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 on 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 Seven: Hide and Go SeekRight after the Halloween feast, the prefects had divided into groups for the preparation of the Yule Ball. There was a group for decorations, a group for organization of the Great Hall, a group for food, and a secret group for keeping the Marauders from pranking the entire school. The last group had three members: the creator, Aleia; and its two other members, Lily and Jon. Unfortunately for Lily she was forced to deal with the Marauders when she had been trying to dodge the mischievous group since the Hogsmeade trip. It just wasn't normal when four guys tell her she was cute while they were arguing whether or not she was on a date with all four of them.
"Come on Lily!" Aleia called out. "I managed to blackmail my little brother about the pranks he and his friends would be using during the ball. We need to find counter-curses to all of them so we don't have to be depend on those juvenile delinquents to free people." Lily looked up from her homework and followed Aleia. The initial plan was for Lily to talk to the Marauders, but when she commiserated to Aleia about how insane the group was, the older girl gladly took over since Lily had to deal with James to the Young Wizard and Witches Commission.
"You know," Lily started when they were walking to the head boy's room, "how do we know if what James gave you was the real list?" Aleia smirked.
"Well, I did threaten James with Lisa Pomben," the Gryffindor whispered with a wide smile. "The girl had the largest crush on James since third year and had tried so many times to get a kiss from him. It ranged from various ploys to get James and her under the mistletoe . . . to another way of getting him under the mistletoe," Aleia finished with a frown. "I s'pose the girl isn't that bright."
"So?" Lily asked. James's school persona seemed like the type of person who would like the female attention. He probably could manipulate the poor girl somehow with his supposed charm and wit. So the threatening James with a female would be like telling the cat that if he ate the bird, he would get a large jar of milk.
"He's actually very afraid of her," Aleia continued. "There is a New Years charity ball coming up with the ministry and well, James promised Lisa a little while back that she could be his date to a ball if he couldn't find one." Lily gawked in shock. Surely the girl could not have been that stupid to agree. Lily did not remember any situation in which James Potter couldn't find a date.
"Couldn't he easily find another girl to be his date for this ball?" she asked. "I mean, look at the long list of girl he had dated in Hogwarts. I am sure all of them would like to have a second chance." Aleia laughed heartily.
"My dear Lily, the charity ball is a very big event. People there either have class, pedigree, brains, or money. Whoever James takes to the ball shows how our family is like. Since he is the only son, the job of keeping up the image rests on his shoulders. He can't bring a bimbo to the ball.
"Oh poor him," Aleia added sarcastically.
"I see," Lily replied feeling sorry for James even though Aleia seemed apathetic.
"Don't even feel sorry for the little brat," Aleia continued with a knowing look towards Lily. "He may seem like the furry little teddy bear to the female population, but he's truly the devious little brother. Anyhow, money brings responsibilities as Carnegie said earlier in the century."
"Yeah," Lily mumbled. So money had been a luxury of the Potters for a rather long time. Perhaps that was why James and Sirius seemed so free in discussions about using money. Her family only became well to do after her modeling contract and various promotions for both her parents.
"Okay, we're meeting in Jon's head boy quarters for privacy and such. James would think I went there because he's my boyfriend and probably snog for the entire time, but of course, we're planning on how to ruin their little plans." Lily scratched her head at Aleia's twisted logic. They requested for a list of pranks planned for the ball so James would suspect something. Even with a threat concerning Lisa Pomben, the Marauders could still pull something at the ball.
"Erm, Aleia?" Lily asked when they were at the door. "How exactly are we planning this?"
"It's simple, I'll explain more when we are sure no one is listening," Aleia replied knocking on Jon's door. The head boy greeted Lily with a hug and moved onto his girlfriend with a hug, a kiss, and the whole ordeal when one greets his girlfriend. "Okay," the Gryffindor girl continued breathily, "Lily, do you mind putting a silencing charm around the room so we can guarantee that no one would be listening?" The redhead took the chance to get away.
Seeing Jon and Aleia together was like seeing James with his girlfriends, only more uncomfortable since Jon was Lily's surrogate brother. It was just plain disconcerting for one to see her brother kissing the breath out of his girlfriend. Kind of like thinking one's parents were sexually active creature. Ugh!
