Transformations and Transfiguration

By: Jasmine

Chapter 2

"Snitches and Mashed Potatoes"

"Quit over-exaggerating, Lily." said Jasmine in an exasperated tone, rolling her eyes yet again. She had a tendency to do that. She swallowed the rest of her large bite before continuing, "He's not all that bad, and you know it. You two just constantly fight because you've never done anything more. I mean, have you even tried talking to the bloke?"

"He...!" Lily began, opening and closing her mouth quite a few times, at a loss for words. "Well, I—"

"I thought so." said Jasmine. A hint of satisfaction could be heard from her voice. She gulfed down a piece of chicken pie, completely ignoring Lily's attempts at a retort. "My advice to you, Lily, is to try once to see beyond the immature prat you're so convinced he is and have a real, heart-to-heart conversation with him. In fact, I dare you." Jasmine smirked as she said those last words, knowing Lily would never turn down a dare. She was the only one to know Lily's one true weakness.

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Fine. But I'm only doing this to prove that Potter really is an immature prat." Then, Lily looked up, glancing for the first time at James, who was oddly eating with his head down, and Sirius, who seemed to have heard their whole conversation. She shrugged off her anger, saving it for another time. She paused, contemplating her next move.

After a few moments of thought and a hard nudge in the ribs, courtesy of Jasmine, Lily cleared her throat loudly, catching James's attention, and said in a mock-sweet voice, "How were your summers? Good I hope, better than mine, at least."

James stammered a nonsense answer, receiving only puzzled stares from both Lily and Jasmine. He whispered a quick apology before returning to his food, three pairs of eyes following his every move. Sirius finally came to his aid, smoothly answering, "Oh, superb. I stayed at James's most of the time. Say, did you ever get a chance to return that snitch you'd knicked, mate?" Sirius addressed James a little too loudly to be entirely convincing, that and his raised eyebrows giving him away.

"Oh, no. I have it right here." he stuttered, grinning a bit more strongly. He placed his fork on the table and began rummaging through his pockets. He withdrew his clenched fist and opened it, showing off the golden, golf-ball sized snitch he'd been able to keep hold of. Until now.

Sirius slapped his forehead at the exact moment James let go of the snitch, muttered, "Idiot." Barely even a second later, the snitch zoomed out of sight, weaving its way through goblets and plates and platters of food.

Lily jumped, gasping as James made after it, getting out of his seat and springing at the snitch every change he got. By this time, every pair of eyes was following him, including the teachers. A few people shrieked , but otherwise the audience was brilliant, gasping and oh-ing at the perfect times.

At long last, James made on final leap, landing head-first in a huge platter of mashed potatoes at the end of the Gryffindor table, tightly grasping the snitch in his left hand, its wings sticking out from between his fingers.

Pin drop silence now fell upon the hall, heads turning toward the staff table, awaiting a reaction, some even standing up for a better look at the disaster.

Then, without warning, the deafening silence was pierced by a snort, its source none other than Jasmine. People now turned to gaze at her as she clamped her hands tightly over her mouth, trying to conceal her laughter, but she was unable to do so. Before anyone knew it, jasmine was laughing so hard tears were running down her face.

However, after listening for a few minutes to her echoing laughter and wondering if she'd lost her sanity, a few did join in on her giggling. Barely five minutes later, the Great Hall was ringing with the sound of howling laughter. No body seemed to notice Jasmine's abrupt stop to her chuckling. No one except James, Sirius, and Lily.

After having returned the snitch to Madam Hooch and receiving a week's worth of detention, James made his way back to his seat. "Wait!" yelled Jasmine over the laughter. James stopped in his tracks, staring, bewildered, at her. "Scourgify!" Soap suds suddenly appeared out of thin air, leaving James smelling cherry blossom fresh.

"Thanks." he muttered, sitting down again, resting his head in the palms of his hands. The laughter finally died down, and Professor Dumbledore dismissed the students, ordering prefects to show first years the way to their common rooms. That meant Remus was out, and thankfully Peter decided to follow him this time.

