Mélange
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.
~*~*~
Chapter Six: Young Wizards and Witches Commission Within weeks of the Prefect Sale, Lily became an icon of Hogwarts like the Marauders, the quidditch stars, and the of course, Aleia Potter. The meeting with James basically was the spark that set off her celebrity status. In the midst of a teasing session between the owner and the servant, a third person had walked upon the planning session.The third person being Moira, James's girlfriend.
The planning session being the part where James tickled Lily into succumbing to his demands no matter how silly and outrageous the demands were.
"James?" Moira asked when she walked in on the scene of James cornering Lily and tickled her. "Ookay," the girl mumbled after five seconds of awkward silence. "Well, Sirius and Remus wanted you to settle one of their debates and I was wondering if you could help me with transfiguration . . ." the three people each looked at one another. "But seeing as you are busy, I'll be off."
By the next week, news got around that James brushed off his girlfriend for extra time with Lily Evans, the girl he bought with the gorgeous red hair and sparkling eyes of an indescribably beautiful shade of green. Everywhere Lily had walked for the first four days of the week, people, especially girls, whispered. It was on Friday where James groveled at the feet of Moira and Lily had to perform her act by the director James did the whispers stop.
The demand from James was actually asking Lily for help to tease Snape. While the Marauders did buy the poor Slytherin, the only request of him was to take the pranks like a man and just deal with the humility. On Lily's part, she was to charm Snape's hair frizzy, add rue to his sallow cheeks, and send him a varied version of the tickling charm to send the Slytherin prefect into a sort of dance depending on what cue word was said.
Whenever people said class, Snape would have to tango with the nearest male for three minutes. Upon hearing date – which was quite often since the following weekend was Hogsmeade weekend – Snape had to do a jazz number to one of the Chicago musicals. If someone said the word the, the poor boy had to ballroom dance with the nearest person for five minutes.
It wasn't long before people found out what the cue words were so the Slytherin prefect had to dance nearly every second. For lunch, he had locked himself in his room but the Slytherins that shouted for him to get out obviously had to use "the", so Snape had to open the door and ballroom dance with one of the peoples outside his door.
The professors knew that joke performed by Lily, ordered by James, and planned out by the Marauders would disrupt class and considering it was Friday, everyone just let that one prank slip by. After all, none of the professors wanted to punish Lily but they couldn't find evidence to get the Marauders in trouble.
~*~*~
"Lily?" one of the Ravenclaw girls called, interrupting the redhead's reading time with the book James lent her. "James's girlfriend is asking for you." Lily looked up owlishly when she heard a somewhat shy greeting in front of her from someone with blonde hair.
"I am Moira Ceasa. James introduced us at the Prefect Sale," the Gryffindor continued. Lily looked up from the book with a smile.
"Hello, how may I help you?"
"Well, I figured is should take the advice of some of the other girls and ask you about, you know, girl stuff." Moira fiddled with her fingers in discomfort, so Lily got out of her seat.
"Let's go to my room."
Walking up some stairs, Lily led the blonde to her very own room and motioned for the other girl to sit.
"Well, what do you need help on?" Lily asked cocking her head to the side. "You look perfectly fine. In fact, I had quite a few girls tell me how they wished they were like you." The compliment made Moira blush.
"I wanted a change in style. All the makeup makes me feel fake and plastered." It was a reasonable request. Eventually the makeup wearers would realize the insincerely of all the powders and pastes.
"That should be easy. If you don't feel very comfortable with not using any makeup, you can just use some foundation, small bits of blush, light eye lining, and it should be fine." The redhead paused in her diagnosis. The Gryffindor smiled hesitantly, wondering if Lily was going to say more.
"You have a small dimple when you smile, so put a little bit of blush on your cheeks to accent them. If you aren't very happy with the shape of your eyes, just outline it only slightly different without going over them too much to get a more favorable shape. That should be all."
Lily had hoped that Moira would be gone so she could get back to her own little world of academics and personal thoughts, but the girl remained.
"Lily," the other started, "if you don't mind me asking, how do you know so much about cosmetics and appearances? You sound like one of those teen witch magazines, those people who write beauty tips in Himerus."