"You done?" Lily asked Jon wryly, not looking at the couple.
"Well, that was a good show!" Aleia exclaimed with a smile, making Lily turn a shade of neon pink. "Once Lily walked out with that shade of red on her cheeks, people wouldn't suspect a thing. Now, about the pranks . . ."
They worked on the counter-spells for all of the Marauder's pranks and thought of precautionary actions so a widespread prank wouldn't actually affect a large portion of the student body. Jon acted as the dummy for all the pranks while Lily and Aleia tweaked the counter-spells for the perfect reversal, or as close as they could get so Madame Pomfrey's job would be easier. After every experiment, Aleia would kiss Jon as the payment. The kisses lasted longer and seemed more like snogging session particularly when Jon got stuck as something strange since the counter-spells weren't effective.
"Um, well," stammered Lily when her brother and Aleia seemed too engrossed in their relationship. "Bye! And dinner's in an hour!" With a mad dash to her dorm, Lily unintentionally slammed the head boy's door causing everyone to stare at the brief scene of an entangled Aleia and Jon. Walking briskly to her room with the entire Ravenclaw staring at her, Lily attempted to bury her thoughts in her studies again. Her mental maturity was not high enough to adjust to thinking about boys and girls being engaged in sensual activities. It was fine for people she didn't know well do be kissing from daybreak to twilight, but it was plain wrong for Jon and Aleia of all people to be doing that. Maybe in private, but snogging completely unguarded in front of Lily was wrong.
It just was wrong. Period.
And gross too.
Ew.
~*~*~
Thankfully that one meeting settled the major problems of lessening the impact of Marauder pranks. Jon, Aleia, and Lily didn't have another long meeting in secret anymore; they met briefly to go over everyone's responsibilities. Lily was to play the role of the main emergency nurse since her charms skills were impeccable. Under the load of homework, tutoring sessions due to James's advertisement, occasional measly tasks for James (i.e. a cookie, help with charms regarding pranking, random tips on how to understand women, spying on Aleia), and the role of learning all the reversal spells for Marauder pranks, Lily successfully postponed contact with Marauders unless mandatory.
The self-imposed exile worked to diminish Lily's temporary popularity among the students. It was difficult for people to find Lily Evans unless they were in class or at meals. All the other times, the Ravenclaw would spend the time in her room rather than the library.
"Lily!" James shouted when she tried to make her daily escape back to the Ravenclaw common room after dinner. "Remember? We have a prefects' meeting. Right now, after dinner." Lily wrinkled her nose in dislike and turned to face James. "Come on. We haven't really talked in awhile." At that comment, Lily stiffened immediately. Somehow she felt small, like she was a three-year-old caught with a stolen cookie with James being the imposing giant requesting for her to pay.
"So how have you been?" James asked. "I barely see you at all. Every time I do see you is for a glimpse before you leave the Great Hall for you common room. I've tried to get Aleia to tell me the password, but she wouldn't. And during classes, I couldn't just walk up to you and just talk because the professors would be teaching."
"I've had stuff here and there," Lily replied. "So I guess I've been a bit detached from the rest of the world."
"I know, with the Christmas Ball coming up and all. I've been busier than normal as well." Lily eyed James suspiciously. Did he know what she, Aleia, and Jon were planning? Or were they designing new pranks for the ball?
"Planning more pranks?" Lily teased to be on the safe side. She might as well "spy" on James to see if the Marauders were gaining new ammunition.
"What do you take me for?" James gasped, clutching his heart. "I'm wounded Lily. I really am. You do realize that I intend on being head boy." Lily rolled her eyes at James's lousy attempt at being dramatic.
"Right Potter," Lily mumbled sarcastically. "And all those charms help you asked of me were so related to the actual class." The stab to make James admit outright he was planning something for the Yule Ball seemed to hit the target as the Gryffindor shifted uneasily.
"You know," James started loudly with Lily smiling at him coyly. Her smile was deliberate yet held a glimmer of innocence that made James wonder if he was being paranoid. It was the effect Lily was searching for. "You know," he started again, "the job of decorating is rather difficult. I had to endure a long lecture from my mother about tasteful, sophisticated decoration compared to gaudy, exaggerated seasonal themes." Lily's expression didn't waver.
