"Potter!" Lily shrieks.
"Yes, Evans?" James asks in what he apparently thinks in an innocent voice.
"Don't 'yes Evans' me, Potter," she says in a voice laced with malice. "Look at me."
"And you're looking lovely today," quips Sirius, his voice shaking with badly suppressed mirth.
"I'll get to you later, Black." She turns back to James, whom she has cornered in the Common Room. "Change me back."
"But my dear Lilykins, you pull off green hair and silver eyes quite marvelously."
Lily lunges at James, who is quick to move out of the way and set off at a run across the Common Room. Lily follows, hot on his tail.
"Did I ever tell you that I used to play soccer, Potter?"
"Why'd you never try out for the Quidditch team?"
"Because I have better things to do with my time!"
"Padfoot!" James calls. "Think she'll catch me?"
"Prongs," Remus says in an amused voice from a couch by the fire. "I think she intends to kill you."
"That's right, Remus!" Lily jumps in front of her, knocking James down and pinning him to the ground.
"Oh Jamsie dear," she says in a sugar coated voice as she pulls out her wand. "I think white and pink polka dotted hair will look absolutely smashing on you! Oooh! And maybe matching pink eyes and a fluffy tail?"
"The girls'd never go for that, Lils," he says calmly.
Lily grins mischievously and says with a fake giggle, "You're much smarter than I thought, Jamsie!"
"Fine! Get off of me and I'll change you back."
"You'd better hold to that."
She gets off James, holding her wand warningly.
"Chill out, Evans. Here: oratricce."
"Thank you," she says, reaching for a mirror.
James turns around and starts to walk to his dorm; he suddenly sprints as he hears, "JAMES MATTHEW POTTER, YOU ARE A DEAD MAN!"
10/30, Night:
It has been weeks since that first Hogsmeade trip and everything is back to normal. Raya's gotten over James and is even eyeing another guy now; Lawrence McMillan, who's in Hufflepuff. I have to admit, he is kind of cute, with his dirty blonde hair and gray eyes; he also has a kind reputation.
James and I have gone back to our old routine: James pulls a prank and I yell at him. Raya hasn't mentioned him at all since their first date, although she is civil to him. The Arithmancy project that we had to do together went well; James and I got top marks.
What about me, you ask? I honestly don't know. While on one hand, I'm happy that everything's back to normal, on the other, I feel the occasional twinge of regret of what could have been…
"Goldie?"
"Skye?"
"Ice cream?"
"Ice cream?" Lily wrinkles her nose. "What kind of a name is that?"
"I don't know," Raya shrugs. "Your cat is white like vanilla ice cream."
"Raya, get your mind out of the freezer."
Raya rolls her eyes. "Fine, you think of something."
"Um…" Lily flips through her History book. "What about…Circe?"
"That's cool; I like it."
"Circe it is then," Lily says as she pets the white ball of fluff sitting in her lap. "These kittens we bought are so cute! Your turn, Raya."
"Okay," Raya picks up her gray tabby cat. "Hmm…Storm?"
"Too much like X-Men."
"Like what?"
"Sorry, a Muggle show."
"Ah. Um…y'know, I've always liked the name Earnest."
"Earnest? Like Ernie?" Lily giggles.
"Hey, it's a good name! If I have a boy when I'm older, I'm seriously going to name him that!"
"To each their own," Lily shrugs. "What about Rain?"
"Sure. Yeah, that's cool. Actually, do you know what name I think you'd like?"
"What?"
"Something like James? Or Matthew? Potter? What about even James Matthew Potter?"
"What?" Lily asks, unable to restrain a blush.
"I don't know, just a thought," says Raya innocently. "Wait!" she says with mock surprise. "You don't like him, do you?" she grins at the blush slowly taking over Lily's face. "You do, don't you?"
"Raya, I-" Lily starts to mumble.
"YES!" Raya shrieks, jumping up suddenly. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU LOVED JAMES!"
"R-Raya?" Lily asks uncertainly. "What are you-?"
"Lily, don't you get it? I never liked James like that; at least, not this year. I was trying to set you two up."
"You what?"
"And it worked! I knew all along that you two would make the PERFECT couple! Only you were too stupid to see!"
"Wait," Lily says. "Wait."
Raya never liked James? The date? It was a fake? All of it?
A flash of anger surges through Lily. "YOU KNEW? IT WAS A FAKE? DID JAMES KNOW? I'M GOING TO-"
"No, Lily," Raya says, looking slightly alarmed. "He was clueless. Only I knew. It was all to get you two together!"
Lily shakes her head. "I don't know whether I ought to kill you or hug you."
Raya grins. "You can thank me later! Go see the guy! You two were meant to be."
"You really think so?" Lily asks uncertainly.
"Lily! I performed what was probably the best acting of my entire career, and you're still asking? GO!"
Merlin, she's insane! I shouldn't be taking advice from a crazy person! She's crazy! But she's right! She-!
"Remind me to kill you later," Lily says as she strides out of the room.
"What are friends for?" Raya calls after her.