"Himerus?" Lily asked, confused. "As in one those the Greek nymph or goddess that represents lust and desire?" The uncertain smile turned into one of grimace as she said the connotation of the name. Moira laughed at the naiveté of Lily.
"No, it's a magazine for teen witches. They give fashion advice and such. Its one of those girly magazines." Lily still looked confused at the explanation. "You know, they rank the most eligible bachelors under 30?" Not wanting to spend more time talking about teen magazines and not feeling particularly friendly with James's girlfriend, Lily merely smiled as though she understood what Moira was talking about. It wasn't as though Moira was a bad person over all. If she were, why would James be dating her anyhow? No, Moira was definitely a girl most people liked and admire. But for some reason, the way the other girl acted as though she was much better than Lily and coming to ask for help was something like mocking her.
"I am so sorry, but I have to be in library for a tutoring session," Lily said finally getting a suitable excuse. It was sort of true. She did have a tutoring session with one of the younger kids whose Charms trouble ranged from causing his wand to malfunction to shrinking Professor Flitwick. The only problem was the tutoring session was half an hour away.
But if people do ask, I could say I was doing research for helping the boy.
~*~*~
The tutoring session had gone well. With Lily's help, the boy was able to get the basics of Charms, which he usually messed up by adding a barely noticeable way in the swish and flick motion of most Charms spells. The success gotten by those who had Lily's help instantly made the redhead a school icon, of a sort other than popular. While she was envied by many from the concentrated attention given to her by the Marauders, Aleia, and the Quidditch teams of both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw because of her friendship with those named, she was with James Potter in being the top students in Hogwarts that was widely known by all students.
"Lily!" Aleia called one day dashing into the Ravenclaw common room. It seemed as though Jon had decided to give the older girl the password to Gryffindor princess.
"Hey Aleia," Lily replied. "What are you doing here? Jon is at the Quidditch pitch. I think he is trying to torture the team again. At least they still have two days to rest before the actual game against Slytherin."
"Yeah," Aleia laughed along. "Anyhow, I came to get you for an emergency meeting. My dad is here with information on the ICW's youth program, you know, the one I talked about in one of the earlier meetings." Lily grabbed her Hogwarts robes and followed Aleia out. "Okay, now to find James."
"Find him?" the redhead exclaimed. It was very well known that the Marauders have a tendency to hide. It was nearly impossible to find them at times other then classes and meals because they would off in some odd room planning the next pranks or something.
"Well, I got you first because you were the easiest to find compared to James: you would be either the Ravenclaw tower, Quidditch pitch, or the library. As for James, he is a like a rat that knows all the secrets tunnels of Hogwarts." Aleia ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "Well, Little Brother was not in the Gryffidor tower. I had check there already. He obviously wasn't at the Quiddtich pitch because Ravenclaw is using it. I don't know were else he would be."
"Did you ask Remus, Sirius or Peter?" Lily provided, trying to be helpful. She wasn't even aware why she and James needed to see the Minister of Magic.
"I did," Aleia said with a sigh. "Well, how about you check the library and I'll check the kitchen. Then we will meet by McGonagall's room and proceed to the Astronomy Tower together."
"Why together?" Aleia looked at the younger girl as though she was insane.
"Why together?" she repeated. "Would you like to witness a couple too engrossed in snogging?"
"Right, I'll go to the library. Let's hope we won't have to find them at the Astronomy Tower," Lily replied with a sick stomach. The last time she walked in on something of that sort, the couple was about to get shirtless. But it was what happened when all the students lived in one castle were the romantic spot was the Astronomy Tower in which astronomy students had to use for their homework. It was morally wrong for the redhead, but the rest of the school could careless if they offended Lily because of their rambunctious behavior.
Lily greeted the librarian with a small smile and walked towards the bookshelves and the study area scanning for a messy haired boy with glasses and a shiny prefect badge.
To her disgust and not much of a surprise, James and his girlfriend were a bit engrossed with each other's mouths behind some bookshelves. Apparently the library was now a place for orgies. Feeling embarrassed and piqued, Lily coughed and gagged at the same time.
