Mélange
(I have having problems with formatting . . . some of the italics might now show. Sorry if it brings any confusion.)
Disclaimer: Own none of the canon characters - they all belong to J.K. Rowling.
Full Summary: Lily has always been the pretty face. No one ever sees past the flawless face, thick and majestic red hair, and those expressive green eyes. When the Hogwarts letter arrived, it was what Lily had been waiting for. No one would know of her past of being magazine covers and a face on commercials. She can start out as a normal student and focus on academics. That plan had worked, until the teen magazine for the Wizarding world found her. She didn't even know such magazine existed in her new surroundings.
Author's Note:
I would like to apologize for the tardiness of this chapter. I promise the third one will be out soon. It is already done and is sitting on my beta's computer.
~*~*~
Chapter Two: Prefects' Meeting
"So, Lily, would you like to explain why I could not place a face for the name 'Lily Evans' until last year?" asked Aleia, like a mother demanding to know why her child's hands were in the cookie jar.
"I don't know," Lily answered, not meeting Aleia's eyes. She was still wondering why Aleia knew her name in the first place. "Maybe because I'm in Ravenclaw?" Lily asked hopefully.
"Most likely not. I know every single students' name in Hogwarts."
"Then I guess I am a really big bookworm." Aleia chuckled.
"To quote a sentence from my brother: 'the fifth year prefect of Ravenclaw is the epitome of Ravenclaw stereotypes. She usually never takes points off, is always punctual, and sits in the library during her spare time.'" Lily blushed at the accurate description of herself. She never would have thought James Potter was so observant. Nope, James Potter seemed like the type to be busy with his world, not some unknown redheaded Ravenclaw's (especially one whose looks are not strikingly noticeable).
"I guess that's me. I don't take points off unless the students really deserve it . . . and my mother and father are always late so I've decided to be punctual. Getting picked up late at the train station with an owl hooting non-stop isn't comfortable." Aleia laughed at Lily's response.
"I can picture you sitting on your trunk reading a book while shooting annoyed glances at your owl and looking for your parents at the same time."
"I'm not that much of a bookworm. I do other things too!" Lily defended herself indignantly completed with a pout. Aleia gave her a questioning look. "I just choose to have fun over the holidays."
"Oh. You're the reserved type," Aleia continued teasing.
"No, not really. If you hand me some sugar and caffeine, I can power myself to the moon and back."
"Okay, okay. I'll stop teasing. Let's start over." Aleia paused and to regain her composure. "Hello. I am Aleia Potter, would you like to tell me about yourself?" Aleia asked in a chatty voice. Uh-oh. Definitely not what Lily was preparing for. "Like whether or not you have any siblings, crushes, pets, favorite color, I don't know. Anything that you would like me to know."
"Well, I live with my parents and my sister in Surrey in a cozy neighborhood. It looks like one where everyone knows each other and borrowing pots and pans is a daily thing. However, I have lived there for five years and I still don't know who my neighbors are. Well, I take that back. Five blocks down the road lives a very annoying boy who tried to date either my sister or me. I think he is trying to harder to impress Petunia - she is my sister - seeing as she is home more than I am."
"Hmm, at least you have neighbors," Aleia murmured. "The nearest evidence of civilization near my house is 10 kilometers away." Lily was shocked. So the magazines are right about the Potters having a large estate. Guess they do have a mini forest around them.
"But with floo powder, traveling is much easier." Lily nodded. "You mentioned having a sister. What's she like?"
"My sister is two years older than me . . . Oh no. She isn't magical." Lily added when she saw the thoughtful look on Aleia's face. "And we don't get along very well."
"I know exactly what you mean. I have three sisters. Sometimes I feel like pulling their hair out - my hair is only reserved for James, though." Lily smiled at Aleia addition about James.
"Petunia doesn't annoy me that much. I think it's more that I annoy her. If I try to stay out of her way, she gets mad. If I do get in her way, she still gets mad. Mother and Father had to put us in the bedrooms opposite the house so we won't bite each others' heads off."
"Oh my. Well, my sisters are certainly not like Petunia. My older sisters just pick on me a lot; like asking where the lucky boy is who will steal my heart. It's even worse now since Abigail is married, and Tony is married and a mother of the most adorable twins. Aie! It isn't like everyone has to get married five months after they get out of Hogwarts. My little sister, on the other hand, doesn't bother me that much. Athena is just adorable." Aleia paused and emerged herself in memories. "She's eleven and attends Beauxbaton. It is a wizardry/Charms school in France."
"I've heard about the school. Charms, the class, I mean, is their specialty. There isn't much focus on Dark Arts related stuff, though," Lily added, mostly to herself.
