very much." Lily added coldly.

"Well, it can't be THAT hard to look good for a stupid dance!" James declared.

"Really? I suppose you just throw on a robe and if the girl is lucky enough, actually maybe wash up five minutes before you have to pick her up… You know, let's see you try getting ready as a girl…" Lily added.

"What are you getting at?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

Lily arched her eyebrows. "I dare you, any of you, to dress up as a girl for this dance. The conditions are that you have to get at least two guys to dance with you. Of course, this dare won't be known to them."

"For the entire dance?" yelled Sirius, "We have to get SOME time to flirt, you know…"

"All right, pervert. Half the dance then." Lily improvised.

"And why in the world should we lay down our masculinity before all the world?" James demanded.

Lily looked at Lara skeptically and it seemed to the guys that they were communicating telepathically. Maybe…

Lily replied "One of us will go out with one of you four."

The guys looked surprised.

"Yes." Sirius and James shouted together.

Sirius looked suspiciously at James and he backed away a bit.

Lily said. "Deal"

They walked leisurely to Transfiguration, James' favorite class. Somehow he found this class the easiest. Sirius, however, claimed he didn't have a favorite class. Actually, he had said, 'My favorite class is the hospital wing.' Of course that didn't have anything to do with a certain Madam Partridge, the nurse in charge--'that pretty wild thing' Sirius had once said about her. Remus was fairly good at Transfiguration. However, his lycanthrophy somehow prevented him from excelling at it. Peter, on the other hand, had not received an OWL high enough to take Advanced Transfiguration.

On settling down, Professor McGonagall began teaching. "Today, we begin a very important topic in your sixth year--Animagus transformation in detail. The Ministry does not allow any unsupervised attempts to become Animagi, so we will not be delving very deep into the procedure. Let me tell you this however, to become an animagus is a singularly difficult task, one that can go fatally wrong without the proper guidance. Now, to identify Animagi…"

As she pointed to the large blackboard, the Marauders gave each other a smile.

Lily, sitting behind Remus, nudged him and mouthed, " What's so funny?"

He shook his head, a tad sadly, to indicate that it was nothing important.

"Miss Evans, do you have a problem in concentrating?" Prof. McGonagall's voice broke out suddenly. "You are well aware that your transfiguration marks are not up to standard. I expected more from you. I'd like to see you after class. You too, Mr. Potter."

Lily blushed as everyone stared at her.

Throughout the entire class, she kept her head low, moving only to make a note on her parchment. Maybe, maybe, her prefectship would be taken away. But then why would the professor call Potter as well? She hoped that she didn't make him suffer as well. For once, he wasn't the root of all her misery. This time, for maybe the first time and hopefully the last time, it was her own fault.

After class, Lara, Sirius, Remus moved away and before departing, Lara shot Lily a sympathetic look. James and Lily waited while Professor McGonagall cleared away the things on her desk with a wave of her wand. She sat down wearily.

"Miss Evans? I know that your behavior today varied from your usual quiet demeanor. Although I believe that as we are all human, we are prone to mistakes, I must ask you to refrain from talking in class. I also know that Transfiguration is your hardest subject." She looked down at what Lily assumed to be her progress report. "You are doing well in each of your subjects, exceptionally well in Charms. In transfiguration, however, you are barely…" she glanced at James. "You are not doing as well. I recommend that you get a tutor. Alright?" She glanced back at James. "You are dismissed."

As Lily stood up, James asked, "Er-Professor, what did you want to see me for?"

She looked up, surprised. "I thought it was obvious. I want you to be her tutor. Do you mind?" Although she asked very politely, James could tell that McGonagallwould most definitely mind if he minded. Lily was looking at him, suddenly dreading the tutoring sessions.

Strolling to their next class, Lily was unusually quiet. She hated any form of reproach from her teachers. It gave her a feeling of insecurity—that she didn't belong.

"Hey, Lils, don't take it so seriously!" James said softly.

"Don't call me Lils," She responded, but there was no energy in her tone and she didn't even bother to look at him.

"What's wrong if you aren't wonderful in transfiguration? You can't be perfect!"

