Much Ado About Something

Previously:

James just slammed the compartment door closed and flopped down onto a seat, which happened to be right across from Lily.

Lily glared at him, then glanced about the compartment, taking in her two best friends sitting with Marauders. "Well, this is going to be fun!" she cried, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Chapter 2: A Sort of Merry War

BOOM!

Lily shrieked, jumping a foot off her seat, then turned her eyes to where Peter had just lost his fourth game of Exploding Snap in the last hour versus the rest of the Marauders and Lizzie. They all laughed at Lily's reaction, James the hardest.

"Aw," he mockingly cooed. "Did the wickle explosion scare the big bad Head Girl?"

"Stuff it, Potter," she snapped. "I was surprised, is all. I was trying to read, here!" To emphasize her point, she waved in the air her copy of Shakespeare's Richard III.

He just laughed. "Richard the Third? What, Evans, trying to make yourself feel better about your own appearance by reading about a deformed king? Now, that's just sad."

"Richard happens to be a very human character who had to struggle through physical disfigurement his whole life," she said huffily. "God, Potter, like you would understand what it's like to have any sort of hardship."

"You have no idea what I've been through," the boy said, his eyes darkening.

Lily, though she'd never admit it, was scared and a little intrigued by the look in his eye. Maybe he really had been through something. She shook that thought off quickly.

"What," she mocked. "Did your daddy not give you the best broom out there? Or no, was it that your personal house-elf was never fast enough to bring you breakfast? Ohh, I've got it! Your pumpkin juice wasn't cold enough at the end-of-the-year feast! I'm really sorry about that, your life is just so hard."

"Shut up, Evans," James growled. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Sirius noticed James's anger boiling and wisely decided to step in.

"So anyway, Lily," he interrupted. "When do you think the lovely Ananda Rose will consider going to Hogsmeade with me?"

Nandi snorted. "Yeah, sure, like that will happen. Likely."

Now it was Sirius's turn to get huffy. "But, I'm the best looking bloke at Hogwarts!" James cleared his throat obviously. "Hate to be the one to break it to you, James, but I've totally got the upper hand."

Lily laughed at this. "And that's a fact." She stated.

James shot her a glare before changing the subject. "Are we still playing, or not?" He asked, referring to the forgotten game of Exploding Snap.

Lizzie, Remus, and Sirius agreed and started the game up again with James, while Peter decided to not risk singing his eyebrows for the fifth time that day, opting for a chat with Lily and Nandi.

Sirius, having noticed some spark between Lizzie and Remus, decided to help the matter along.

"So, Elizabeth," he teased her good-naturedly. "Any boyfriends back home?"

Lizzie blushed, oblivious to the color that also crept up Remus's neck at the question. Sirius gave a wink to his friend before looking back to Lizzie, genuinely interested. James just looked at his two friends, confused as to the origin of the question.

"There was this guy," she began. Remus looked downcast, Sirius slightly disappointed, James somewhat less befuddled than before by his friends' reactions.

"But she ruined it!" Nandi interjected. "She never called him back, and now that's over!"

The three boys all visibly brightened, which Lizzie noticed. "Why do you all look so happy all of a sudden? These two," she indicated Lily and Nandi, "hounded me for hours about it!"

"Er, uh...oh, I'm not–" Remus stuttered, blushing furiously.

"Happy? Us? This is my sympathetic face." Sirius said, grinning from ear to ear. Lily gave him a look that clearly stated, 'nice try, idiot.'

James, the best actor of the three, put on an annoyed face. "Elizabeth Fox! What have I told you about boys?"

"Umm...nothing?" She was thoroughly confused now.

"Exactly!"

There was a few moments of silence. Then, Lizzie decided to ask,

"What?"

"If you don't understand now, my dear Lizzie, you never will."

"Potter. What. Are. You. Talking. About?" Lily was very lost now.