"Yeah. Dad decided to teach Athena Defense against Dark Arts and Potions when she was three." Lily's jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered. "But she liked it. I think that it's her strongest area. Mum was insistent on sending her to France; she blamed Dad when Athena became less ladylike. Poor Athena, she had a tantrum when she found out she wouldn't be attending the same school as James and I. That was one of those times I'm glad we don't have neighbors."
"Wow, she sounds like a child genius!" Lily exclaimed. Maybe the Potters had the highly intelligent gene in the family. James was great with Transfigurations, and Athena had learned DADA when she was three! Aleia laughed at Lily's compliment to her little sister.
The sound of zooming brooms stopped the conversation.
"Oh, we're here," Aleia and Lily looked up at the sky. The Quidditch players were practicing different formations. The flyers looked like little mosquitoes or bees buzzing about. "Hmm, looks like Gryffindor has competition this year."
"Why don't we sit over there; it's where they put their stuff, so Jon will eventually land there," Lily said pointing to the pile of robes and various other Quidditch equipments. Lily and Aleia sat down evaluating the strategies of the Ravenclaw team. Just as Aleia pointed out how talented the keeper was, the poor boy flew into the pole of the hoops.
"Was that Jon?" asked Aleia, worry etching in her face. Lily immediately looked up. She could not help but laugh at the scene before her. She hadn't realized bringing Aleia would cause Jon so much discomfort; it wasn't the first time he had done something extremely stupid in front of the pretty girl.
"Aleia! Are you spying on us?" asked Allen, the star chaser of the Ravenclaw team.
"No, I'm actually waiting for Jon to finish. There's something I wanted to talk to him about." Lily left the two to converse and walked towards Jon, who was flying to the ground like a tired bee. His broom zigzagged and did little loops while he dangled from it.
"Mummy? Why are there stars around me?" Jon asked when he was close enough to Lily. She looked at Jon's pathetic state and had to bite her tongue hard to refrain from laughing.
"Here, I'll steady the broom. You get off." Lily held the broom handle for Jon. The boy brought his right leg to his left side and promptly fell onto the ground with a THUD! It seems he forgot to hold on with his hands. Upon hearing their captain fall to the ground with such a disturbing noise, all the team members rushed to Jon with Aleia leading the way.
"Ow. . ." mumbled the poor boy. The first face he registered was Aleia's. As his eyes scanned the numerous heads, he noticed Lily. Seeing Aleia made him blush and seeing Lily was just a shock. Since when did Lily ever come to the Quidditch field?
"Are you okay?" asked Aleia with worry. "You face is all red. We should get you to Madame Pomfrey." That had caused Jon to blush even more. He had to use Lily to support himself up, not to mention Lily's hair and elbow was a good curtain for his burning face.
"No, really, I'm fine. Just a little dazed, that's all," the boy announced whilst staggering.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Lily asked, holding her index finger in front of Jon's face.
"Two," Jon answered, quickly. Everyone's eyes widened; maybe the two crashes had caused brain damage.
"Jon, can you count?" Lily asked in a half worried, half annoyed tone. This time, the boy paused before answering. He eyed the finger for a moment, closed his eyes and tried to maintain balance, then proceeded to open his eyes again.
"One." Sighs of relief were heard. Lily walked towards Jon and lightly smacked him behind his head. "Ow, what was that for?" The team was used to Lily's actions towards their captain. No one complained since they couldn't really hit Jon; he was their Captain, and the fact he could kick them off the team was a bit of a deterrent. Lily, on the other hand, acted like Jon's nanny when the time came. If Jon had an odd notion of practicing at the crack of dawn, Lily usually beat some sense into his head, literally. In the team members' opinions, Lily was a quiet girl, so she needed to express her emotions and Jon just happened to be the perfect outlet.
"For being dumb enough to fly into the pole!" Lily chided, sounding like a worrying grandmother. "You've been flying around those things for how long?"
"Six years on the team, two more year on little league before," Jon answered like a little boy explaining why he got muddy.
"Exactly. So why did you fly into the pole this time?" Lily demanded with a mischievous grin. She knew the answer, but this was a chance to get Jon out of his shell whenever he was around Aleia (It was good entertainment, as well). Jon blushed and nodded his head slightly towards Aleia's direction.
"Because Aleia is here," Allan replied for his captain, emphasizing on Aleia's name. It was known to every person present - besides Aleia - that Jon had an enormous crush of Aleia Potter, one of the most sought after girl in Hogwarts.
"Huh?" The lone Gryffindor called from behind, conjuring ice for Jon's bruised forehead. "Here. Put this on." The injured captain blushed even more. "Are you sure you feel fine? Because you are really red." Aleia proceeded to put her hand on her own forehead and Jon's to see if he had a fever.
Jon really needs to stop blushing. He's so lucky Aleia is somewhat clueless about his infatuation with her . . . but that won't take too long. Aleia is smart and is quite observant. How else is she able to match a face to a name for everyone at Hogwarts?
