5 - A bet and a boyfriend.
I used a delightful little online thingy for galleon conversions. I can't vouch for its accuracy, and I didn't make it and don't own it or anything.
News spread around Hogwarts like dragon pox among the elderly, and it was fortunate that Lily was able to collect herself and remain strong now her shy, self-conscious feelings had been stripped away with her disguise, for it was her that was being talked about. Admittedly, most of the talk was good, but there were some grains of resentment and negativity clustered among conversations. Lily had never been enormously popular. She had a large group of female friends that extended beyond her best friends in Gryffindor, and a few male acquaintances that could be called friends at a pinch. Now, however, boys were running to meet her, and among James Potter's fan club, a bitter murmur of 'She's pretty' was spreading.
The reaction of James Potter himself was as much as could be expected. As she walked into the Great hall alone the morning after the make-over, his mouth dropped open and he stared at her for several seconds, until Sirius jerked him from his reverie with-
"Dude. She's hot."
"Yeah," sighed James in response. "She just gets more beautiful every day." At this Sirius blinked, looked at the girl again and yelped (A/N The dog) in shock.
"That's Evans? But I thought she was an ugly bookworm! Now I totally see what you totally saw in her, mate." And as James bristled with realisation, Sirius sauntered over to Lily as she was seating herself next to Marlene.
"Ssssssssssoooooooooooooo. Evans. Nice day for it. You're pretty hot. Fancy a date with yours truly?" he shot her his trademark grin, and the girls of the Sirius Black fan club simultaneously swooned and began composing hate mail to Lily in their minds.
"No. I do not want a date with you, Black." Lily said bluntly, and she reached over to the butter pat, instantly ignoring his existence entirely.
"Okey dokey. Seems fair, since James would probably kill me anyhow. Sssssssssssssssssooooooooooooo. Mckinnon. How about it? You, me and a cosy little table in Madam Puddifoot's?"
"You and that awful tearooms?" Marlene snorted and flicked her shining locks in disgust. "I would much rather drink bubotuber pus in the shrieking shack with a manticore."
"...So that's a no then?"
"Obviously it's a no! Did you really think I would accept you, especially after you had just asked my best friend out seconds before?"
"Well, I am like all fit and stuff. All girls want fit guys."
"Yeah, and girls with standards want guys with some form of intelligence too." Lily ignored the bickering that began between the pair. They were completely meant for each other - any idiot could see that. Marlene was flirty and stunning, which was exactly what Sirius wanted, and although he was a complete moron with all the charms of dog poo, he was also suave, sophisticated and aced every one of his classes without doing any work, a perfectly logical set of character traits. The acerbic arguments were sure to give way to snogging and romance any day now. It was a wonder, really, how they couldn't see what was so obvious to all others, how utterly in denial they were. Who could possibly detail characters like theirs? Who would notice the stunning parallels being drawn between this pairing and the hero and heroine of our tale?
The day passed differently to what Lily was used to, mainly due to the increasing numbers of fellow students that Lily had never before spoken to who now came and chatted to her when possible in lessons. She was almost constantly surrounded by a small group of curious yet friendly teenagers, whose interest in the head girl had been piqued now she was subject to gossip. James could only watch wistfully from afar, sighing as he saw her talking, laughing, smiling, and he wondered if there was any hope that she would ever treat him with remotely similar cordiality. Unlike James, Lily was surprised by how much she enjoyed the new social freedom, now she wasn't hiding behind her mask of ugliness. She was free! Free to flirt with any guy she wanted to, and now they had initiative to flirt back, despite the risk of James Potter defenestrating them from an upper floor of the castle. Oh the joy! She had even been asked to join several scintillating study groups.
One of these groups was lead by none other than Amos Diggory, the fourth sexiest bloke in the castle, after Potter, Black and Lupin, clearly. His sexiness was only increased by the fact that he was the captain of the Hufflepuff quidditch team and reasonably intelligent. His popularity wasn't quite as good as it could have been because he didn't have the Mysterious Allure of Remus, the Witty Charm of Sirius, or the Noble Integrity and Leadership of James. He also just wasn't one of the Marauders. He had a consistent reputation from a large collection of reliable female victims that he was prone to breaking hearts and generally being a cad. Lily, being the intelligent young lady that she was, ignored these accusations.