"Oh Lily!" James declared with a blush while Moira seemed annoyed at the interruption. The girl did take Lily's advice as using simple amounts of makeup.
"Aleia said your father is here with information on the youth commission thing and she wants you to go with her." Lily watched the rather humorous showing of James trying to untangle himself from his girlfriend. The blush on the Marauder's face grew redder as he struggled to free himself. With a quick peck on Moira's face, James dragged Lily out the door of the library.
"James," Lily started with an embarrassed smile, "You've got lipstick on you." James made a showing of trying to get the red color off. That was the end of the conversation. Both were embarrassed about what happened before to act as though nothing out of the ordinary happened. Well, at least nothing uncomfortable since it was common to see James and his girlfriend get quite comfortable with each other. For Lily, the library would never be the same place for her again. Not after the rather shocking view that showed what should happen in private.
"Where is my dad?" James asked when he noticed they had passed the hall to get to the headmaster's office.
"I don't know," Lily replied still walking and not looking at James. "We're getting Aleia by McGonagall's office. Then she will lead us to your father."
Aleia was already by the classroom door when the two sixth years arrived. The older girl immediately stopped her pacing and walked towards James with her wand brandished threateningly.
"James!" Aleia exclaimed like a normal annoyed older sister. "Do I always need to spend at least an hour looking for you?" Lily turned to look at the accused party and noticed he stood in place, listening to his sister's complaint halfheartedly. "Are you even listening to me?" Aleia hissed after James had no reaction to her long rant.
"Where's Dad?" The older Potter growled and threw up her hands in frustration. Taking Lily by the arm, Aleia walked off not bothering to check if her brother was actually following her.
"When you found him, he wasn't doing any embarrassing, right?" Making the smart decision to not reply, Lily merely walked with Aleia in compliance with whatever the Gryffindor was ranting about – though it was mainly concerning James.
~*~*~
"Hello Aleia," an elderly man that James had a great resemblance to greeted as he excused himself from tea with Professor Dumbledore. "Did your little brother give you a hard time again?"
"Excuse me, Dad," James cut in with a pout. "It wasn't my fault she got lost. It was Lily who found me this time." Suddenly all the attention was turned the redhead in by the door of Dumbledore's office. "Meet Lily Evans. A sixth year Ravenclaw and fellow prefect."
"Hello Miss Evans," Minister Potter said amiably. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Andre Potter, the Minister of Magic in England." The man struck out his hand in accord with common, formal courtesy, which Lily did comply to even though she wanted to leave the room then. She had thought the ICW thing called for all prefects with her and James being the last ones to be alerted. When she noticed the meeting seemed more like a family reunion for the Potters, Lily wanted to sneak out of the room so she wouldn't feel like she was intruding.
"So, about the ICW commission for young wizards and witches," the minister began. "Since Hogwarts is the only school of magic in England, the students for the youth commission would all come from this school. According to the recommendations from the professors, it seems as though James and Miss Evans should represent England in this first commission." The minister didn't look up but looked at a stack of papers that Lily assumed were the teacher recommendation. "Both of you are smart and seem very sociable and could represent our country well."
Well, that was blunt. Whatever happened to the tact of politicians? Besides, this recommendation thing doesn't seem very democratic. There's quite a lot of students much more sociable than me and probably could represent England better too.
"What exactly is the commission about?" Lily asked. Apparently Lily was the least knowledgeable in the aspect of the logistics of the commission. Aleia was giving James threatening looks of warning while James smirked at his sister's lack of faith in his ability to act civil. On the other hand, Professor Dumbledore had another one of his knowing gleams about the pairing of her and James. Considering they have just begun interacting with each other, there was still a high chance that she would not get along with James very well. For one thing, James was a lot more exuberant in social events whereas Lily would take solitary confinement over a fancy party.
"Basically it is like a ICW for the youths of our society. There would be a male and female representative from the participating countries. I believe China and Japan are the East Asian countries. France, Germany, Spain, and Belgium were chosen to participate as well. In the Americas, United States and Canada are the only ones so far. The Latin American countries have not yet decided on whether to send their students over," the minister named off.
