Disclaimer: I do not own Lily, James or any other character your recognize, nor did I make up the lovely world they live in. That's Jo's doing, and I'm simply celebrating her work. I only own those characters that are not familar to you, such as Lorraine, Monica, Jenna, and Calenda. I earn nothing from this, except a wonderful pride in one's writing. It belongs to JKR and I make no claim.

A/Ns: This fanfiction had it's birth on the offical wb Harry Potter boards, where it was co-written. My cowriter ended up being too busy with life, so this fic is now solely mine, though my friend and ex-cowriter did contribute. I really hope you enjoy this fic, and I haven't finished writing it, just to let you know. I'll try my best to update as regularly as I can, but I do have a life. And that life includes school, so, there you go. Thanks for clicking! This isn't your average Marauder era fic, so be ready for a fun ride. And now onto the story...

Perfection With An L.E.

The perfection or the most perfect state to which a thing can be brought. -NePlus Ultra

Chapter One: Worse Than Obsession

The cold air blew through the open window at the back of the girls dorm, ruffling nearby papers. It was about ten-thirty in the morning on a chilly Sunday, and only one girl was still up in her dorm. Her deep red hair cascaded down past her shoulders as she let it fall free from hair band, her blue-green eyes staring back at her from the mirror. A soft nose wrinkled in disgust, and the girl frowned at her reflection. She was beautiful, yes, she'd admit that much. She was the envy of nearly half the female population at Hogwarts, which was easy to tell by the way the girls stared . But it wasn't right. She wasn't right. Where was perfection? The perfect hair? The perfect eyes? The perfect lips, cheek bones, hands, face? The beautiful girl knew the answer. And she knew she could never get what she didn't have. Drawing a dark wooden brush through her gorgeous, but not red enough red hair, she longed. She wished. Obsession? No. Obsession was short of what she felt. Obsession can't describe someone's longing, and desire to be someone else. Obsession wasn't the definition. You see, Lorraine Effortson wasn't perfect. She could never be perfect, never. Well, never isn't really the right word, because there was one way to be perfect. If she was her best friend, if she was Lily Evans. But that couldn't really be arranged, now could it? You can't be anyone but yourself.

You could pretend to be.

That sentence entered Lorraine's head and she almost dropped the brush from her hand as an idea was rooted. There was a way. The idea had always been in the back of her mind, waiting. She knew it had because she'd thought on it breifly before, a few times. There were ways. She could be Lily.

Her best friend.

Obsession?

No.

Worse.

Lorraine smiled softly and brought back the brush to her hair, running it through ever so slowly. Her untangled, smooth red hair blew in the wind that continued in from the open window.

-

Lorraine Effortson hadn't always been a red head, and her long, luxurious hair hadn't always been that long. You see, when Lorraine first came to Hogwarts she had pixie like short, blond hair. The cut and color went perfectly with her face and blue eyes. Well, she had thought it was perfect until she met Lily Evans. Lily Evans who had long, red hair and vibrant green eyes. When she saw her and when she heard her sweet, honey thick voice, she knew she had to know her. Instantly they became friends, Lorraine changed everything about her so that she would have something to talk about with Lily. In fact, when summer came of their first year, she had her hair color changed to the closest shade of red possible to Lily's. In her opinion, it still wasn't right. That fact, that her red hair wasn't exactly like Lily's crossed through her mind as Lily bent down to grab a dropped pencil from the floor during charms class. Her hair just fell right in front of her eyes, and thinking about how her hair wasn't quite as perfect, angered her. She decided, in that instant, that maybe if she had a piece of the hair, she could bring it to her hair stylist and have them color her hair that exact shade. It was a wonderful idea. She could cut a few strands that night, while Lily would be sleeping.

