Quick A/N: I just changed my pen name. No freaking out and reporting this story, please.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters associated with it. I do, however, own Tatiana and Bella's personality/description along with the plot of this story. I don't own the show For Love or Money, but this fic is not based entirely on the show. Only the idea of choosing between love and money comes from that show. I think that's about it. Enjoy!
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
It was really lucky that I had come by that box while cleaning out my closet in preparation for the "big move" as I had called it. I had been transferred to another hospital, where Charm Specialists were scarce. It was a normal-sized shoebox with a crimson red lid and a beige "body" I suppose. I had gotten it as a present from some of my classmates as a joke, but that wasn't the important part. What laid inside that gift had surprised me and really made me wake up to reality.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
A red-haired witch rummaged through her closet, folding clothes and packing them away into boxes that would be later shipped to her friend's flat. She had been transferred over to St. Mungo's because of her skills in charms. They had been lacking in the Charms Department lately, and with an insane wizard named Voldemort on the loose, she knew she had to go.
A lot had changed since she graduated from Hogwarts. She was no longer "the girl with the muggle braces." She had a very nice smile, but still kept her glasses. Contacts were too much of a hassle to put in, so she kept them for ultra-special occasions. She wasn't fat, but she wasn't slim either; she was somewhat round, but not by much. A few zits dotted her forehead, and a bit of skin was peeling on her nose from a sunburn. Her wavy red hair was cropped shoulder-length, and freckles dusted her nose. Lily Grace Evans was nowhere near beautiful, but she was comfortable. If there was one thing that never changed since she left Hogwarts, it would be the fact that she was still very introverted and valued comfort over everything else.
As she packed away the last of her winter clothes, a box at the far corner of the small closet caught her eye. It was small with a crimson red lid and a beige box. Her eyes widened in surprise. She thought she had gotten rid of that a long time ago.
Slowly, she crawled to where the box innocently lay. Her trembling hands lifted the cover off, as if she were afraid to find what she thought was inside. At the first sight of the contents of the box, a tear slipped from her right eye. She had forgotten it was here. Tatiana must have hid it there after she had ordered the box to be burned.
"Lils! Come on! How much more do you have to pack?"
A petite Chinese girl rounded the corner, eyes shining with a mix of annoyance and excitement. A pair of jeans hung loosely on her waist and a dusty pink t-shirt covered her torso. Her hair was cut short, almost like a boy's, and black-rimmed glasses covered her dark brown eyes. Those eyes fell on her friend, who was motionless, holding the crimson lid of the shoebox limply.
"Lily?"
"I thought I told you to burn this," Lily replied in a soft voice. Tatiana, affectionately called Ana from time to time, crossed the room and knelt down by her friend, one arm around the redhead's shoulder in comfort. In the box were all the letters James had ever written to Lily, whether he sent them or not. After the "Seventh Year Incident" as they had called it, Tatiana and their other friend, Arabella, manage to collect all the letters from James and put them into a box. When Lily found out, she told them to burn it. She didn't want to think about James anymore. She didn't want to remember him, or the history they had.
"Lils, destroying your past wouldn't help you any. We were young-reckless even. I didn't want you to regret burning these. I just-oh, Lily."
Tatiana took the lid from her friend, closed the box, and tucked it under her arm while straightening herself. "Come on, Lils. Let's get your junk over to my flat and we'll have one of those crazy pyjama parties where we can do some reminiscing. I'll call up Bella and it'll be like old times again. What do you say?"
The redhead sighed and nodded. After all, it was about time she put everything behind her. HIS memory haunted her every night before she went to bed. Whenever she was scared, she remembered being in his embrace. Whenever she was happy, she would remember his laugh. Yes, it would be for the best if they got this talk over with-this one talk that she had been dreading since their graduation from Hogwarts.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
James Michael Potter flopped face-first into his bed. After a 48-hour shift at the Auror headquarters, he was ready to turn off the light and be dead to the world for the next eight hours. That, however, would not happen if Sirius Allen Black was his flatmate. Unfortunately for James, he did indeed have a flatmate named Sirius Allen Black.
"JAAAAAMSIE-POO! YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO ME!" shouted Sirius, bouncing onto James's bed causing James to bounce up and down uncomfortably due to the energy from Sirius's jump. The tired man groaned and motioned with his hand for Sirius to go away. He really was not in the mood for Sirius's cheerfulness. Moody had threatened James to take a break or get fired.
"You'll hurt more people in your state! Take a month off for break, Potter. You've worked overtime for too many hours. Actually, you've been working all the crazy hours AND your normal hours. Your body can't take more of this. Go home. Sleep. Rest. If I see one inch of your hide in this department tomorrow, you can be assured that it will be kicked out. Good day, Mr. Potter," said James, voice muffled in the pillow.