"Holy cow!" Sirius exclaimed from the background. "Now that's sexy look." The shout caused all the students to stare at Sirius, James, and Lily. The redhead cocked an eyebrow in confusion. What was the nut talking about? Before she could shake off the comment, someone else decided to open his mouth.
"And that would be sizzling," Remus added with a smirk to add to his more sophisticated look compared to the rugged Sirius.
"Yeah, if only you were dressed in something more form fitting than the school uniform," Sirius added. Lily stared at the two Marauders shaking her head. Students had seen the Marauders say how handsome and sexy each other were, but Sirius and Remus were looking at Lily instead of at James. All she hoped then was for the prevention of some equally discomforting occasion like the Hogsmead discussion concerning matters of dating.
"So when were you going to ask her out?" Peter asked making his presence by Sirius and Remus known.
Lily noticed James glaring at him friends and clenching and unclenching his fist. For the students around them, whispers broke out about James asking Lily out. It didn't seem as though the students would let James and Lily get to their prefect meeting unless James or someone clarified what was going on. The Moira supporters seemed almost furious whereas the James Potter fan were clutching to whatever they could in hopes of James being available for a small while longer, at least so they could have a chance to go to the Yule Ball with him.
"Ahoy!" the angelic voice of Aleia broke up the crowd. Lily thanked all the celestial beings for the perfect timing. "We need out two prefects else the Yule Ball would be crap. Now, for the sake of having a beautiful and enjoyable Yule Ball, please let James out so he could meet with the decorating team and Lily so she could learn decorating charms and partying charms from Flitwick. We only have two weeks before the ball and times is wasting!"
No one had a choice since the older girl grabbed Lily by her arm and James by his collar and dragged the two towards the prefects' meeting room before someone diverted Aleia's attention to somewhere else since Professor McGonagall needed to see her about something.
"Alright you two, please do not head in the direction of the astronomy tower," Aleia instructed before she left. "And Jamie, relax. Now, go to the prefect meeting now since they're waiting for you two. Oh, and don't let Sirius get to the meeting no matter what." Out of the corner of their eyes, James and Lily noticed Aleia glaring at the shadow around the corner. As the older girl walked away, she grabbed the shadowy figure by his ear and twisted.
"Ouch Aleia," the recognizable voice of Sirius squeaked. "It hurts, damn it! My ear is not without feeling!" Aleia jerked her hand. "Ouch!"
"Language Black," Aleia said flatly when Sirius was about to curse like a pirate. The twisting motion turned for him to face the observing and amused Lily and James.
"I swear Aleia," Sirius started but never finished since he was afraid of her. Pouting for a moment, his maniacal smile was back and directed to Lily and James. "Well, Jamie, it's now or never. Lisa Pomben is going to find out sooner or later, even if she attends Beauxbaton." James already had his wand out and placed a strong silencing spell on his friend.
"Now Aleia, he'll be quiet the entire time."
Lily turned to look at James. What were the Marauders talking about? Did they know that the prefects were planning on ruining their fun at the Yule Ball somehow due to Aleia's threat concerning Lisa? And most importantly, did James find a date to something because the Marauders were teasing him about it?
"Huh?" Lily said, as eloquently as possible. The redness on James's cheeks doesn't make the situation easier to assess. In all her years at Hogwarts, it wasn't often she saw the impartial James Potter be so passionate about his image. He usually brushed off what his friends said about him. Any rumors about him being homosexual, controlling, or in any way trying to ruin his Prince Charming image were disregarded by everyone because he always seemed suave about the rumors.
"I know you are quite confused, but I guess I should explain," James began uncomfortable. Since we are already late for the meeting, it doesn't really matter that much." Lily wanted to object; Aleia did say the others were waiting for them. "It's alright. I think they're used to me being late anyhow." Lily rolled her eyes.
"They may be used to you being late, but not me. Now, if you don't mind, why don't we try for fashionably late instead of wondering where the corpse is late?" As she tried to move away, she noticed James seemed put off. "Are you alright?" Lily asked pausing for a bit. The boy shrugged and continued walking.
"It's fine."
