Standing There By You
Ch. 10- Life's Little Rewards
Disclaimer: Let it be known... I hearby declare that by legal binding matters, any recognizable material belongs to the infamous J.K.Rowling.
a.k.a- it's not mine.
Several days later, Lily joined her friends in the Common Room, studying a letter
she had just received by owl. "Have you guys ever heard of Suoixonbo?" Lily asked, absently choosing a seat across from Julie.
Julie and Grace shook their heads no, just as James rushed over and grabbed the
letter. "No way!" James shouted, examining the parchment. "Where did you get this?"
"It was sent to me this morning. Why?"
"No," said James in a hushed voice, "you- you're getting this award?!"
"Its an award?" Lily asked, suddenly very interested.
"Yeah, it's only like, the greatest honor ever." He looked it over again, muttering
quietly to himself. "It can't be. She couldn't have gotten it..."
Lily snatched the paper back and smiled smugly. "Well, I did Potter. Jealous, are
you?"
"No," James huffed indignantly.
Lily rolled her eyes, tucking the letter into her bag. She sat down, turning her
attention away from James, with a very content look upon her face.
Lily looked over her letter once more that night at dinner. "It says I'll receive it at
7:00p.m. in the Great Hall," she said, checking her watch. "I've got five minutes, I think I'll ask Dumbledore about it."
She started to get up, but James stopped her. "No! Look, you're just supposed to go right in the center of the Hall, over there. You have to be precisely on time, c'mon, you don't want to miss it."
Lily narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "How do you know so much about this, and
why do you care?"
"My father has told me all about it," James sighed, "he received it when he was
my age, as did my grandfather, so on, and so on. And... if I can't get it, I'm at least glad a fellow Gryffindor could."
Lily was shocked that he could say something so very un-selfish. "Oh. Okay
then." Checking her watch once more, she finally stood up, smoothing down her skirt.
"Well, I'm off."
She walked over to the place James had specified, nervousness and anxiety taking over. At the exact moment she reached the center, the Great Hall dimmed and a magically modified voice filled the air.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Professors and pupils, vertebrates and invertebrates," the
loud voice boomed throughout the Hall, "Please focus your attention on a very deserving young lady." The voice cleared it's throat, and a drumroll sounded. "We will now present Lily Evans with..." excitement flooded through the expectant girl as all eyes turned towards her, "The Most Obnoxious Person Award! A large banner appeared above her, with the word 'OBNOXIOUS' and a large arrow pointing directly at Lily on it. The Great Hall erupted into bouts of laughter, mixed in with random sympathetic awws. After several moments the 'OBNOXIOUS' flickered away, and was replaced by the phrase, DON'T MESS WITH THE MARAUDERS."
Lily stood there, stunned. Realization hit hard, as a wave of mortifying
humiliation washed over her; her jaw dropped open and her eyes glazed over with tears. Blinking quickly, she came to her senses and ran as fast as her feet would carry her, all the way out of the Great Hall.
Grace and Julie stared at one another open-mouthed, before stomping over to
where the guilty boys sat. James and Sirius were laughing hardest of anybody, while
Remus just smiled weakly and Peter clapped his hands in excitement.
"You're so mean!" Grace scolded James.
James' laughter died down, and he wiped his eyes. "She had it coming."
Sirius was still in hysterics. "Stop laughing," Julie demanded. He laughed on,
ignoring her.
"You're- oh, I just can't believe-" James raised an eyebrow at the infuriated
Grace.
Sirius was still hooting away, not bothering to lessen his laughter at all.
"I said, stop laughing!" Julie gave him a swift kick in the shin before she and
Grace hurried to the Common Room to console their friend.
"Lily?" Grace asked softly, once they had reached the dormitory. There was no
response, so she and Julie cautiously pulled open the door. Stepping in, they found Lily lying face down on her bed.
The two girls looked at each other wearily before walking over to their deranged
friend. There were a couple moments of silence, while Grace and Julie each took a seat on either side of Lily.
"I'm so stupid," said Lily quietly, her face still smashed into her pillows.
Grace shook her head. "You're not," she said firmly. "Those boys are gits, they're
the stupid ones.
Lily twisted around to look at her friend, revealing a pale and tear streaked face.
"But I believed them. I actually thought I was getting the..." Lily's eyes widened, and she let out an audible groan. "Ugh... Suoixonbo! It's obnoxious backwards, oh that's soo obvious. I should've known..."
"How could you have known?" Julie reasoned, "We didn't figure it out, either. Don't worry Lily, I'm sure this will all blow over in no time."
Lily nodded her head disbelievingly. "Yeah, I guess. I'm really tired, I think I'm
just going to go to sleep now, alright?"
Grace and Julie obliged, pulling back Lily's bed hangings and stepping out of the
room, closing the door softly behind them. Once back in the empty Common Room, the
two began to ramble furiously.
"Those idiots!" Grace exclaimed.
Julie nodded in agreement. She looked back at their dormitory, anger rising inside
of her. "And the awful thing is, they're just going to get away with it."
"No, they won't," said Grace suddenly.
"Yes they will," Julie argued, "McGonagall won't be able to trace it back to
them, and Dumbledore-"
"Yes, well the administration won't do anything," Grace conceded, "but we will."
Julie looked up at her friend, and nodded slowly. "Okay... I'm in. Give them a
taste of their own medicine, eh?"
"Yeah," said Grace, "but, I don't think we should bother Lily with it right now."
"You're right," said Julie, "She seemed really upset."
Grace shook her head. "Stupid prats. 'She asked for it,' Ha! Yeah, well, they're
asking for it now, messing with my friend, why I oughta..."
"Right," Julie nodded, standing up. "So its all set." Her face was determined, and
ready for revenge.
"Not really," said Grace. "We still need a plan."
"Oh, right…" Julie sat down again. "Any ideas?"
A/N: Usual thank you's.... reviews are sooo much appreciated guys, and it takes so little time to press that little button to the left... pleeease review : )
Secret Lily- hey there, thanks sooo much for reviewing, you keep my inspiration up high.. : ) thanks again
Suji- Thanks! I'm glad you like the character developement... i try! Thanks thanks thanks (repeat a trillion times) for the review, so much appreciated.
Lanette- Hey, ahh you don't have to apologize for not reviewing last chapter! (although it makes me feel reeeally good) but I'm glad you liked it : ) yeah, i think they should have stuck with the flamingos too, but what can I say...
oh yeah, and thanks billions and billions for your review!
RavenSiriusBlack- Sorry, didn't get a chance to check out the quiz, but i will (hopefully) sometime soon.. oh yeah, and i mite get a livejournal, but i'm not quite sure what i would say, i'm sort of a boring person ; ) thanks for the review(s)!
Aerandir- Gang? hehe. I'm glad you likey, hope this was updated soon enough ; )
Dulcis Caelum- Yay, progressively better, yay. : ) major grins!