4 - The Miraculous Transformation
A/N I would just like to ask, before I start, is the whole 'high-school' thing true? Can any Americans out there please tell me, do you really have all these cliques and factions, or is this a myth perpetuated by films and fanfiction? Please tell me, I'm really curious. It doesn't work quite like that in English secondary school, and certainly not in college and university. And what is the difference between a prep and a popular?
I would also like to say firstly that buns don't make people look unattractive, but I thought the idea that they did was suitably ridiculous for the genre. Also, this story is totally in canon, because as my friend said, AU is an astronomical unit. Go hang yourselves by a parsec if you think you can make Lily a vampire and get away with it. Vampire Lily is not in canon, and I am also speaking metaphorically because you cannot hang yourself by a parsec. I am not suggesting you hang yourselves. Please don't. That is all.
The first week started well, albeit with monotony as the regular school schedule began to set in. There was at least a sense of purpose that always coupled with the first few weeks, lasting until a large proportion of students lost the initial buzz as they realised the rest of the school year would be the same. There were the odd pupils, such as Lily Evans, who truly enjoyed school and took great interest in both the vast amounts of knowledge it offered her curious mind, and the social opportunities with her friends that it presented (what a well-rounded person). Such a social opportunity was given her on the first Thursday evening of the school term, when she and her friends took a large quantity of sugary food from the kitchens and spent a long time gossiping in their dormitory.
"I can't believe I have all my lessons with Potter," Lily said bitterly, biting sharply into a cherry bakewell. (A/N Lovely things!)
"You're obviously just so similar." Mary McDonald stated lazily, examining her eclair closely. "You chose the same subjects and everything, you're meant to be. It's fate. Bringing you closer together."
"Shut up, Mary." Lily scowled and threw a pillow at her. The other girls squealed with laughter, it was just that funny. (A/N What is it with fictional girls and pillows? It's like hearing a boy theorising what happens at a girly sleep-over, or slumber party.)
Mary was a very close friend, also a seventh year Gryffindor, and she delighted in being annoying. She had dark blonde hair and was pretty, but not as pretty as Lily. Of course. Nobody was as pretty as Lily.
"And he's head boy. You're going to have to spend loads of time with him," Dorcas pointed out.
"Oooh, yay, lucky me." Came Lily's moody reply. "I think the worst bit is having to share the head dorms with him. It would be fine if I still had a bed here."
"Well, our thoughts go out to you, dear. Alone with Potter. Tucked away in a cosy common room of your own for hours on end. Nothing to do but-"
"Shout at each other?" Lily suggested quickly, turning to face Marlene who had spoken.
"Well, I was going to say snog actually." Marlene replied with a grin. Mary squealed with laughter.
"Marlene, my sweetling, my dear demented friend, I feel I must once again explain to you that I am as likely to snog Potter as Peter Pettigrew is likely to find someone other than Remus, Black and Potter to hero worship. Which means I am not going to be spending my time in the head dorms happily snogging his face off. I will be miserably hating his innards."
"Well, you know, you could always share my bed." Mary suggested, giving her a saucy wink. At Lily's predicted look of horror, she and Marlene burst out into squeals of laughter.
"It won't be so bad, Lils." Alice told her firmly. "He's matured loads this year. Frank says he's really different too. Didn't you realise that's why Dumbledore chose him as head boy? Now he's more sensible, and all the other students admire him anyway, so he's the perfect figurehead. We need someone like him, what with war brewing." All the girls chose not to respond to the last ominous comment about war. None of them liked to think of the imminent battle that Alice's parents said would happen. Alice was a pureblood, so her parents were well aware of the tension in the magical world that had grown up from century-old feuds. Marlene was a half-blood and so her parents talked of it less, and both of Dorcas' parents were muggleborn, and didn't like to talk about those things anyway. None of Lily's family was magical, so she knew very little of the growing tensions. All she knew was there was some sort of movement following a Lord something that was against muggleborns like her. She had been called a mudblood by someone she had previously called a friend, and knew such things were far below her notice.
"Anyone want to finish off the treacle tart? I'm stuffed." Mary said, cutting across the girls' silence.
"Yes please!" Lily squealed. "Thanks. I love this stuff." There was another pause, filled with the sound of munching. (A/N Because Harry's love of treacle tart MUST be hereditary.)
"Girlies, this has suddenly turned into a rubbish girls' night in. Where is all the fun bitching and gossiping?" asked Marlene, flapping her hands as she did.
"Oh Marlene. Marlene Marlene Marlene. You simply cannot live without your bitching and gossiping." Mary stated with a sigh of woe. "I do have one thing we must discuss though. One Miss Mckinnon's strong feelings for one Sirius Black." There was an immediate outburst of laughter, agreement, squeals, and from Marlene strong protestations.
"I do not fancy him. You sicken me, Mary. To suggest that I would fall for an idiot like him. Maybe we should discuss Mary's awful last boyfriend... Stop laughing!! Okay, let's do something fun. Let's give Lily a makeover." There was another silence, and they all suddenly turned to look at Lily.
"Wheeerrrr?" Lily asked, mouth filled with treacle tart.
"It's makeover time, Lils!! MAKEOVER!!"
"You know, we actually should. Maybe she's actually pretty with her hair taken out of that bun." Mary said thoughtfully, before receiving another pillow to the face. Lily spent five minutes exclaiming feebly that she didn't want a make-over, before she acceded that she really did sort of want one. Several noisy minutes were spent arguing over hair and eye make-up particularly, but in the end Dorcas did her hair and Marlene concentrated on her face. Alice and Mary were all too happy to sit and watch, with Mary making rude comments that Lily could do nothing about.
"Can I hex her now?" Lily pleaded of Marlene. "She just doesn't shut up." Mary responded with a cackle.
"Yeah all right." Marlene told her. "Voila! Ladies, we're finished." Before Lily could dash for her wand, she was distracted by a chorus of 'ohhh' from all present
"What?" Lily asked, turning to face her friends. They stared at her. She rotated slowly to look in the conveniently placed mirror, and gasped. There stood a resplendent vision of beauty, an ethereal redhead, and it was Lily. She approached the mirror slowly, gaping like a very unfortunate air-contained fish, and gazing intently at the reflection. None could possibly exceed the beauty of her smokey eyes with their startling green irises, the full and delicate pink lips, the faint blush that lit her cheeks. And her hair, it cascaded down over her shoulders in a thick, shining curtain of dark red, pinned back with a twinkly green diamante loaded barrette that only accentuated the dark sparkling green in her eyes. She turned slowly to meet the looks of her friends.
"Oh my! You are a goddess!" Dorcas squealed with significant admiration.
"Why did you never tell us you are beautiful?" Mary asked, stunned into seriousness by the miraculous transformation.
"Well, Lily began, looking doe-eyed, girlish and innocent as she did so. "I didn't know I was anything more than a little bit pretty, but I wanted people to love me for who I am, not how I look." It did not occur to any of them that James Potter had always loved Lily with her tightly bunned hair. Snape did too of course, but he's totally irrelevant and unwashed at this point. Thus Lily skipped back to her dormitory in the dark, full of newfound confidence.