That night, she crept up to Lily's four poster bed and pulled aside the curtains. There Lily lay, looking perfectly beautiful, gorgeous. Lorraine just stayed perched on the tips of her toes for a few instances, staring. How she wished she could pull up an eye lid and get a quick glimpse of those bright, emerald green orbs that floated under the skin. She knew that she mustn't, though, so, remembering what she came for, she took her scizzers and cut a few strans from the nape of her neck. She didn't want Lily to notice. When her mission was accomplished, she scurried over to her untouched bed and crawled in. As she lay in bed, grasping the tentrils of red in her left fist, she grabbed her beated up, wooden jewlery box from her night table. She took out her locket and placed one precious stran inside. After snapping it shut, she realized how heavy her eyes felt and knew sleep was trying to claim her. So she hid away the remaining hair in her jewlery box and curled up into a ball, falling into a content sleep. She was one step closer to being at least somewhat like Lily.

-

The next morning Lorraine got ready as she usually did, and took special care as she fastened on her locket. She felt like Lily that morning, dressed the same as her best mate, as usual, since they wore uniforms, but it felt different that day. It was probably the fact that she had Lily so close to her, she was wearing Lily, it made her tingle with excitment. But, as she looked in the mirror she noticed all the differences from her face and Lily's. That brought down her mood quite a bit. She knew she'd never be perfect Lily who had everything, who probably would have James when she realized what a dunderhead she was being for not having him already. That was Lily's only flaw, not wanting James. Lorraine just didn't understand that about Lily. She supposed that was because, alas, she wasn't Lily, and she never would be.

But I can always pretend.

With that thought, she walked out of her dorm, arm looped with Lily's, her other hand busy desperatly holding onto her golden locket, afraid it would slip away.

-

By now you can tell, Lorraine Effortson was no ordnairy girl. She was far from ordnairy. Herbology was the girls' first class, and the slowly trudged down from breakfast to Green house 7A. Lorraine had her arm hooked together with Lily's, the other three girls in their dorm trailing behind them. The girls names were Monica Wire, Jenna Coral, and Calenda Whitter. They laughed together, in their own conversations. Lily and Lorraine were emersed in their own.

"You know, Lorraine, you are so lucky you aren't me...with that blockhead James Potter always ask-,"

"What do you-,"

Lorraine caught herself just in time. There would be no way Lily would stay around Lorraine if she knew Lorraine's...desire. If she knew Lorraine's one wish...Who in their right mind would? She knew it was crazy, but that didn't matter to her anymore.

"Hmmm?" Lily asked, not paying much attention, for her gaze was captivated up at her hair. "Is it me, or is a lock missing? It's just...empty here..." Lily thought aloud. Lily began mussing up her hair as she tried to figure out what was wrong.

"Is there something up with my hair, or am I just imagining things?"

Lorraine, ready to lie, was interuppted by none other than James Potter.

"Hey Evans..."

Remember me...

"...Effortson?"

Apparently he did not like her recent dye job. Surprised, James Potter nearly jumped back. A bewildered look creasing his eyebrows.

"Effortson? You look so much like Lily, you could almost be her!"

Almost. Almost isn't good enough.

Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed Lorraine by the arm, dragging her away from James.

"The insuffrable prat..."

They took a seat at the front of the green house, Lily pulled her as far from James as possible, as always. Through the whole class he kept craining his neck to get a better look at her, he had a pecular look on his face. Lorraine patted her hair down self conciously. Immeadiatly her fingers fell back onto her locket, it felt cold beneath her fingers, and it distracted her for the rest of the class. It contained Lily's missing lock. At the end of class James caught up with them again, still staring at her strangely.

"Evans..."

"What Potter? I don't have time for your little games."

James made his way infront of them, stopping the two almost identical girls from walking on. He threw over a cocky smirk in Lily's direction, running a hand through his already messy hair.

"Go out with me."

Lily groaned, and for the second time that day she pulled Lorraine away.

"Never."


Never.

"Ah, come on Evans, just this once..."

Lily glared into his face for a few seconds, and then spun on her heal, pulling Lorraine with her. Lorraine stared back at James as the girls retreated. She'd never have him. He'd never notice her with Lily around, because Lily was perfect, and his hazel eyes only searched for Lily's grassy green ones. Not ocean blue. But as they continued on their way, heading up to the castle for Charms, she wondered if that had changed when she tinkered with the color of her hair.

A/Ns: Well...How was that? Any good? I do hope so!Please review! With constructive criticism, please. Well, I'll be getting the next chapter up pretty soon! Hopefully, anyway. Still gotta go through it and revise.

-Christy