"Hello!" called James Potter and his Quidditch team. The sixth year Gryffindor led group of player to the pitch. "May we use it now?" Jon nodded awkwardly. One, his whole upper body was nodding since he needed his hand to keep the ice in place. And two, this was Aleia's brother. "Eh, what happened?" James looked at the large bruise forming on Jon's forehead and the redness of the Ravenclaw captain's face.
"He fell," Lily said dryly, while she shot dirty looks at her so- called brother figure. James did a double take, was he seeing things, or was Lily Evans, the ultimate bookworm, actually on the Quidditch field instead of in the library studying? He shook himself out of his reverie and ordered his own team to circle around for the practice plans.
~*~*~
"So, how did you drag Lily to the Quidditch field?" Jon asked Aleia. It seemed his shyness had worn off. Though the large bump on his head was still painfully visible. A large purple blotch right above one's left eyebrow is too difficult to miss.
"Easy, I asked her to."
"No, it can't be that simple. Whenever I try she makes up an excuse not to go," Jon pointed out sourly. He was supposed to be the closer one to Lily. Albeit Aleia is a girl, he still has known the younger girl longer. Lily rolled her eyes.
"It's simple, every time you try to get me to go, it's either to try out for the team, or to practice with the team for no reason." Aleia's face lit up.
"You play Quidditch, Lily?" The Ravenclaw shook her head vigorously. Nope, heights are not my favorite and broomstick should not be used as transportation. I am sorry, but being a part of the magical society for six years does not mean I am able to accept this. Living in the muggle world is still what I am used, which is why household cleaning tools should not be used like cars - no matter how much the little kids pretend. Just like why fireplaces should not have people's heads in them, especially when you are toasting marshmallows.
"I have some work to do before the meeting, I'll see you there!" As Lily began walking off, Jon pulled her back.
"You don't have any work that's very pressing. If it's that Transfigurations essay, it was assigned Friday. You still have three and a half weeks." That wasn't the real reason of why he wanted Lily to stay, though. Having Lily around made it more comfortable to talk to Aleia. At least she would be able to make him less embarrassed even if it meant embarrassing him more, if that made any sense. "So, why were you two at the pitch anyway?" Jon asked when Lily gave in to his unspoken pleading.
"Oh, I wanted to ask for your opinion on two things," Aleia began, "first of all, when I was in America, the schools, both Muggle and Magical had dances. Hogwarts should try to have this sort of social event. We could have one for Christmas and one for Valentine's Day; Christmas would help the students relax after exams, and Valentine's, well, for obvious reasons."
"That sounds like a good idea. We wanted to try something new, so why not?" Jon agreed enthusiastically.
"What do you think Lily?" Aleia asked.
"I don't know. I am not the type of person to go to dances." Lily was about to make more excuses, but Aleia stopped her.
"If you can smack a Quidditch captain, you can certainly go to a dance. Besides, you don't even have to dance. Loads of people sit and talk during the event."
"Well, in that case, I guess it would be fun. If I don't want to dance, I could help decorate." Aleia beamed at the two positive responses.
"Oh, goody! Now the second thing - it's more serious, but fun as well. My father and his colleagues decided to have a debate for adolescents on current wizarding world issues and topics. The whole idea's still under construction since they don't know whether it will be in a debate style or more of a committee style like the International Confederation of Wizards' meetings."
"That sounds interesting," both Jon and Lily agreed after some thinking.
"Good, then I'll present these them at the prefect meeting, and I'll give more information for the debate thing as well. Dad gave me an entire packet of what they might do, are doing, and want to do," Aleia said with a smile. "Now I have to go. I have that essay to write for Arithmancy. See you at the prefects' meeting. It was nice to finally meet you, Lily."
"I see you've made another friend," Jon said approvingly while watching Aleia's retreating back.
"Uh-huh. That'd mean you'd get to see her more often," Lily teased. Before Jon could defend himself, Lily dashed away, "I really need to do that essay! Bye!"
~*~*~
The prefects meeting did not begin on time - which was normal - but Lily was always punctual. Sitting by herself for 10 long and boring minutes wasn't efficient use of time, but those were her extra minutes for observing people. The same extra minutes that helped her with human psychology - or at least wizard psychology.
One of the more notable personas in the room would be James Potter; one of the female prefects was sitting in his lap giggling, the highly pitched noises emitted from her vocal cords sounded like the female voice in the library the weekend before. They were flirting shamelessly and the more touchy moments turned Lily's stomach. Aleia must have seen Lily flinch at the sight since she had 'accidentally' elbowed her little brother. James merely glared at Aleia; however, the girl sitting on his lap literally jumped off of James.
"Hello, Aleia," the girls said shakily with a blush. The older prefect acknowledged the greeting with a small and impersonal nod and turned to James.