She was about to thank him for being so sweet when he added, "Of course you can't be perfect! That's my job!"

She shook her head at the comic routine. "You're such a prat, Potter."

"James." He corrected her. "And what are friends for?" He made to put an arm around her.

She ducked and yelled, "We're not friends, Potter. Nor will we ever be if you keep trying to pull stunts like that on me!"

"Aw, Lils!" He yelled behind her as she walked off.

"Hey Lily, rumor says we have a Hogsmeade visit before the dance so we have a chance to get our dresses and stuff. Could you confirm it?" Lara asked the next day at breakfast.

"Uh-uh. Sure. I'll ask Steven." Lily replied absentmindedly, pouring milk on to her omelet. Her mind was on a dark, tousle-haired somebody who was currently busy discussing Quidditch tactics with his friends. How could he just expect to be friends? After one decent conversation… Humph. He couldn't do this—one minute, he was angry, the next, he wanted to be friends…

Lara noticed her inattentiveness followed her gaze and shaking her head said, "I'm sorry Lily, but I must drag you away from your boyfriend there. We have to get to Herbology."

"Boyfriend? I detest him. He's not my boy—" Lily sputtered.

"Yeah, sure he's not. Not yet anyway." Lara retorted.

"You—"

At Herbology, they started revision of the last term's plants.

"Do you remember what this is?" asked Professor Sprout to the class in general. Yes, it was a Freasliy shrub.

"And what does it do?"

It cures wizard's flu.

Yes, Larika and Lily remembered everything perfectly, no need to ask.

Bored to the core, Lara finally pulled out a piece of parchment, tore out a small piece, frantically scribbled something on it, crumpled into a small ball and threw it at Lily's head.

OMG! This is so-oh boring. –Lara

Lily thought a minute and responded.

I know, Lard… All the classes are so tiresome. Especially since we did all this stuff two years ago! --Lily

The Marauders haven't pulled any pranks so far this year, have they? –Lara

Okay, that was random… just shows here your thoughts are. Actually, I'm glad they haven't. D'you know how hard it would be to get Potter out of trouble if he was caught? He's a PREFECT! -–Lily

At this point, Sirius, who was watching them for sometime now, snatched the note, read it and showed it to James. They both grinned and began to discuss something in very intent whispers.

After sometime, their whispers stopped and James casually slid his wand out of his pocket. Lazily pointing it at a snapping plant a few feet behind Professor Sprout, he muttered a few well-chosen words. Suddenly the tendrils of the plant began to move towards the professor, slowly creeping around her feet.

The whole class besides the professor had noticed the plant by now and were carefully watching its every move.

As Professor Sprout stepped forward to demonstrate something, her foot caught in the tangles of stem around it and she swayed trying to recover her lost balance.

Unable to do so, she yelled, "Aaaaahhhhhh" grabbing an unfortunate boy in the front row along with her, causing both of them to fall, sprawled across the floor.

The whole class started laughing uncontrollably. Fortunately, the professor attributed the blame to the plant.

After class, however, Sirius and James were recognized as the actual misdoers and were given sincere congratulations on their fine performance.

"Potter! You could have gotten into trouble!" Lily scolded, lightly slapping his arm. She was too cheerful to be angry.

"Yeah, so what, it wouldn't be the first time, would it?" he replied in a careless "Do I give a damn?" tone.

Halfway back to the castle, Lily spotted Steven some distance away from them.

Wanting to ask about the Hogsmeade visit, she said, "Hey, guys? I have to talk to Steven about something. I'll see you in the castle, okay? Bye."

With the mention of Steven's name, James' eyes narrowed but before he had a chance to say anything, Lily started to jog away.

Slowing down as she neared him, James watched as Steven greeted her like an old friend.

Having nothing else to do, the group (The Marauders and Lara) decided to wait back for Lily.

On her return, Lara asked anxiously, "So? What did he say?"

Clearly excited, Lily replied, "He said yes. Tomorrow!"

James misunderstood both her remarks and her excitement, and thought…well, you can probably guess what he thought… His eyes narrowed even more.

