UNPRANKABLE

Chapter 2: Lost appetites

"God, did you see James Potter today?" announced Mona dreamily.

Lily, while getting herself a glass of water from the sink, called back to her from the bathroom, "Duh, we were all there!"

"Prat," commented Lea carelessly as she slipped into her silky blue pajamas.

"He's a handsome prat, he is," said Mona, taking out her book and beginning to read.

Lea, who was about to dive onto her bed and finally get to sleep, froze on the spot. Lily spit out the water she had been drinking, and Justine dropped her big package of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, which promptly spilled all over the floor.

"What?" choked Lea, her eyes as big as dinner plates.

"OUR MORTAL ENEMIES? yelled Lily, throwing a pillow at Mona, her face contorted in disbelief.

They both turned to Justine, expecting her to say something, but she was turning an interesting shade of red.

"She's choking on a Bertie Bott's!" exclaimed Lea, running over to heroically 'rescue' her friend.

Mona, however, didn't seem the least bit disturbed. She was fully concentrated on her book.

"Traitor!" Justine said, her voice trembling. Mona didn't react.

"MONA! Listen to me!"

Still no answer. Lea gave a little cry of rage and sent Lily's glass of water, still half full, and splashed it all over Mona's book, sending it flying.

"Hey!" cried Mona. "I was reading that!" She quickly cast a drying charm at the book, and then shouted, "Accio!". The book flew into her outstretched hand as she glared at Lea.

"OH come ON!" yelled Lea. "You're not SERIOUS about this, are you?"

"What's not to be serious about? He's hot, rich, and boy can he play quidditch!" Mona said, ticking her points off on her fingers.

Lily appeared to have gone into shock. Her mouth hung open, appalled, and didn't seem to be working correctly. "You…oh my god…dear Merlin, let this please be a dream…"

"More like a nightmare," said Lea, still at Justine's side.

"What?" asked Mona, staring at them all like there was nothing wrong about liking James Potter.

"That was the most superficial thing I have ever heard anyone say!" shouted Lea.

"Hey, I don't like him just for his looks and popularity!" exclaimed Mona, even though that was then entire reason. "He is good fun too! I really like him... I love his confidence!" she added with a far-off look in her eyes.

Lily wearily lay down on her bed. What was going on? Not only had she actually been civil to the Marauders today, but now one of her best friends was in love with her sworn enemy!

"My head hurts," moaned Lily. "This is too gross, too... just too wrong for me to think of it!"

"I think I'm going to bed!" said Lea, exhausted.

"Great idea," said Lily before collapsing on her bed.

Lea and Lily were so preoccupied with Mona's latest crush that they hadn't noticed that Justine had barely said anything to Mona, and was now twirling her hair with a very worried look in her eyes.

"Interesting train ride, eh?" Peter commented as they entered their dorm.

"Yeah," agreed James, flopping onto his four-poster.

"It was rather fun... " Sirius agreed, copying his actions. "But we're strict enemies now, like it has always been."

"Well, we could change that," said James slowly, pondering.

"To change that, my friend, we'd have to have the ladies' agreement. And I'm not absolutely sure that our dear friend Lily Evans will be delighted with being your friend," said Peter, jumping on his bed.

"Well you didn't have to be so honest about it, Wormtail!" exclaimed James grumpily.

"Time to face the truth, Prongs!" called Remus from his bed.

James sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He wished his friends were wrong...

"Wake up!" called Lea joyously. "Liiiiilllyyy! Justiiiinnneee! Time for breakfast!"

"You don't have to be so happy about it," grumbled Justine from her bed.

Lily sat up sleepily, rubbing her eyes. Mona was already up, and evidently had been for the last few hours. She had carefully done her hair, and was doing her makeup at the moment.

"She's been doing this for hours," Lea whispered to Lily as she gazed upon Mona. Mona had carefully dressed in clothes that hugged her body and (in Lily's opinion) were dreadfully revealing, even though her robes would cover that. Shoes littered the floor, and there were a few dozen bottles of hair spray scattered amongst the mess.

"Mona," Lily grumbled, still not fully awake yet. "What are you doing?"

"Looking my best!" Mona exclaimed sweetly.

Lily growled, not very happy about the huge mess.

"I'm not letting you out until you clean this up!" the red head said sternly as she got up and began to get dressed.

Lily pulled a brush through her wavy, red hair and fastened her favorite necklace around her neck. It was an emerald on a simple silver chain, but it was her mothers, and reminded her of home. And she didn't mind that it matched her eyes. She put on a little bit of mascara, the only makeup she allowed herself to wear on school days.

She got out her plain black robes and put them on over a simple white t-shirt and jeans. She them proceeded to stand next to the door, tapping her foot impatiently.

After a few more minutes, Mona finally stood up. And even Lily had to admit she looked stunning... but a bit like the Slytherin girls, though Lily didn't say that aloud. She knew Justine was thinking the same thing.

They quickly walked to the Great Hall, and unfortunately found that the only places left were across from the famous (or infamous) Marauders. Even though they were extremely popular, no one wanted to sit near them at breakfast, when they were either grumpy or in a mood for pranks.

Lily sighed heavily, then seated herself the furthest away from the boys as possible. Lea sat next to her, also frowning. Mona, however, sat down as closely to James Potter as she could, and Justine took the last place, right next to Remus.