"Yeah, well, Moody's a pain in the ass. You'll never guess what happened!"
James turned over onto his back. "You just said that."
"Oh...well, then, GUESS!"
"You're leaving the room so you can leave me in peace?"
Sirius grinned and shook his head. "Nope! Guess again!"
"You're shaving your head and becoming a monk."
"No."
"You decided to impersonate Snape and wreck havoc upon Hogwarts."
"No, but good idea. Maybe we'll do that next week."
"I don't know, Sirius. What happened to you? Did you finally decide to grow a brain?"
"I GOT CHOSEN TO BE A BACHELOR!"
"Sirius," James said, rolling his eyes, "You're already a bachelor. Now leave me alone and let me sleep!"
"No, I meant a bachelor on television!"
"Television? What in Merlin's name is that!"
"Oh, you know, the muggle box with moving pictures. We watched one at Evans's one summer, remember? Anyway, it's not actually going to be muggle-it's the wizard version of it! You know those really spiffy hologram devices that came out recently? It's kind of like the floo network where people's heads pop out of nowhere, except you can see the setting and people's bodies. This show is going to promote them!"
"How exciting, Sirius. Is that all?"
"No...well...you see...I...er... kind of registered under your name and everything..."
Sirius twisted his hands, waiting for James's reaction. He didn't have to wait long.
"You WHAT!" shouted James, shooting up from his formerly comfortable position into a sitting one.
"I registered under your name! So technically, you're the bachelor. Aren't you going to thank me? You're gonna meet tons of hot women and walk off with one of them!"
James groaned, running a hand through his already messy brown hair. "Sirius...you are a dead man...as soon as I have the energy to strangle you."
"Awww...come on James! They're paying you five thousand galleons to be on there! You've got to live a little! Get out more! You've been so into your job that you barely date anyone! I'm beginning to think that you're gay."
"If I were gay, you would be in deep trouble, wouldn't you?
Sirius gave James The Look.
James sighed. "I know, Sirius. You're right. Maybe this would be for the best. After all, a little money can't hurt anyone. Merlin knows we need it. You would think Moody would pay us a bit more..."
"Knew you would come around, mate! Taping starts in three days. The show's called...funny, they never told me the name. No matter, they DID say they were basing it on the muggle show 'The Bachelor.' Better get packing!"
"Wait...it starts in three days...DOES MOODY GIVING ME A BREAK HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS?"
"Er...see, Remmy kind of went to Moody and campaigned for your release for a month to do this..."
"Sirius Allen Black, you are SO dead."
And thus began the chase that would lead to Sirius sprouting a pink beard like Dumbledore's with six arms and jelly-fish legs.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Two figures stood in the shadows with the moon as the only source of light.
"Is everything in order?"
"Yes. We're carrying it out tonight. You know of the show, yes?"
"Of course. Make sure he stays deluded. If all goes well, he'll be a broken man for the rest of his life. Then, we will be able to stop the future from beginning."
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
"So then, I strung spider webs all around his bed. That scream in the morning was the sweetest thing I've ever heard!"
Lily and Bella felt the giggles overpower them. It was too much! Who would have known that the great, fearless Sirius Black was afraid of spiders!
Arabella-more commonly called Bella-was a tall girl with long, brown hair and pale blue eyes. She looked like the model she was, but she enjoyed herself more with Lily and Ana than she did with all the other models she worked with. As a clothing designer, she made sure her two best friends were up to date on the latest fashions, sometimes even designing them clothes to fit their personal tastes.
The three girls were sitting on Tatiana's living-room floor, complete with fluffy pillows and sleeping bags. Popcorn littered the room, and an empty ice cream box sat on the kitchen counter. Tatiana pulled out the box of letters that was formerly under her pillow and began filing through it, smiling at some and frowning at others.
"So, Lils, how exactly did you and Potter meet? I knew you guys knew each other before Hogwarts, but where?" asked Bella, watching Tatiana grin at one of the letters. That grin suddenly turned a giant smile. Lily quickly saw Tatiana's face and pounced on the box of letters, clutching it to her chest protectively. She was blushing so hard that her face was a close match to her hair color.
"Ana, these are private! Especially that one!"
"Yeah, I wonder why..."
"Tatiana!"
"Lilyyyyyyyyyy...you never answered my question!" whined Bella.
"Sorry, what?"
The brown-haired girl rolled her eyes. "I asked where you met Potter. It was obvious that you knew him before Hogwarts."
A look of nostalgia crossed Lily's features. She smiled slightly at the memory while playing with a strand of hair.