Those were the last two words James said to her well into the prefect meeting. Although both of them were on the decorating committee, he seemed to be dodging her the entire night. It was fairly easy for James to try to get away from Lily since the Ravenclaw spent most of the time with Professor Flitwick practicing various charms whereas James and the rest of the team flipped through catalogues searching for good decorating objects.
Lily wasn't sure she felt insulted that James didn't talk to her during the meeting. They weren't really friends yet, more like acquaintances. Two people who were brought together by school functions and mutual friend – Aleia. She shouldn't feel offended in anyway. She really shouldn't.
But he was rude. Just because she wanted to be less late to the meeting didn't give James the right to be short with her. Sure she did seem to ask for an explanation, but they were about to be late. And couldn't James have explained everything to her when they were walking to the prefect meeting? Getting more piqued by the second, Lily was more than happy to return to her room in the Ravenclaw tower of Hogwarts.
"Lily, wait!" James requested as the students dispersed to get back to either their own rooms or monitoring duties. Lily exhaled in annoyance and turned to face James again. Perhaps it was part of her destiny or something to be annoyed with the golden boy of Gryffindor and only son of the Minister of Magic.
"What?"
"Earlier in the evening," James started, with more confidence than the last time he spoke about last night. Lily nodded for him to continue. "Well, I suppose there's a reason for my friends to tease me about asking you out."
"You should have a reason for asking a girl out," Lily retorted impatiently. He had no right to ignore her and then act cuddly with her. The auction did not grant him the power to treat Lily like an object of affection. A stuffed animal might not care if it was thrown across the room to be ignored, but a person was not a stuffed animal. A person had feelings. And that difference must be heeded.
Upon hearing Lily's tone, James flinched and wriggled in discomfort for the second time that night. Lily Evans certainly wasn't an easy sort of girl.
"There's a New Years Ball coming up in the ministry. My family is invited and each of us are allowed to bring a friend." Lily shrugged. It was the ball Aleia spoke of. The one where James might be stuck with a certain Lisa Pomben for an entire night.
"And?" Lily asked stoically. Her lack of concern made James squirm a bit more.
"And I would like you to go with me."
"As a date?" The word made James blush. He nodded unsurely.
"If you would like," he said. "Though we could go as friends if this makes you more comfortable."
"And if I say no?" Lily questioned. "And just wondering, who is this Lisa Pomben I've been hearing a lot about lately?" The other flinched while Lily pursed her lips waiting for a reply. She was not going to be some trophy girl for James Potter so he could break a promise to a certain girl. It was about time he learned the debonair ladies man would have his share of retribution.
"Lily, please help me!"
"Why?" Lily wanted to ask, but James must have had some reason for he seemed uncharacteristically desperate.
"Lisa Pomben is a girl who has been obsessed with me for a long time. To get her off my back, I told her I would be her date to the New Years Ball if I could not find a date. Quite frankly, I did not want to tell her no nor did I want give the wrong message. Unfortunately, she seemed to be the type to get the message wrong no matter what."
"James, I am not sure if you've noticed, but you have a knack for sending the wrong message," Lily retorted. "Besides, one night with Lisa isn't anything."
"It's not one night. The ball lasts three nights." Lily's mouth formed an O. So he would have to deal with Lisa for three nights. "Oh, and after the first night, the days following it would be ministry sponsored events." Was she mean enough to sentence James to three nights and two days of Lisa Pomben? From what she had heard of the girl, it would be plain torture to spend such a long time with someone merely obsessed with being you.
"Lily," James continued with a whine. "I can't even hold a decent conversation with her."
"Then why did you promise that in the first place?" Lily asked wonder why James made that stupid decision if he really couldn't handle the girl.
"When I made that decision, the ball wasn't lengthened to two days and three nights. It was only an entire day." Lily didn't budge. She stood her place and stared at James Potter. "Please, please, please, please? Aleia and Jon will be there. And so will Sirius, although I am not sure if that's good news for you. You get to meet all my sisters and see them pick on me all day long. I guess the real prize is to see Athena. She's been wanting to see the girl who's so great at Charms since she's been having some problems with the swish and flick motion."