"What you would do is go to decision making meetings with the representatives during the two-month long period. This program's goal is to bring a wide alliance between youths of the different parts of the wizarding world. We plan on expanding the participants if it is successful this time."
"Would the meeting be like a debate?" James asked finally seeming less Marauder-like. The minister nodded as he sipped his tea.
"The commission would be held in Hogwarts this time," Professor Dumbledore added, finally joining the conversation. "The students would live in whatever house they would feel comfortable in during their stay. They would continue their studies with the Hogwarts students and some of the weekends and after school time would be used to hold meetings."
"Would our legislation be real?" James asked with a smile. "The agreements we make could actually be implemented?"
"Well, if the laws are actually usable, then yes," the minister replied with a knowing grin. "But if you plan on making every Friday a pranking day, I highly doubt the ICW would approve of that, am I correct Headmaster?"
Dumbledore had laughed at the example. "Unfortunately yes. It certainly would be entertaining to do so, but I fear things may get out of hand." James threw his hands in defeat and plumped his mass to the ground with a huff.
How childish, yet this is the most eligible bachelor? And better yet, the professors actually thought he was capable? I was sure the head of Slytherin would do anything and everything to make sure one of the Marauders won't be a rep.
"So, would you accept the role of being the representative for England?" the minister asked the two sixth years.
"Sure!"
"Um, wouldn't Aleia be better for the job?" Lily inquired hoping her subtle message would get passed on. "I mean, she is much better with interacting with people then me and of course, she's much more used to the international environment."
"Are you kidding?" Aleia asked, visibly shocked but also as though she was scheming something. One could hear the wheels turn in her head. "I would kill my little brother, and since that would send me to Azkaban, I don't think so."
"But . . ." Lily nearly whined. She really didn't want to be in the spotlight, not after what happened before Hogwarts. Certainly this was on a much smaller scale, but it doesn't mean the others wouldn't make fun of her. It was awful enough to have the Marauders notice her appearance, during the Prefect Sale. She really didn't want more people to just see the skin-deep Lily. To combat physical attributes, she would have to be witty, and that would mean she must be outspoken and such . . . like James.
Speak your mind and people would know the real you . . . easier said then done. Whatever happened to actions speak louder than words? Oh right, when modeling became a career and actors and actresses could be influential by being someone else.
"No buts," James retorted with one hand his hip and the other with its index finger pointed and shaking. "I don't care. You'll be joining me in this commission no matter what. I wouldn't hesitate to use my ownership powers to force you. If that doesn't work, it would be one of the three mandatory obligations from me" The reminder of the fact that Lily wrinkle her nose in dislike. The Marauders should be known as the stubborn as mule pranksters, not popular, good-looking mischief-makers.
"James, if you are that demanding when you get married, I would feel bad for your wife," Aleia retorted. When Lily seemed to look hopeful, the female Potter turned and mirrored James's stance. "That doesn't mean I think you shouldn't do that. Lily, it would be a good on your résumé no matter what you do." At that persuasion, Lily retraced her refusal but still decided to never accept.
"Gosh Lily, even something academic won't do? Well, Jamsey," Aleia continued, "so about that mandatory obligations for Lily . . ."
~*~*~
By the end of the usual six days for rumors to start and school news get passed around, the entire school buzzed with the idea that there would be students from other countries around. While many imagined what each of the foreign students would seem like, the fact that Lily Evans and James Potter were going to represent Hogwarts was also on the mind of the students. It seemed like a fairy tale blessing to stick a shy Lily Evans with the charismatic James Potter. That would seem like the perfect "opposites attract" pair. The fact that Aleia actually liked the redhead also seemed like Lily Evans would be the next girlfriend of the marauding captain. Unfortunately, those speculations didn't settle well for Moira Ceasa, the current girlfriend of the said leader.
