Flavor of the Week
Summary: Lily Evans has everything that any girl at Hogwarts could ever want. She had great friends, the best grades in her year, an extraordinary beauty that attracted many, including James Potter. Her life was pretty sweet, even she would admit. But life just couldn't get better when Alexander Whitney asks her out. Little does she know, she is just his 'Flavor of the Week'. Can James help open her eyes?
Author's Note: I just wanted to thank the people who reviewed: Hehe, taniita, and TheWitchHekate. Also I just wanted to let you know that I'm going away for a wedding this weekend, and then school starts. So it might be at least a week before the next chapter comes in unless by some miracle, I can finish the next chapter by tomorrow. Read 'n Review.
Disclaimer: You know the deal. I did not create Harry Potter or any of its characters. Now that that's over with...
Chapter Five: Detention
James followed Lily down the stairs. He saw Sirius and Whitney talking, but he couldn't hear a word. The Front Entrance was buzzing with excitement. A blond girl came running towards Sirius and Whitney. The two turned around. James assumed that the girl was Holly, the leggy blond from Ravenclaw. James growled when saw Alexander eyeing her up and down. When Whitney finally tore his eyes away from the curvaceous girl, he kissed Lily, who hadn't noticed anything, on the cheek. James watched as Sirius and his date, followed by Lily and Alexander who, much to his disgust, were walking hand-in-hand, walked out the school.
James didn't have much time to be upset about Lily and Alexander because he had to go to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom for his detention. He went to the Great Hall had a few pieces of toast and some scrambled eggs and then left for detention. When he arrived Professor Live was waiting for him.
"You're late, Mr. Potter," he snapped.
"I'm sorry, sir," James mumbled.
"I should give you a harsher punishment. But lucky for you I'm feeling generous. Let's get down to business. You have two options. You can either read this book…" He dropped a large book onto the table. The tattered book looked to be at least eighteen kilograms (roughly 40 pounds) with well over 1000 pages. "…and write a paper including every hex, curse, charm, or any other spell in the book along with its use, counter curse, and properties."
"Or?" James raised his eyebrow. There was no way he was going to read that whole book. Any other option would be ten times easier.
"Or," Live sneered. "You can dust and then organize my book collection."
The choice was obvious. James responded quickly, "I'll do the books."
"Fine. Follow me." Professor Live walked off; and James followed him to a door in the back of the room. James knew this was too easy. There had to be a trick to it. In James's extensive history of detentions with Professor Live, he had never had to do something as simple as this. He had had to clean after a troll when he and Sirius had turned Live's hair to a violent shade of orange. Then, Live made James copy word-for-word from the Wizard's Encyclopedia until his hand almost fell off when Live found the troll's remains in his desk. But this was just too easy.
"You must wipe down all of the shelves and all of the books. Then you must order the books by year of publication. Any questions?" Live's back was to James as he walked forward to open the curtains.
"Yeah. What if two books have the same year of publication?"
"Then you must arrange those alphabetically by the author's middle name," answered Live a little harshly.
"What if the author doesn't have a middle name?"
Annoyed with James's antics, he snarled, "Then you will put them in order by the author's last name. Okay, Potter?"
"Yes, sir," James said as sweetly as he could. He pulled out his wand, ready to get started.
Professor Live was about to leave, when he eyed James's wand. "Oh, I almost forgot. You are to do this without any magic." He took James's wand from his hand, put it on the nearest table, and cast a spell that caused the wand to be illuminated by a blue light. "And if you even think about taking your wand, you will receive a nasty suprise. When you are finished, you will knock once on my door. I'll be in to check on you."
James groaned at the two, long shelves, which were covered in dust and cobwebs. It seemed that no one had even stepped into this room for the past fifty years. James guessed that there were probably about one hundred to two hundred books in each bookcase. It was quite apparent that he would be in here for a few hours, so he got down to work. The faster he got the books ordered, the faster he could get out of this classroom.
Forty-five minutes later, James finished dusting the whole room. Professor Live had come in twice to check on the progress. However, both times he left with a scowl and unhappy at how efficiently James was working. Although his dormitory did not show it, James was actually very organized. He began pulling the books and systematically placing them in piles on the floor according to the year of publication.