Sirius, James, and Peter just burst out laughing, with Remus nervously chuckling along with them, trying and failing to sneak subtle glances at Lizzie.

Sirius leaned over to James, grinning. "Excellent diversion, my friend, excellent."

James just lifted his arms in a 'yes, I am great' pose, meriting an eye-roll and scoff from Lily and a high-five from Peter.

Lily looked at her watch and jumped. "Oh! We're almost there! Come on now, gentlemen...and Potter, get out! We have to change!"

"Oh, Evans, you cut me deep." James said, getting up with Remus and Peter to leave. Sirius, however, didn't move, but just stared at Nandi, who was reaching up to her trunk to get her robes. "Padfoot..." James started, knowing what his friend was thinking.

"Nah, you guys go ahead, I'm good." Sirius said, practically salivating at just the thought of Nandi changing her clothes.

"Oh, gross! Get out!" She, apparently, had noticed.

James grabbed Sirius by the back of his shirt, dragging him out into the corridor. "Yeah, 'cause that's the way to get a girl to go out with you..."

Lily and Lizzie just laughed, and Nandi huffed, before the three quickly changed and let the boys back in to do the same.

When they arrived at Hogsmeade station, the seven of them got off the train, waved at Hagrid, then prepared to split up. This plan of three of the seven was ruined by Lizzie and Remus, who climbed into a "horseless" carriage together, forcing the rest of them to follow.

Lily and James somehow got stuck squeezed in next to each other, both of them giving exasperated looks to their friends, who simply smirked in response.

"Potter, you're elbowing me in the shoulder."

"Well, maybe if you were skinnier, the rest of us would have some room."

The carriage fell silent while Lily's face heated up. James, ever so tactful, looked around at everyone else and stupidly asked, "what?"

Lily took a deep breath, ready to unleash her fury on one James Potter, when, surprisingly, Peter cut her off.

"Prongs, are you serious?" He couldn't believe his friend would be so stupid. "You never say that to a girl. Ne-ver."

"Duh, James," Nandi added. "It's, like, in the Rule Book."

"What rule book?" James asked.

"You know, the Rule Book!" Sirius supplied unconvincingly, still attempting to get on Nandi's good side. "It tells you what you can and cannot say to a girl." James glared at Sirius, seeing right through his lie. "Well, okay, there's no actual Rule Book, but it's pretty much universally known! You don't talk about a girl's weight. Especially when the girl is perfect how she is. Like Lily."

"Aw, Sirius, that's so sweet," Lily grinned, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye.

"You know me, always the charmer," he replied, winking at Nandi. She scoffed.

"Sure you are Black, that's why no one in this carriage would ever date you."

"Are you sure about that, Miss Rose?" He slung his arm around Lizzie, who was sitting next to him. Lizzie laughed and rolled her eyes, but played along.

"Oh, Sirius," she fake gushed. "You are so handsome and smart and charming, please take me to Hogsmeade!" She batted her eyelashes exaggeratedly at him.

"Why, Miss Fox, it'd be my pleasure." His voice was much deeper than usual, and Lizzie couldn't hold the act any longer at the sound of it, cracking up and gently removing Sirius's arm, shyly glancing at Remus in the process.

Nandi just granted him a "whatever, Black,"and was saved the need for further contribution by the carriage coming to a halt.

"Ugh, finally!" Lily and James both shot up at the same time, giving each other dark looks as they also said the same thing. Lily was the first out, shaking her arms and legs out, as if James's touch was infecting her and she needed to rid herself of it. James jumped out after her, rolling his eyes at her actions.

The group entered the Great Hall, and this time, they didn't even bother to attempt to split up, as they knew that plan would, once again, fail because of Lizzie and Remus's newfound...er...friendship.

Moments after the seven of them sat down, the doors to the Hall opened, revealing the Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor house, Professor McGonagall leading the new crop of first year students. The kids, as usual, looked terrified, eyes wide as they absorbed their surroundings.