"Are you sure that a good idea Prongsy?" the ever annoying voice popped out. Lily wondered how he could be so sneaky. It always felt like Sirius Black was spying on their conversations. "I mean, you make it sound like you're taking her to see the family so you two could get married."
"How did you get here?" James demanded. "And who took off my silencing charm?"
Sirius smirked. "A very lovely Hufflepuff thought it would be nice to hear my voice so she graciously took off the charm." James took out his wand, rather annoyed and started another silencing charm. Sirius dodged the second attack, but to his surprise, Lily had her wand out and silenced him.
"Now, good little Siri will go back to the Gyrffindor tower and sleep tight, right?" Lily ordered him like telling a small toddler that it was bedtime. "And Jamie will accompany him." Once Lily finished talking, Sirius latched himself onto James and started waving Lily goodbye with the maniacal smile on his face. To Lily amusement and James's disgust, he also turned and gave James a drolly kiss.
"Please, Lily? You can't leave me alone with Lisa, Sirius, and my family for three nights and two days!" James pleaded as Sirius dragged him towards the Gryffindor tower. "Just think about it." Waving goodbye to the two best friends, Lily nodded in that she would think about it.
"So he asked you?" someone else said making Lily jump. How many people were eavesdropping on her conversation with James? The conversation certainly wasn't held in a private place, but at least people should heed that fact that she and James were talking to each other, not the rest of the world.
Turning to face the second intruder, Lily made a face. "Jon, how did you know?"
"Aleia mentioned something like that. She gave me a warning to not pull the big brother act." Lily wasn't sure if she should be happy that Aleia held Jon back or be mad that nearly the entire world knew James was going to ask her to the New Years Ball. "Anyhow, I'll be there, so if he does bother you, I'm sure his sisters and I would be glad to be of assistance."
"I didn't even say I'd go!" Lily complained. Going to a rather public event being James Potter's date would mean she's the new girl on his arm. Only this time, she would be the trophy girl on his arm, if what Aleia told Lily about the ball were true. As though the skies were trying to help Lily sort her mind out, Aleia appeared.
"Oh guess what! China's representatives are coming early. They'll be here in a few days, just in time for the Yule Ball. And then after New Years, the rest will be here," the happy Gryffindor exclaimed. "I can't wait. There will be so many international students living at Hogwarts. How nice. And you know what? They don't have Yule celebrations in China so this will be all new for her. I can't wait!"
"How wonderful!" Lily exclaimed.
"Oh, and Lily," Aleia continued, "do you mind being her tour guide during the conference? The Chinese ministry said they chose their best representatives but didn't exactly figure in language proficiency as English is not a course offered to the students. So there might be some communication problems." Lily shrugged. Communication problems were part of the experience in befriending foreigners.
"And Lily," Aleia said after a small pause. "My brother did succeed in asking you to the New Years Ball, right?" Lily prayed to the gods above for strength to not through a temper tantrum. "I take it he did." The Gryffindor noted when she saw Lily's tired expression. "He was that bad, huh?"
"No," Lily grumbled, "it wasn't all because of James. I'm just annoyed that everyone seemed to know he was going to ask before I even had a clue. And then after he does ask, you have people giving out side editorials."
"Well, that's because it took quite a lots of guts for him to even decide to ask you. Then when did get the courage to ask, you were always unapproachable. Your period of hiding sent James into a state of lack of confidence," Aleia explained.
"He didn't have that much trouble asking the other girls," Lily retorted. The situation of James feeling uncomfortable around her was incomprehensible. How could the Prince Charming of Hogwarts be so awkward in front of Lily?
"Are you going to go though?" Aleia asked, not giving up.
Lily shrugged. "I told him I would think about it." The time should be enough for Lily to mull over what her decision would be and for James to take back the invitation if he wanted. From the Hogsmeade trip with the Marauders, Lily could tell James was unhappy about his breakup with Moira. They seemed close and she really didn't want to go to the New Years Ball with James so he could spite Moira. After all, wasn't their argument over Lily in the first place?
~*~*~
Long RambleIt has certainly been awhile since I last updated – an entire month. I hope this chapter will bring you some satisfaction to the wait. There is good news for the story. I now have a beta, Pristine. The later chapters should contain less grammatical mistakes and confusions due to my writing. Although I cannot guarantee perfect-ness in these areas, the doubt would be due to my own actions, not my beta.