"James," Aleia started with a commanding voice. Lily winced at the tone of the voice Aleia used. It held power and annoyance. James didn't seem to be affected though. He looked up expectantly at his sister. "Did you talk to Dad?" James nodded. When Aleia turned to greet Eloise, the head girl, James noticed Lily's gaze. He winked, though the response was a momentary display of the white of the eye from Lily. She quickly turned her attention to the head girl.
"Good evening, everyone," Eloise commenced, "we'll begin by discussing anything that we need to do for this school year, then we can conclude with complaints about the school, okay?" the head girl seemed like a ditz because of her overwhelmingly perky disposition, but everyone respected her since Aleia thought she would be good.
"I know Aleia had a couple things she would like to bring up, both are quite original," Jon introduced.
"Thank you. The first idea is having two balls. There will be a ball during December to celebrate all the holidays that occur, and the other for Valentine's Day. Instead of having a Christmas feast, it would be replaced by the ball," Aleia summarized.
"But Christmas is a time for family. The students already spend so most of their time away from school. If we were to hold a ball during that time, they wouldn't be able to see their family because of the vacation time lost," a Hufflepuff prefect said in disagreement.
"We wouldn't necessarily have to have this ball on Christmas day, and if the holidays were postponed, we still could have the ball and the holidays. Are there any more questions? Good," Aleia said as she clasped her hands, "here is the second proposal. The Ministry is planning on having an adolescent debate for current wizarding issues. I just got an owl from my father and he said the event would be international, students from different parts of the world would be debating or discussing with each other; I haven't asked Professor Dumbledore about this but I think Hogwarts is going to be the host school. Beauxbaton is too French," there were some smiles at this, "and Durmstang is too cold."
"Hello, everyone," Professor Dumbledore said; no one had noticed his presence until now.
"Sorry, Headmaster, when did you get here?" asked Jon politely while motioning for the old man to sit down.
"I arrived a little while after the meeting started," the old man answered. "I must say that Miss Potter's proposals would be great for this school, I don't believe Hogwarts has ever had a dance, or the wizarding community a debate for adolescents."
"Does that mean they are 'approved', Professor Dumbledore?" Eloise asked politely. The headmaster nodded with a smile.
"I shall leave all the planning to you," He motioned to the collected prefects, " though keep in mind, if this is successful, Hogwarts shall have another. If it is not, it will take a long time for teachers to approve another."
The prefects launched into excited chatter, but Jon's hand rose after Eloise nudged him.
"Before we go into extensive planning, are there any complaints?" Most of the prefects shook their heads while others were stoic. Jon gave a victorious glance at Eloise, and the group of Hogwarts students burst out in laughter before resuming their chatter.
~*~* finis for now *~*~
Omni's "thank -you" s:
HP-Lover420: Thanks, and once again, sorry about the veeeerrry looooong delay. But I realized the confusion about James's role on the quidditch team. I believe in an interview with J.K. Rowling, she had mentioned being a chaser. Then in the movie, that was obviously not the case. I am actually not to certain, so why don't we just say he is a chaser for this ficcy?
Sirius' Lover: Uh . . . sorry to make you wait for three months??? I feel horrible. Though hopefully, you are still interested.
Bon: Sorry! (again). I think I am going to apologize to everyone. I am very sorry. *sniff* I feel like a disappointment. Anyway, thanks for your compliment.
Quack Quack 88: Thank you! Now I hope this chapter is good enough for your evaluation. And keeping an eye out for this one might be somewhat difficult; it has been awhile.
Jamie: Oh shoot! Another apology is needed. ^^ The next one will be done very soon.
Arimel: Thanks. And hopefully, the exclamation button on your keyboard is fixed, or you got another keyboard. ^^
Porkypop: Thanks! I certainly hope the grammar mistakes were not too distracting. This chapter should not have any. If there were some, it would be due to my additions to the chapter after my beta gave it back.
Scarlett*eyes: Cute . . . good, one down and a few more to go. And when are you going to upload another chapter? Not to rush or anything.
Shadow Dagger: A-ha! You will get to know what happens soon enough. And I am very grateful to have you review all of my Lily and James stories. ^^ And "soon" was painfully unfulfilled . . .
Night-'n'-Day: You are the tenth! Good number. And even for you, this wasn't soon. Now why Aleia is being nice? I don't know, what do you think? And if she likes Jon, I haven't made up my mind completely. The story would work either way. If they do share the same feelings, there will only be extra romance (though that might not be good since I really can't write romancy stuff).
Starborn: Hi! For you, I updated soon. And hopefully that is good.
Thank you all! I wasn't that confident about his ficcy and you have definitely lowered my insecurity.
You know, reviews are very nice . . . I won't say they make me write faster, but they add to my self-confidence. At least no matter what my English teacher may imply about my narrative writing skills, I know there are 11 people out in the world (12 including my beta) who likes it.