"We met at Latin Academy. We were six then..."
flashback
Six-year-old Lily Evans walked into her Latin class, which was held every Saturday from 2-4 pm. It seemed odd that parents would force kids to learn a dead language at such a young age, but the Evans' believed that by expanding their daughter's horizon along with her vocabulary, Lily would be able to attain more self-expression and overall knowledge. After all, many concepts about the world could trace its roots back to the Greek and Roman times. Unfortunately, they seemed to have forgotten that Lily wasn't but six-years-old, and therefore could not comprehend why Lily found "Saturday school" to be completely pointless, boring, and well, pointless. What would she do with a dead language anyway? Kill it some more, destroy all the Latin manuscripts, and pray that the small pieces she ripped them into wouldn't come back together again? There really wasn't much to do with such a language-that, and the teacher wouldn't teach them any cuss words that they could use on their siblings. How BORING.
She also disliked the people in her class immensely. There were maybe fifteen of them, all bouncing around and acting hyper, while she herself sat in the far corner of the room, away from all of them and the hyperactivity that was rather apparent. Her small hands fiddled around with her pencil as she waited patiently for her teacher to enter the room. Lily was rather annoyed at the behavior of her classmates-whether it was because she attended a private school or because she simply could not deal with overly sugar-happy children shall not be discussed. At any rate, her perfectly braided pigtails were being pulled on, and a vein could be seen popping on her forehead as she endured this torture. She smoothed her neatly pressed skirt and stood up quickly, surprising the notorious pig-tail puller.
Her stern expression as she turned around immediately wiped the laughing smile off her attacker's face. A boy with brown, wildly messy hair stared back at her, slightly surprised that she turned around so quickly. He offered her a sheepish smile as his eyes twinkled behind thin wire-rimmed glasses.
"Hey, I'm James."
Lily looked at him with disdain. His shirt was ruffled, his hair was uncombed, and there were still flecks of his lunch around the corners of his mouth. She reached into her small knapsack and pulled out a little pack of tissues. Taking one out, she handed it to the boy.
"Wipe your mouth. I'm Lily, by the way."
James did as he was told and handed her back the soiled tissue. "Thanks."
The red head's nose wrinkled as she held the tissue between her thumb and her forefinger.
"You know, normal boys throw their own tissues away."
He gave her a toothy grin. "Well, I'm not normal, am I?"
"Apparently not."
"Ahem."
Lily turned around and saw the teacher staring back at her.
"Class has started, little miss. Take your seat."
The tissue Lily was holding suddenly found itself in James's hair as she sat back down, pulling out the books she would be needing.
"Today, we will start with a quiz on the first declension. Don't forget the long marks. A point will be taken off if the long mark is not there. Is everyone clear?"
"No, ma'am. I would like to think that I'm opaque."
"Detention, Mr. Potter. Class, begin."
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
"He actually told the teacher that he was opaque!" screeched Bella, doubling over with laughter.
"Yeah, he was a dunderhead."
"I'll second that."
The three girls popped a movie into the DVD player and only half-paid attention to it as they gossiped.All was going well until Bella came back from the kitchen with an impish smile.
"Oh Liiii-ly!"
"Oh Merlin, what do you want now?"
"Remember how you tried out for the new magic hologram show on a dare?"
"Perhaps..."
"And you remember how you used Ana's address?"
"Maybe..."
"What's this I see on the kitchen table?"
Tatiana stood up from her comfortable position on the floor. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Yep! It's from the Wizard Entertainment Network!"
The two girls squealed and handed Lily the envelope. "Open it!" they chorused.
The redhead slowly slit open the letter and skimmed over it.
"I got in," she said in a dull voice. "That's too bad. I'll just have to tell them that I can't make it. I've got work in-"
"-a month. St. Mungo's is giving you a month before you start, remember? 'To settle in,' if I remember correctly," said the Chinese girl.
"It says that the show is called 'For Love or Money.' Why?"
"I think it means that if you were the winner, you have to choose between the guy or a million galleons. Ooo...talk about a tough choice."
"This is ridiculous, guys. I'm sending them my regrets."
"But Lils-"
An owl suddenly started tapping furiously at the glass. Lily opened it and let it in. She untied the letter and watched the owl fly off into the dark night sky. The envelope was addressed to her. She slit it open and skimmed over the words, horrified.
Miss Evans,
You have two weeks to round up one million galleons in return for your family. We are aware that you have been selected for the new reality show. You are to participate. We shall be contacting you at a later date with details.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
A/N: I got tired of the stories where Lily was beautiful and whatnot, so I decided to go off on a limb and include the word "zits" in her description. Ah! How blasphemous! Even so, it seems to make her more believable, does it not? I hope so. I'm working on humor, so if you have any suggestions, please leave them! I hope you like it so far! Drop me a line and tell me what you think. :)