Here is the bad news. For those of you who have figured this out, I am in the eleventh grade. Junior year being the most important year for college applications, particularly the second semester, I will be devoting a lot more time to my studies. Since I would have five AP classes this semester and my dance class will be having major concerts then, my writing time would be limited. With the world being strangely "balanced", I have even less time to write for each story since my imagination for storylines has been too active. I've got three new story ideas pounding my head with probably only the weekends to write.
I hope you won't mind the delay too much. I figured no rushing allows for better chapters. At least the author alerts system is now for everybody's use. I guess it's a good thing . . .
Thanks,
Omnifarious
Individual replies
Phredtheflyingmonkey: first reviewer for the chapter. Gosh, I am so sorry about the wait. Hopefully this chapter makes it up!
JerseyGirl03: Definitely not stopping the story. I like it too much. ^^
B-a-B-I: Thank you. What Sirius said to during the auction was actually a weird e-mail written by a bored friend when she was bored during the summer. I had her permission to use it, of course. So I guess Sirius's character was based on that strange e-mail. As for Sirius's reaction for finding out Lily's secret, it will be interesting.
clue less: Well, Mary Sue actually means different things to various writers. I guess the most common sort of description would be an original character who's too perfect. In some cases, the writer attributes her own characteristics in the character and then make the main character fall in love with her. It's rather hard to describe.
Wowsergirl: Glad to see you're so eager. Sorry about the wait.
Pristine: Thank you!!! I hope it doesn't bother you that much that I am posting this without your approval. I figured I should give you more time for chapter 4 and you could go over this during the time I'll be studying for school. As for the one man womanhood, maybe. I am still swaying about that. I don't know, maybe send Lily on a date with some international student or something. Anyhow, thanks for being my beta and for the compliments. They've truly made my day during my downtime and pushed through to the end of the school year.
That goes for all reviewers actually. ^^
Ladyannabee: I like humor. Most of my stories, I try to make the stories funny. Everyone needs to laugh and I might as well help.
LimeJuiceTub: I can see your reasoning, but I just thought Remus would be busy trying to kept Sirius in check or something and Lily was new to the group. It sort of made more sense in that both Lily and Peter was out of the real Marauder circle.
luvhp224: Thank you. And I will try to update soon.
Alia: I guess I sort of stopped at a rather bad place. And this chapter wasn't very funny. I suppose the humor will be made up in the next chapter, which I have begun before school really does steal all my time.
lady-anna-bee: Not sure if this is the same Ladyannabee as before, but thank you nonetheless. And yeah, her growing friendship with the Marauders will be interesting and funny and exhausting at times, like the Hogsmeade "date".
Lololchik: I live in the U.S. if that's what you're wondering. I have family both in here and in China.
Dee Ann: Thank you!
Leggomyeggo: Thanks to you, too! And I like your name. ^^ Eggo, breakfast for me during the summer. Between swim practice and my summer classes. It's a great breakfast on the run.
LiLy*eVaNs*PoTTeR2: I can't wait too. I think the debate will be after two more chapters. So hang tight. It will come, eventually. Actually, do you have any ideas on what they would be debating about? I could use some more ideas. All I have right now is about muggleborns in the wizarding world. I need a bigger list. They'll be debating for three months!
Tyster: Thanks. On the modeling age, actually I would say Lily started modeling since she was four or so, like on catalogues for kiddie clothing. And then the pressure sort of lived on until she left for Hogwarts. And I am not offended. I would love to hear more points readers are unsure about. It helps me makes things clearer. And I guess the delay for Mélange would not be very agreeable for you. Sorry, but I can say it will not be a three months wait. Maybe one month, like now or two weeks. It all really depends on school. I know after March, my time would be limited with all my AP review.
CrystalBallerina: Thank you! Knowing there's a fan of Aleia actually makes me feel easier about the story. I'm not a great fan of introducing new characters with a dominating personality.
Tears of a Fairy Queen: Wow! This must be a quick update for you! ^^
Well, thanks a ton for all the reviews. I love reading them and replying to them. Just about everyone makes me laugh and feel better. Thank you, once again.
~Omnifarious