~Omni
(I have having problems with formatting . . . some of the italics might now show. Sorry if it brings any confusion.)
Disclaimer: Own none of the canon characters - they all belong to J.K. Rowling.
Full Summary: Lily has always been the pretty face. No one ever sees past the flawless face, thick and majestic red hair, and those expressive green eyes. When the Hogwarts letter arrived, it was what Lily had been waiting for. No one would know of her past of being magazine covers and a face on commercials. She can start out as a normal student and focus on academics. That plan had worked, until the teen magazine for the Wizarding world found her. She didn't even know such magazine existed in her new surroundings.
Author's Note:
I would like to apologize for the tardiness of this chapter. I promise the third one will be out soon. It is already done and is sitting on my beta's computer.
~*~*~
Chapter Two: Prefects' Meeting
"So, Lily, would you like to explain why I could not place a face for the name 'Lily Evans' until last year?" asked Aleia, like a mother demanding to know why her child's hands were in the cookie jar.
"I don't know," Lily answered, not meeting Aleia's eyes. She was still wondering why Aleia knew her name in the first place. "Maybe because I'm in Ravenclaw?" Lily asked hopefully.
"Most likely not. I know every single students' name in Hogwarts."
"Then I guess I am a really big bookworm." Aleia chuckled.
"To quote a sentence from my brother: 'the fifth year prefect of Ravenclaw is the epitome of Ravenclaw stereotypes. She usually never takes points off, is always punctual, and sits in the library during her spare time.'" Lily blushed at the accurate description of herself. She never would have thought James Potter was so observant. Nope, James Potter seemed like the type to be busy with his world, not some unknown redheaded Ravenclaw's (especially one whose looks are not strikingly noticeable).
"I guess that's me. I don't take points off unless the students really deserve it . . . and my mother and father are always late so I've decided to be punctual. Getting picked up late at the train station with an owl hooting non-stop isn't comfortable." Aleia laughed at Lily's response.
"I can picture you sitting on your trunk reading a book while shooting annoyed glances at your owl and looking for your parents at the same time."
"I'm not that much of a bookworm. I do other things too!" Lily defended herself indignantly completed with a pout. Aleia gave her a questioning look. "I just choose to have fun over the holidays."
"Oh. You're the reserved type," Aleia continued teasing.
"No, not really. If you hand me some sugar and caffeine, I can power myself to the moon and back."
"Okay, okay. I'll stop teasing. Let's start over." Aleia paused and to regain her composure. "Hello. I am Aleia Potter, would you like to tell me about yourself?" Aleia asked in a chatty voice. Uh-oh. Definitely not what Lily was preparing for. "Like whether or not you have any siblings, crushes, pets, favorite color, I don't know. Anything that you would like me to know."
"Well, I live with my parents and my sister in Surrey in a cozy neighborhood. It looks like one where everyone knows each other and borrowing pots and pans is a daily thing. However, I have lived there for five years and I still don't know who my neighbors are. Well, I take that back. Five blocks down the road lives a very annoying boy who tried to date either my sister or me. I think he is trying to harder to impress Petunia - she is my sister - seeing as she is home more than I am."
"Hmm, at least you have neighbors," Aleia murmured. "The nearest evidence of civilization near my house is 10 kilometers away." Lily was shocked. So the magazines are right about the Potters having a large estate. Guess they do have a mini forest around them.
"But with floo powder, traveling is much easier." Lily nodded. "You mentioned having a sister. What's she like?"
"My sister is two years older than me . . . Oh no. She isn't magical." Lily added when she saw the thoughtful look on Aleia's face. "And we don't get along very well."
"I know exactly what you mean. I have three sisters. Sometimes I feel like pulling their hair out - my hair is only reserved for James, though." Lily smiled at Aleia addition about James.
"Petunia doesn't annoy me that much. I think it's more that I annoy her. If I try to stay out of her way, she gets mad. If I do get in her way, she still gets mad. Mother and Father had to put us in the bedrooms opposite the house so we won't bite each others' heads off."
"Oh my. Well, my sisters are certainly not like Petunia. My older sisters just pick on me a lot; like asking where the lucky boy is who will steal my heart. It's even worse now since Abigail is married, and Tony is married and a mother of the most adorable twins. Aie! It isn't like everyone has to get married five months after they get out of Hogwarts. My little sister, on the other hand, doesn't bother me that much. Athena is just adorable." Aleia paused and emerged herself in memories. "She's eleven and attends Beauxbaton. It is a wizardry/Charms school in France."
"I've heard about the school. Charms, the class, I mean, is their specialty. There isn't much focus on Dark Arts related stuff, though," Lily added, mostly to herself.