"Spectacular save, by the way." Sirius complimented, nudging James slightly. They made their way to the portrait hold only to realize they had no clue what the password was. It'd slipped their minds to ask a Gryffindor prefect, so they ended up sitting around, waiting for Remus to arrive with the first years.

"What happened with you out there, Prongs?" Sirius demanded once they'd reached the safety of their dorms. "Why did you suddenly turn to mush? Was it something you ate?"

"No, it was more like whatever Evans has been eating." James replied so quietly it was as if he wasn't even aware of the fact that his last statement had been out loud.

"what're you going at?" Sirius asked, beginning to change out of his school robes. He glanced at Remus, bewildered, hoping he'd receive an answer from him only to have a look identical to his own thrown back at him. "I think you've gone off your rocker." said Sirius at last, climbing into bed. "You've gone mental."

After a pause, James muttered, "Yeah... mental over her." He smiled at no one in particular, gazing into space. Only then did he mentally slap himself. What was he doing? Dreaming about Evans! The one true she-devil who was able to cast a spell on any old chap she felt worthy. Yes. That was exactly what she was doing. Casting a spell on him, just as she'd done to all those other weaker, less fortunate lads who'd fallen into her trap. But there was no way he was falling for it. No way at all. She was finally going to lose at her own game.

With this reassuring thought, James laid his head down to sleep. He'd get her the next day for even trying to seduce him. Even now, as he lay half asleep, thoughts of things he could do to her were filling his mind, each getting crueler and more appealing by the second. James drifted off into an oddly peaceful yet uneasy sleep.

"Great. History of Magic's first." Sirius groaned the next morning, looking over his schedule, completely forgetting about the glass of orange juice he was pouring for himself until he'd spilled it all over his robes. "Argh!"

"Smooth, Black. Real smooth." said a disgusted voice, announcing the arrival of Lily and Jasmine. They seated themselves ahead of the boys and began their breakfast as casually as one could while ignoring constant glared coming their way, and Sirius Black was not the source.

"What're you looking at, Potter?" Lily snapped, finally incapable of bearing anymore of his rubbish. James just narrowed his eyes further before setting them once again on his plate, not a word leaving his mouth. "O-K." said Lily, her eyebrows raised, glancing at Jasmine to see she was doing the same.

"Well, it's obvious someone is in need of some medical attention." Jasmine muttered loudly enough for Lily to hear, but quietly enough to make Sirius lean in to eavesdrop, immediately giving him away. She turned slowly toward him, glowering. He apprehensively smiled. "Quit sticking your abnormally straight nose in other people's business, and I'll make sure it never gets in the way again!" She threatened, pointing at the middle of Sirius's face with her fork.

"I'd like to see you try, Jas." Sirius replied slickly, putting a hand through his hair. Jasmine glared daggers at him. Then, pausing slightly, he added, "And, if I have noticed correctly, you just complimented me." He stared, the calmness in his tone of voice bringing annoyance to Jasmine, which was reflected in her smoky gray eyes.

"What?" said Jasmine, trying to act as if she'd not been affected the slightest by his answer. Sirius, however, chose not to answer, very well aware of the fact that she knew exactly of what he was speaking, and this raised the intensity of Jasmine's annoyance. She slammed her fork down on the table much harder than she'd meant to and muttered, "We'd better get going. We'll be late for class." She and Lily stood and made their way out of the Great Hall and to the common room.

I think that's enough for now... I'm much too lazy to write anymore, anyway. I've got a good idea for the next chapter, though, and I'm pretty sure you'll all like it.

UU I'm very upset about getting no reviews, but I guess I can deal with it. How about five now? You've got two chapters, it can't be too hard... That's about it. Just a little update on something to expect next chapter:

Sirius being less mature and a little more carefree. James, Lily, and Jasmine being more happy, because I've just noticed that I haven't shown that side of them just yet. More Remus and Peter. A huge surprise for you all to enjoy. Let's just say that Sirius is going to being the first class with a bang.

That's about it for now. Buh-bye!

Please review!