Lily tried to smile kindly at the first-years, but they all were too nervous to even look at her. Most of them had no idea what to expect at Hogwarts, but none of them could expect what would happen next.

"Eeeeeee!"

The squeal had come from the Slytherin table, where a skinny boy with pale skin and long, dark, greasy hair stood up, clutching his face. He brought his hands down to speak, revealing three huge, neon green boils all over his forehead. Three of the house tables burst into laughter, save Slytherin. The first-years didn't know what to think. Was this a normal occurrence?

"Potter!" The boy growled. "Black!"

"You called?" James turned in his seat toward the Slytherin table, his eyes wide with innocence.

"Oi, Snivellus," Sirius began. "I think you've got something on your face." The hall erupted again. McGonagall, however, had seen enough.

"Potter! Black!" she harped. "Did you hex Mr. Snape?"

"Us? Minnie, it hurts that you would ever accuse us of even thinking of doing something like that!" Sirius said with an insufferably straight face. McGonagall just glared. "Alright, it was me. Just me, though. James seriously had nothing to do with it."

McGonagall looked at him hard, attempting to discern whether he was telling the truth. She glanced at James, who looked surprisingly honest. "Alright then, Mr. Black, as much as I hate to do it before the Sorting has even begun, ten points from Gryffindor and detention tomorrow night, 8 o'clock. Don't be late."

"I never am, Minnie," Sirius grinned, taking a roll of parchment from his pocket. "Alright, number eight hundred and twenty-six. Oh snap, Prongs, looks to me like I've pulled ahead."

"Shut up!" James protested. "You have not!"

"Are you kidding me?" Lily cut in. "You're honestly happy that you have so many detentions? That's simply ridiculous."

"Well, Evans," James replied. "It's simply ridiculous that you would even imagine that I care what you think."

"Whatever, Potter," Lily rolled her eyes, exasperated, and turned back to Nandi.

When the Sorting finally finished, Remus and Lizzie got up to lead the first years up to Gryffindor tower, and James and Lily, glaring at each other, walked up to the teachers' table, where Dumbledore was waiting for them.

"Ah yes, Mister Potter and Miss Evans," his eyes twinkled. "Congratulations on your appointments and also on surviving each other during the train ride. Follow me, I will show you to your new rooms."

"Excuse me, sir," Lily began. "Do you mean to say that I will be sharing quarters with Potter? All year?"

"That is in fact what I mean to say," Dumbledore smiled, heading out of the Great Hall with the two Heads in tow. "I'm hoping the two of you can settle, or at least set aside your differences in order to make this year a successful one? Much appreciated." He winked at the two of them.

James and Lily followed their Headmaster on what seemed like the route toward Gryffindor tower, but just as they arrived at the corridor with the Fat Lady's painting, Dumbledore lifted a tapestry to a smaller, dimmer, picture-less corridor. He stopped about ten feet away from the entrance, where the stones varied from the normal straight lined stagger they usually are to a circle.

Dumbledore indicated for James to step forward. "Now, this door will be set to your wands. Just draw the wand in the circle of stones counterclockwise, then clockwise, and the door will open. Go ahead, Mister Potter."

James did as he was told, and the circle enlarged to make a sort of arch big enough for the two of them to fit through.

"Now," Dumbledore continued. "Only yours, mine, and Professor McGonagall's wands will allow access, so no one else," with this he paused, glancing at James with a twinkle of his eye, "can enter without your help. Enjoy!" He walked off.

"Well?" Lily's polite demeanor toward the Headmaster fell fast, her impatience with James growing. "Are you going to go in, or not?"

James rolled his eyes and sauntered through the door ahead of Lily. "I would say 'ladies first,'" he called back over his shoulder. "But I don't see any ladies."

"Oh, please," Lily was exhausted by now. "Could you just grow up?"

"Never, my dear," James smirked. "Never."

The two of them walked through the shared common room and split up without a goodnight, both grumbling under their breath as they entered their new rooms.