"Yeah. Dad decided to teach Athena Defense against Dark Arts and Potions when she was three." Lily's jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered. "But she liked it. I think that it's her strongest area. Mum was insistent on sending her to France; she blamed Dad when Athena became less ladylike. Poor Athena, she had a tantrum when she found out she wouldn't be attending the same school as James and I. That was one of those times I'm glad we don't have neighbors."
"Wow, she sounds like a child genius!" Lily exclaimed. Maybe the Potters had the highly intelligent gene in the family. James was great with Transfigurations, and Athena had learned DADA when she was three! Aleia laughed at Lily's compliment to her little sister.
The sound of zooming brooms stopped the conversation.
"Oh, we're here," Aleia and Lily looked up at the sky. The Quidditch players were practicing different formations. The flyers looked like little mosquitoes or bees buzzing about. "Hmm, looks like Gryffindor has competition this year."
"Why don't we sit over there; it's where they put their stuff, so Jon will eventually land there," Lily said pointing to the pile of robes and various other Quidditch equipments. Lily and Aleia sat down evaluating the strategies of the Ravenclaw team. Just as Aleia pointed out how talented the keeper was, the poor boy flew into the pole of the hoops.
"Was that Jon?" asked Aleia, worry etching in her face. Lily immediately looked up. She could not help but laugh at the scene before her. She hadn't realized bringing Aleia would cause Jon so much discomfort; it wasn't the first time he had done something extremely stupid in front of the pretty girl.
"Aleia! Are you spying on us?" asked Allen, the star chaser of the Ravenclaw team.
"No, I'm actually waiting for Jon to finish. There's something I wanted to talk to him about." Lily left the two to converse and walked towards Jon, who was flying to the ground like a tired bee. His broom zigzagged and did little loops while he dangled from it.
"Mummy? Why are there stars around me?" Jon asked when he was close enough to Lily. She looked at Jon's pathetic state and had to bite her tongue hard to refrain from laughing.
"Here, I'll steady the broom. You get off." Lily held the broom handle for Jon. The boy brought his right leg to his left side and promptly fell onto the ground with a THUD! It seems he forgot to hold on with his hands. Upon hearing their captain fall to the ground with such a disturbing noise, all the team members rushed to Jon with Aleia leading the way.
"Ow. . ." mumbled the poor boy. The first face he registered was Aleia's. As his eyes scanned the numerous heads, he noticed Lily. Seeing Aleia made him blush and seeing Lily was just a shock. Since when did Lily ever come to the Quidditch field?
"Are you okay?" asked Aleia with worry. "You face is all red. We should get you to Madame Pomfrey." That had caused Jon to blush even more. He had to use Lily to support himself up, not to mention Lily's hair and elbow was a good curtain for his burning face.
"No, really, I'm fine. Just a little dazed, that's all," the boy announced whilst staggering.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Lily asked, holding her index finger in front of Jon's face.
"Two," Jon answered, quickly. Everyone's eyes widened; maybe the two crashes had caused brain damage.
"Jon, can you count?" Lily asked in a half worried, half annoyed tone. This time, the boy paused before answering. He eyed the finger for a moment, closed his eyes and tried to maintain balance, then proceeded to open his eyes again.
"One." Sighs of relief were heard. Lily walked towards Jon and lightly smacked him behind his head. "Ow, what was that for?" The team was used to Lily's actions towards their captain. No one complained since they couldn't really hit Jon; he was their Captain, and the fact he could kick them off the team was a bit of a deterrent. Lily, on the other hand, acted like Jon's nanny when the time came. If Jon had an odd notion of practicing at the crack of dawn, Lily usually beat some sense into his head, literally. In the team members' opinions, Lily was a quiet girl, so she needed to express her emotions and Jon just happened to be the perfect outlet.
"For being dumb enough to fly into the pole!" Lily chided, sounding like a worrying grandmother. "You've been flying around those things for how long?"
"Six years on the team, two more year on little league before," Jon answered like a little boy explaining why he got muddy.
"Exactly. So why did you fly into the pole this time?" Lily demanded with a mischievous grin. She knew the answer, but this was a chance to get Jon out of his shell whenever he was around Aleia (It was good entertainment, as well). Jon blushed and nodded his head slightly towards Aleia's direction.
"Because Aleia is here," Allan replied for his captain, emphasizing on Aleia's name. It was known to every person present - besides Aleia - that Jon had an enormous crush of Aleia Potter, one of the most sought after girl in Hogwarts.
"Huh?" The lone Gryffindor called from behind, conjuring ice for Jon's bruised forehead. "Here. Put this on." The injured captain blushed even more. "Are you sure you feel fine? Because you are really red." Aleia proceeded to put her hand on her own forehead and Jon's to see if he had a fever.
Jon really needs to stop blushing. He's so lucky Aleia is somewhat clueless about his infatuation with her . . . but that won't take too long. Aleia is smart and is quite observant. How else is she able to match a face to a name for everyone at Hogwarts?