"James got mad at Moira's jealousy and dumped her!" soon followed the previous school news in six days. Certainly James Potter and Moira Ceasa had been dating on and off since the second half of fourth year, but the other girls during that period of time never got the approval of the public – Hogwarts student body. Since the breakup this time was caused by a redhead that was gorgeous and had a brain quicker than the Gryffindor girl, the Hogwarts populous had assumed James wasn't going to get back to his long time girlfriend because Lily Evans seemed better. Most girls sought that as an opportunity to flirt with James without Moira and her entourage seeking revenge later on. For the others, those who favored the other Marauders over James, the group's chosen best course of action was befriending Lily, or at least get to know the girl better.
"Hello Lily," random people would greet the Ravenclaw redhead in the halls, during meals, and after school. The Ravenclaw common room suddenly became a lot more social due to the fact that the house of bookworms had a beautiful and smart prefect whose talents spread over athletics, academics, and appearing fashionable.
After a few days of speculation, Lily decided she couldn't stand superficial greetings anymore and wanted her old peaceful common room back. The chaos in the Ravenclaw wing didn't really die down with the new exclamation around school that the Ravenclaw quidditch captain was going to go on a date with Aleia Potter for the upcoming Hogsmeade trip. The fact that the two had bought each other – sort of, with outside help – during the Prefect Sale was another one of those popularly acclaimed relationship blessings. Lily was happy for her psuedo-brother's advancement in male/female relationships, but she had problems of her own. There was another wave of males asking for a date with her and girls trying to be her friend because of the fact that she was a friend of the Marauders and a cohort of the Potters and she did have the pure skin, majestic hair that everyone sees so often on commercials and other advertisements.
Hogwarts felt like her old life too much.
She was going to bring up the complaint during the Hogsmeade trip that the Marauders had forced on her. Sirius said it was a way to make all the members feel equal since Lily Evans would go on a date with all of them. Of course, both Remus and James brought out the point that if Lily was going to Hogsmeade with all four of the Marauders, it wouldn't really be considered a date.
"Yes it would. If this isn't a date, then it would be like saying polygamists aren't really married to their wives!" Sirius retorted.
"Sirius," Remus began shaking his head, "For some countries, those marriages aren't considered lawful – "
"Being unlawful doesn't mean they aren't married!"
"To be officially married is to be wedded under the protection of the law!" James declared exasperated. Ever since he had a fight with Moira about Lily, which resulted in the statement along the lines of "if you don't like my friend then we're over", he was short tempered and frustrated nearly all the time.
"But – " Sirius complained. Lily couldn't bear to hear this debate any longer. Every time she tried to pacify the three arguing friends, they all brushed her off while Peter just told her to leave them along because fighting was a way of affection.
The discussion of whether Lily going to Hogsmeade with all of the Marauders was a date had lasted from the boys waiting for her by the Ravenclaw common room through the walk to the wizarding town and was still going on when the students had reached the destination for fifteen minutes. Okay, the next brick wall I see is going to be the resting place for my head.
"Why are you two so intent on not dating Lily?" Sirius proclaimed suddenly. "Do you not like her?" Everyone whirled his or her head to face Sirius as though he was insane. The logic really did not make sense regarding the debate.
"Siri, we like Lily, but that doesn't mean we would date her," James placated. He then turned to the object of the discussion, Lily. "No offense." Lily didn't really pay attention to the discussion anymore. The group was in Three Broomsticks and had ordered their butterbeers. Since there were no brick in sight, the redhead decided to bash her forehead on the table to get rid of her annoyance at being discussed as though she wasn't there as well as the frustration brought by the fact that she was a friend of the Marauders. None of the arguers noticed their objection of discussion was trying to bruise her forehead. Peter was the only sane one to comfort Lily and coax her to not damage her intelligent gift called the brain by getting a concussion.
"Why not?" Obviously as Sirius starts losing a debate, he pouts. Just as he pouted whenever Aleia brushed off his pick-up lines.
"Erm, guys?" Lily interrupted with her face on the table. "Can we just stop arguing whether this is a date or not? Personally I think the fact that if I were to date all of you, I would be a floozy, and that's not a very good adjective to describe me. So if you would stop thinking as though I'm merely a girl and just get it into your THICK, STUBBORN skulls that I am in fact, your friend as well – at least I hope so – so please stop it. You're giving me a migraine!"