It was tedious work. James allowed his mind to wander. He shook his head and chuckled at Sirius's performance this morning, which reminded him again that he had to schedule another Quidditch practice. The team needed it. The next match was against Hufflepuff. They were good. George Madden, the seeker, was new, but James had heard he was fast and sharp. James was not that worried. After all, he was the best seeker at Hogwarts. The Gryffindor team was the best, but James knew that Hufflepuff would give them a fight. Alexander Whitney, the captain, had been training them hard. Alexander made James think of Lily. He was repulsed by the thought of the two of them snogging in the Madame Puddifoot's or in the corner of the Three Broomsticks. James got upset with the idea of Lily kissing anyone besides him, but the thought of her with Alexander Whitney made him want to vomit. 'Lily deserves better,' James thought. 'Whitney is such a git. Why did Lily have to pick him?' James asked himself this over and over, all while putting the books on the shelves.
Within two and a half hours, James replaced the last book on the floor and sat exhausted against one of the shelves. He had cuts along his arms and a few on his face from the one book, Save Yourself from Deadly Creatures, which had bit and scratched the moment he opened the book to look for the date. Patches of hair and the sleeves of his shirt had been singed from the fire 'breathing' books. Bells were still ringing in his ears from the numerous shrieking books.
It was a long walk, out of the closet, across the classroom, and up the stairs to Professor Live's door. James knocked once just as Professor Live had specifically asked. Live was taking his time answering the door. James was about to knock one more time, when the professor opened it. "Finished then?" James nodded. "Let's have a look, shall we?"
They walked back to the closet in the back. Professor Live scrutinized the room for any piece of dust. He was disappointed with his findings. The room was clean. "It seems you have done an adequate job," he said, picking up the first book on the shelf. "Oh wait. You must start this again."
"Why?" James yelled angrily.
"You have ordered the books from past to present. I wanted it the other way around. The most recent should be here, the others go over there. I want it fixed." He handed James the book and walked out briskly.
James gritted his teeth. Live had never specified. He was doing this to spite James. While James switched the books, his mind wandered back to Lily. For some reason, James had been captivated by her since second year. The Marauders thought he was crazy for liking a girl who hated him with a passion, but they stood by him when he asked her out with no avail.
When James finished an hour later, he went and knocked on Live's door again. Professor Live inspected his work again, finally finding it satisfactory. He handed James his wand and said, "I suppose you are finished here. However, seeing as how it's much too late to go to Hogsmeade now, I suppose you will just have to go back to your dormitory and just wait for everyone's return. If I were you I would spend the time wisely and start on a very important Defense Against the Darks essay that is due in two days."
It was only one-thirty when James returned to the Gryffindor common room. He sat on the couch contemplating what he should do with himself for the rest of the day. 'If I leave for Hogsmeade now, I'll be all alone. But if I stay in the common room, I'll still be alone. So either way, I'll be alone.' James debated with himself. 'What would I do here? Read? Finish that essay? Play chess by myself? I could wander the castle…and then what? If I go to Hogsmeade, I could get some early Christmas shopping done. In October? I still have time. I'm dying to check out the new model broomstick, and I would love some butterbeer. I wonder if Remus is finished with his lesson.'
As if on cue, Remus entered the room, looking a little weary. "Too much Transfiguration in one day." He threw his pile of books onto the table.
James smiled at his friend. "So would you say you're up to some butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks?"
"Yeah, I could definitely go for some. Let me just take these upstairs."
"Great!" James followed Remus to their dormitory. He rummaged through his trunk. "You don't think we need the invisibility cloak now, do we?"
"Nah, we should be okay. Maybe take the map just in case."
James continued to search for his map, but couldn't find it. "I can't find it now. It's alright, I'm sure it's in here. And we don't really need it. Let's go."
The two left the room and went on their way. James told Remus about his detention with Live. "It was awful. So how was your lesson?"
"About as much fun as your detention," Remus replied.
The two boys found their way to the third floor very easily. They didn't even need the map. After having the map for the last two years, all of the Marauders knew their way around the castle like it was the back of their hand. "Remus, would you like the honors?" James stepped aside.
"It would be my pleasure." Remus took out his wand and tapped hump of the humpbacked, one-eyed witch. "Dissendium!" The witch slowly moved away, revealing the familiar, dark passageway. "After you, Prongs."
Here's a question for you guys: Would you have done the books or would you have written the paper?
Or if you don't happen to like that question: Would you have rather gone to detention or gone to a class (like Remus) for four hours?