"Hello!" called James Potter and his Quidditch team. The sixth year Gryffindor led group of player to the pitch. "May we use it now?" Jon nodded awkwardly. One, his whole upper body was nodding since he needed his hand to keep the ice in place. And two, this was Aleia's brother. "Eh, what happened?" James looked at the large bruise forming on Jon's forehead and the redness of the Ravenclaw captain's face.
"He fell," Lily said dryly, while she shot dirty looks at her so- called brother figure. James did a double take, was he seeing things, or was Lily Evans, the ultimate bookworm, actually on the Quidditch field instead of in the library studying? He shook himself out of his reverie and ordered his own team to circle around for the practice plans.
~*~*~
"So, how did you drag Lily to the Quidditch field?" Jon asked Aleia. It seemed his shyness had worn off. Though the large bump on his head was still painfully visible. A large purple blotch right above one's left eyebrow is too difficult to miss.
"Easy, I asked her to."
"No, it can't be that simple. Whenever I try she makes up an excuse not to go," Jon pointed out sourly. He was supposed to be the closer one to Lily. Albeit Aleia is a girl, he still has known the younger girl longer. Lily rolled her eyes.
"It's simple, every time you try to get me to go, it's either to try out for the team, or to practice with the team for no reason." Aleia's face lit up.
"You play Quidditch, Lily?" The Ravenclaw shook her head vigorously. Nope, heights are not my favorite and broomstick should not be used as transportation. I am sorry, but being a part of the magical society for six years does not mean I am able to accept this. Living in the muggle world is still what I am used, which is why household cleaning tools should not be used like cars - no matter how much the little kids pretend. Just like why fireplaces should not have people's heads in them, especially when you are toasting marshmallows.
"I have some work to do before the meeting, I'll see you there!" As Lily began walking off, Jon pulled her back.
"You don't have any work that's very pressing. If it's that Transfigurations essay, it was assigned Friday. You still have three and a half weeks." That wasn't the real reason of why he wanted Lily to stay, though. Having Lily around made it more comfortable to talk to Aleia. At least she would be able to make him less embarrassed even if it meant embarrassing him more, if that made any sense. "So, why were you two at the pitch anyway?" Jon asked when Lily gave in to his unspoken pleading.
"Oh, I wanted to ask for your opinion on two things," Aleia began, "first of all, when I was in America, the schools, both Muggle and Magical had dances. Hogwarts should try to have this sort of social event. We could have one for Christmas and one for Valentine's Day; Christmas would help the students relax after exams, and Valentine's, well, for obvious reasons."
"That sounds like a good idea. We wanted to try something new, so why not?" Jon agreed enthusiastically.
"What do you think Lily?" Aleia asked.
"I don't know. I am not the type of person to go to dances." Lily was about to make more excuses, but Aleia stopped her.
"If you can smack a Quidditch captain, you can certainly go to a dance. Besides, you don't even have to dance. Loads of people sit and talk during the event."
"Well, in that case, I guess it would be fun. If I don't want to dance, I could help decorate." Aleia beamed at the two positive responses.
"Oh, goody! Now the second thing - it's more serious, but fun as well. My father and his colleagues decided to have a debate for adolescents on current wizarding world issues and topics. The whole idea's still under construction since they don't know whether it will be in a debate style or more of a committee style like the International Confederation of Wizards' meetings."
"That sounds interesting," both Jon and Lily agreed after some thinking.
"Good, then I'll present these them at the prefect meeting, and I'll give more information for the debate thing as well. Dad gave me an entire packet of what they might do, are doing, and want to do," Aleia said with a smile. "Now I have to go. I have that essay to write for Arithmancy. See you at the prefects' meeting. It was nice to finally meet you, Lily."
"I see you've made another friend," Jon said approvingly while watching Aleia's retreating back.
"Uh-huh. That'd mean you'd get to see her more often," Lily teased. Before Jon could defend himself, Lily dashed away, "I really need to do that essay! Bye!"
~*~*~
The prefects meeting did not begin on time - which was normal - but Lily was always punctual. Sitting by herself for 10 long and boring minutes wasn't efficient use of time, but those were her extra minutes for observing people. The same extra minutes that helped her with human psychology - or at least wizard psychology.
One of the more notable personas in the room would be James Potter; one of the female prefects was sitting in his lap giggling, the highly pitched noises emitted from her vocal cords sounded like the female voice in the library the weekend before. They were flirting shamelessly and the more touchy moments turned Lily's stomach. Aleia must have seen Lily flinch at the sight since she had 'accidentally' elbowed her little brother. James merely glared at Aleia; however, the girl sitting on his lap literally jumped off of James.
"Hello, Aleia," the girls said shakily with a blush. The older prefect acknowledged the greeting with a small and impersonal nod and turned to James.