The expressions on the faces of each of the Marauders did not illustrate the effect she wanted. Sirius was smiling goofily and cooing. Remus did something similar although he didn't coo and it wasn't like him to smile goofily. But the fact of the matter was Remus had the look of someone admiring a cute, chubby cherub. Peter, on the other hand, was trying to stop himself from laughing, for the fact that there was an oval red mark on Lily's forehead because she was hitting her head against the table. James's expression was similar to Sirius's, only less insane-looking and he didn't really coo, just cocked his head to one side and sighed.
"You look cute," all four males declared unanimously. With a groan, the redhead turned her face away and proceeded to squash her nose instead. At least she still had blissfully oblivious friends at Hogwarts to ease the strain of society even if they would drive her insane with their antics.
~*~*~
Winter Planning for me, Omnifarious:
Ack, so I updated not quite exactly on time. I was out of town for Friday and Saturday and Thursday was spent with my makeshift big family in the US – my best friend and her family.
This chapter seemed a bit messy, but yeah . . . I don't trust my own opinion very well since I am sort of sick, like at the point where one could get sick or could not depending on how well they take of themselves.
Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I am going to have to put this on hold for a few weeks, as The Wedding of the Boy Hero must be completed by Christmas. Since I'll be on a trip to California on Christmas Eve.
The good news is that I would be writing Mélange and my own original idea(s) – found at -- during winter break. Although I won't have Internet access, I would have my computer with me so I could edit my webpage as well. So on January 3rd or 4th, go to my webpage – -- to read what I have written during break. I doubt I would have much time to upload the chapters (yep, ambitious goal) of this story up by then. After all, school starts the Monday following the 3rd of January. But the good thing is that this story gets precedence once my H/G story is done if everything goes according to plan. I feel so guilty not updating it. The sad thing is that I actually have another non-MWPP/L plot cooking, but to balance that, I do have a vignette that's actually canon, again. I think the vignette would go with Friday Afternoon.
Thanks to all whose reviewed. The feedback raises my expectations of how I should write and do write, and sometimes to kick me in gear with writing even if it postpones homework . . .
Okay, personal responses:
JerseyGirl03: Well, I promise I will be better about updating. There's probably no way of being worse than how I am now, unless I choose to not continue the story, but not really. Why would you want to know the name of the magazine anyhow? I did give out one name in the story . . . if that helps.
Phredtheflyingmonkey: Thanks for your review. Like the name, wish monkeys could actually fly. ^^
Horse-Obssesed: Magazine people entering in the story? Well, the soonest being the next chapter. It really depends on how the plot bunnies are scheming.
Pristine: Oh I am so sorry! Please don't forget me, whines the story and Omnifarious. ^^ Yes, the last chapter was short. Too short, but this one is long. 9.5 Word pages. Sort of my usual length, I think. With lots more action then before, and of course, set ups for the following chapters. As for the mystery between James and Lily, well, I personally think relationships aren't that easy and James Potter wasn't a sleazy guy who has a flavor of the week. Now, doesn't that make things harder? Yeah, I guess it was part of my goal, in my subconscious, to drive readers crazy with my ploys. Now, wouldn't it be interesting if Lily and James never got together in this story? You know, you ought to leave your e-mail because this reply is going to get really long.
Alright a couple of points to address:
At this point, Lily won't have a boyfriend. I don't think she's really brave enough to face the fact that she must trust others with her emotions and heart at this point. Perhaps a little bit later on.
James's siblings would not be Mary Sues considering they won't be dating the original characters and such. The point of the poor guy having so many sisters is to set up humor. More of the sibling teasing about James and his future in the love part of life. If I ever make a character seem Mary Sue-ish, feel free to give me a warning. Since the definition of a Mary Sue character vary with nearly everyone, just tell me what I'm doing that making a character a Mary Sue or Gary Stu.
marina eyes: I guess it's good that the wait isn't four months long?
devils-angel16: Um, Lily being famous, I wouldn't really say it goes that far. I'd say many people would recognize her face. As for that, well, possibly next chapter or maybe a little later. Like I wrote earlier, it really depends on the plot bunnies.
Lololchik: Goody! You found it! Hope you enjoyed this chapter enough for all that work.