James' mood decreased as the day passes. He couldn't understand how Lily could even think of going out with Steven.

Later in the boy's dormitory

"So, er, Prongs, what's with your mood today, huh?" Remus questioned tentatively.

"Nothing!" he replied sharply.

"Yeah right. And I'm Godzilla." Sirius retorted.

" That can be arranged." James replied angrily.

Sirius was going to continue but Peter and Remus yelled at the same time. "Padfoot, Shut up!"

He shut his mouth, pouting.

James sprawled across his bed. "How could she be so stupid?" he shouted.

"She? Who's 'she'?" Peter asked, suddenly interested.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sirius asked.

"Of course. Lily. Lily Elizabeth Evans. But what did she now?" Remus demanded.

" Why'd she have to go out with Steven? I mean, isn't it obvious that he's just using her to get to me…? He thinks he can go one up just by going out with Evans, does he?" James cried.

"Steven? Prongs, dude, she's not going out with him…" he replied, even more confused as to how Steven could possibly 'get to' James through Lily. Their hatred for each other was pretty much known by the entire teen wizarding community,

"But, this morning when we were coming back from Herbology… She went to talk to him."

"Yeah… talk to him about whether there's a Hogsmeade visit tomorrow!" Sirius interrupted.

"You're kidding." James said disbelievingly.

"No"

"Yes"

"No"

"Yes"

"NO!"

"Oh God, then what have I done?" James moaned.

Suddenly alarmed, Remus asked, "Dude, what HAVE you done?"

"Welllll, I-sorta-charmed-Steven's-face-to-look-like-a-clown's-and-put-a-spell-on-him-so-that-he-wouldn't-know." James muttered, biting his lip.

"What?" All three Marauders yelled.

"You pranked …you pulled a prank on the HEAD BOY! You crazy git! We have to remove it!" Sirius bellowed.

And so, they ran to find him. (Steven)

"Wouldn't it be great if we had a map of some sort? You know, to find people and stuff in Hogwarts…" Sirius remarked breathlessly as they neared the Entrance Hall.

Steven was strolling down the stairs. His billowing pants were an electric shade of blue and he was wearing a dazzling yellow shirt .His face was completely white. One of his eyes was circled with red paint, the other with blue. Two pink spots were painted where his cheeks should be and he had a classic red clown nose. His Head Boy badge was modified to read "Clown Boy". To top it all of, he had a bright pink and green head of hair.

Remus stared at him and then at James, wide-eyed.

James casually shrugged, " I forgot to tell you, I changed his clothes as well."

They approached him.

"Er, hi Steve, you're looking a bit different today." Sirius commented chirpily.

"Uh, really, I don't particularly think so, but…"

"Yeah, yeah." Continued Sirius, stalling.

Remus slowly slid out his wand and muttered a few words and the make-up wore off.

Relieved, the Marauders left him and continued to dinner.

On the way, they met Lara. She asked. "Well, you all look like you've caused some mischief. Maybe you had something to do with Steven's make-up today. He came to Ravenclaw Quidditch practice wearing a clown outfit. Everyone was asking about it but he pretended not to know."

"Uh, well, he's back to normal now." Peter said.

"Uh-huh. So, are you guys going to Hogsmeade tomorrow? Because if you are, we could, maybe, sorta go as a group…" she said blushing furiously.

As Sirius was busy grinning cheekily at Lara, James consented. "Yeah, sure, meet you both at 10 o'clock tomorrow, k ?"

As she moved away, he asked, "Er, what about Lily?"

"What about her?" He eyes danced, amused.

"Is she coming?

She nodded slowly.

"Does she…. Approve?"

"Well… she will."

James looked at her doubtfully.

(A/N: Does anyone here like the movie "The Matrix"? I like it. Yeah, especially because of Keanu Reeves. Okay, this doesn't have anything to do with the fanfic. Sooo, I guess I better shut up and let you all read. Hope you enjoy it. If you do, be sure to go waaay down to the bottom of the page and review for me. If you don't, be sure go waay down, press Review and tell me! Thanks.)