"Hi, James," said Mona sweetly. "Do you mind if I sit here?" Giving him no time to answer, she continued. "I can't wait for the Quidditch game tomorrow... You're such a good player!"

Lily's eyes widened and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Her best friend... is flirting with Potter? Lea had turned green, and seemed unable to eat anymore of her pancakes.

"Do you mind if I finish your pancakes?" asked Sirius thickly, chewing on a bit of sausage.

"Go ahead!" said Lea dryly, pushing her plate towards him. "I've lost my appetite."

"Hint!" Lily coughed, looking at Mona. But Mona didn't seem to notice, she was too busy batting her eyelashes at James.

"Okay, I can't stand to watch this," said Lea suddenly. "Lily?"

Lily stood up quickly, and exited as quickly as possible, not noticing that James' eyes followed her out of the room.

"So," droned the Professor of History of Magic. "You will be assigned partners for a project, and you will be able to choose and element from Wizarding History or Muggle History which you wish to research on. You will write an essay that must be 3 feet long, and I expect each of you to do an equal share of work. You will work by groups of four..."

But Lily Evans was not listening. She was doodling on a crap of parchment, staring absently at the chalk board. Her green eyes had a faraway look in them...

James loved watching her in History of Magic. She would always daydream, with this enchanting, almost fairy-like look to her. It was the only class where he would allow himself to think about her, and at all other times he tried to block out thoughts of her, knowing very well that he could never have her.

Mona was chatting with him, having kicked Peter out of his usual seat, and seated herself next to her crush. After a long monologue, she suddenly realized he wasn't listening.

"And so," she started, testing him. "The purple knight mounted his noble steed and fought the dangerous dragon." No reaction.

She tapped her perfectly manicured nail against the wooden desk. She put her hand on his arm, and leaned over to whisper in his ear. Then, she decided against it. She followed his gaze, trying to see what he was staring at so intently. He was looking at…..Lily? No, she had to be wrong! She checked a second time. And a third. Oh no…

James has a crush on Lily?

Mona felt almost sick with jealousy. This sort of thing had never happened to her before! The boys had always liked her better than her friends. Never had any boy, knowing that she liked him, gone for another girl.

If James, or Lily, or anyone had turned at that moment, they would have seen Mona's eyes glittering dangerously, a spark of mischief visible.

She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Meet me tonight, in the Common Room. Midnight."

"Alright," he answered, giving her an odd look.

And when the professor assigned Lily to be James' partner, Mona decided what she would do.

"So she said, 'Meet me tonight, in the Common Room. Midnight'" James said to his fellow Marauders.

"Well done mate," said Sirius, patting him on the back. "She wants you bad!"

"Yeah, but you know very well that if I go out with her, I will inevitably break up with her after a week. And then- well, just imagine Lily's reaction!" James put his head in his hands. "I have no options – none at all!"

"Hate to break it to you," said Peter, smirking. "But you currently don't have any other options to lose."

"Yeah," agreed Remus. "And anyway, she'd probably be mad at you if you didn't go out with Mona."

James sighed, looking out the window. He didn't want to go out with yet another girl, searching for a new Lily. He had already discovered that no one else had that special charm that had captured his heart oh so many years ago. But, maybe Mona wouldn't be that bad...

She was Lily's friend, after all. They must have something in common...

So he got up and left his room, walking slowly down the stairs into the Common Room, decided to leave it Mona's boyfriend. And he would prove himself to be a great boyfriend - just to show Lily that her idea of him was wrong. Yeah!

James grinned to himself as he opened the door out of the boy's dorm and peeked over to the common room.

The common room was completely deserted, except for Mona, who waited for him on a couch. He groaned inwardly- Mona was about to ask him out in the exact same way every other girl he had ever dated had. She would make him sit on the couch, and then say something about how she could make him forget Lily.

"James!" she exclaimed, seeing him. "Come sit next to me. I wanted to tell you that I think you deserve better than Lily..." she patted the seat next to her invitingly.

"Oh really?" he asked. "I thought you were her friend..." he added, walking down the stairs and sitting down next to her.

"I am, but I'm not going to hide the truth: you deserve someone who really loves you. Someone who would do anything for you..." Mona said, her hands wandering all over his chest.

"And by anything you mean..?" James said, smiling. This might be fun!

"Well, getting up at 5 in the morning to do the makeup. Anyways, I'm saying that you deserve someone like me..." She leaned over and kissed him passionately on the lips, as if to prove her point.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said, giggling madly. "Good night!"

With that, she flounced up the stairs, leaving him sitting on the fluffy couch. He had believed that Mona would, at least, maybe be a bit more creative about asking him out. She had just given him the exact speech every other girl had. He sighed heavily, just knowing that he had gotten himself into yet another boring relationship. Mona was like all the others.

Why was the only girl who really was different uninterested in him?

A/N: Thanks go to Jingle-Bellz-ROCK, mkiara, chiaki Sumisu, Yazmari, PotterScar, ArtemisPotter, and Aisling-Siobhan for being wonderful reviewers! Thanks so much! And thanks also go to yellow notepaper, for being a wonderful beta!

Next update by Friday!