"James," Aleia started with a commanding voice. Lily winced at the tone of the voice Aleia used. It held power and annoyance. James didn't seem to be affected though. He looked up expectantly at his sister. "Did you talk to Dad?" James nodded. When Aleia turned to greet Eloise, the head girl, James noticed Lily's gaze. He winked, though the response was a momentary display of the white of the eye from Lily. She quickly turned her attention to the head girl.
"Good evening, everyone," Eloise commenced, "we'll begin by discussing anything that we need to do for this school year, then we can conclude with complaints about the school, okay?" the head girl seemed like a ditz because of her overwhelmingly perky disposition, but everyone respected her since Aleia thought she would be good.
"I know Aleia had a couple things she would like to bring up, both are quite original," Jon introduced.
"Thank you. The first idea is having two balls. There will be a ball during December to celebrate all the holidays that occur, and the other for Valentine's Day. Instead of having a Christmas feast, it would be replaced by the ball," Aleia summarized.
"But Christmas is a time for family. The students already spend so most of their time away from school. If we were to hold a ball during that time, they wouldn't be able to see their family because of the vacation time lost," a Hufflepuff prefect said in disagreement.
"We wouldn't necessarily have to have this ball on Christmas day, and if the holidays were postponed, we still could have the ball and the holidays. Are there any more questions? Good," Aleia said as she clasped her hands, "here is the second proposal. The Ministry is planning on having an adolescent debate for current wizarding issues. I just got an owl from my father and he said the event would be international, students from different parts of the world would be debating or discussing with each other; I haven't asked Professor Dumbledore about this but I think Hogwarts is going to be the host school. Beauxbaton is too French," there were some smiles at this, "and Durmstang is too cold."
"Hello, everyone," Professor Dumbledore said; no one had noticed his presence until now.
"Sorry, Headmaster, when did you get here?" asked Jon politely while motioning for the old man to sit down.
"I arrived a little while after the meeting started," the old man answered. "I must say that Miss Potter's proposals would be great for this school, I don't believe Hogwarts has ever had a dance, or the wizarding community a debate for adolescents."
"Does that mean they are 'approved', Professor Dumbledore?" Eloise asked politely. The headmaster nodded with a smile.
"I shall leave all the planning to you," He motioned to the collected prefects, " though keep in mind, if this is successful, Hogwarts shall have another. If it is not, it will take a long time for teachers to approve another."
The prefects launched into excited chatter, but Jon's hand rose after Eloise nudged him.
"Before we go into extensive planning, are there any complaints?" Most of the prefects shook their heads while others were stoic. Jon gave a victorious glance at Eloise, and the group of Hogwarts students burst out in laughter before resuming their chatter.
~*~* finis for now *~*~
Omni's "thank -you" s:
HP-Lover420: Thanks, and once again, sorry about the veeeerrry looooong delay. But I realized the confusion about James's role on the quidditch team. I believe in an interview with J.K. Rowling, she had mentioned being a chaser. Then in the movie, that was obviously not the case. I am actually not to certain, so why don't we just say he is a chaser for this ficcy?
Sirius' Lover: Uh . . . sorry to make you wait for three months??? I feel horrible. Though hopefully, you are still interested.
Bon: Sorry! (again). I think I am going to apologize to everyone. I am very sorry. *sniff* I feel like a disappointment. Anyway, thanks for your compliment.
Quack Quack 88: Thank you! Now I hope this chapter is good enough for your evaluation. And keeping an eye out for this one might be somewhat difficult; it has been awhile.
Jamie: Oh shoot! Another apology is needed. ^^ The next one will be done very soon.
Arimel: Thanks. And hopefully, the exclamation button on your keyboard is fixed, or you got another keyboard. ^^
Porkypop: Thanks! I certainly hope the grammar mistakes were not too distracting. This chapter should not have any. If there were some, it would be due to my additions to the chapter after my beta gave it back.
Scarlett*eyes: Cute . . . good, one down and a few more to go. And when are you going to upload another chapter? Not to rush or anything.
Shadow Dagger: A-ha! You will get to know what happens soon enough. And I am very grateful to have you review all of my Lily and James stories. ^^ And "soon" was painfully unfulfilled . . .
Night-'n'-Day: You are the tenth! Good number. And even for you, this wasn't soon. Now why Aleia is being nice? I don't know, what do you think? And if she likes Jon, I haven't made up my mind completely. The story would work either way. If they do share the same feelings, there will only be extra romance (though that might not be good since I really can't write romancy stuff).
Starborn: Hi! For you, I updated soon. And hopefully that is good.
Thank you all! I wasn't that confident about his ficcy and you have definitely lowered my insecurity.
You know, reviews are very nice . . . I won't say they make me write faster, but they add to my self-confidence. At least no matter what my English teacher may imply about my narrative writing skills, I know there are 11 people out in the world (12 including my beta) who likes it.
~Omni