"Hey Lily." Amos Diggory said smoothly, as he came alongside her in the charms corridor.
"Hey Amos." Lily responded with equal smoothness, looking at him from under her lowered lashes. Amos was very attracted to this half-closed eye thing she was doing, so he ploughed on.
"Hey, you know you've joined our study group and all? Well, seeing as we know each other now, I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to Hogsmeade on the first legitimate Hogsmeade weekend. See, I have to be honest with you, Lily. I find you very attractive."
"I value honesty, Amos. Okay, it's a date then."
"Sure. Cool. See you around, Lily!" And with a wave and a debonair grin, he had set off in the other direction towards his next class. Lily patted her hair with an air of satisfaction.
"Oi, Evans!" A bellow sounded from behind Lily. She rolled her eyes and turned to face James Potter, who was jogging towards her, robes flapping. "Was that Diggory?" He asked sharply.
"Yes, that was Amos. Do you know him? Lovely boy. Captain of the Hufflepuff quidditch team. Also a prefect, so you and your miscreant chums have probably worked with him on several occasions. It was a dreadful shame he wasn't made head boy. He was so right for the role." James ignored the stabbing chest pain her words caused him.
"Diggory will break your heart. Don't do it Lily - don't go out with him. He's a bounder and a rake, and he isn't your soul mate."
"I fail to see how this is remotely close to being your business. He likes me, and I can do what I want. Goodbye Mr Potter, I have Charms to attend." She turned her nose up, and swept towards the classroom, a despairing James following.
The rest of the school quickly found out about Lily and Amos, which was especially good for Lily's well-being, since it ensured that the paranoid girls of the James Potter or Sirius Black fan clubs were no longer plotting her demise. Amos was obviously not cool enough to have a fan club, but cool enough for Lily and he to be the new 'it' couple. Tragically for Lily, she did not have any classes with her new boyfriend, and instead had to endure Potter staring meaningfully at her throughout all of them. Even more tragically for Lily, Amos didn't take transfiguration, so when Professor McGonagall handed out a new project there was no chance that she would be paired with him.
"Now today, class, we are going to start a new project. I must warn you that if you don't take this seriously, I will have to hand out punishments. It is extremely important for your NEWTs, in fact, your results hinge entirely on this project, which is why I will be expecting you to give it your all. Am I understood?" Her gaze swept the class, staying on James for a moment longer because he was detailing a fascinating drawing of a girl with red-inked hair within a heart. He looked up at her, and she sniffed disapprovingly before continuing.
"The project, while taking up a lot of your time, I'm sure will be rewarding academically. You will each be paired up with a partner of the opposite sex - you will not be told who - and you will write to each other at least on a weekly basis. This correspondence will continue until the end of November, unless of course you wish to continue it. Nobody would stop you. I have a list of the pairings, which will not be kept in my office and will be under magical protection. I know some of you would wish to know who your partner is, but that is against the rules. Write only under false names, and do not give away your identity. Any questions?"
"I have a question." Remus said as soon as his hand was raised. She nodded for him to talk. "What educational benefits are there? I don't see how this is connected with transfiguration."
"I do not think an explanation should be necessary, Mr Lupin," she replied sharply. Clearly she was right - whenever mysterious correspondence projects crop up at Hogwarts they are rarely explained. Some believe it is to further the chances of the Hogwarts professors in the betting pool they have. Clearly the Hogwarts professors place bets on which Hogwarts pupils are destined for romance. What better uses could they possibly have for their time? Lily, Dorcas and Marlene left the classroom wondering which mysterious partners they could be paired up with, as James Sirius and Remus discussed the same thing, making their way to the seventh year Gryffindor boys' dorm.
"Well, I can always hope, can't I?" James announced hopefully, sitting himself on the edge of Sirius' bed in lieu of his own, sadly no longer there.
"Evans?" Sirius snorted. "Not likely, mate. Just look at how many times the chick has rejected you. Chances aren't high. Besides, she's going out with old whotsisface. You know, the quidditch one."
"Diggory." James snarled. "He doesn't deserve her."
"Calm down mate. He'll dump her, her heart will break and you can be the one to mop up her tears. The shoulder for her to cry on. Girls like that stuff." Sirius told him dismissively.
"Yeah...I'll be the knight that comes to the rescue and stuff. But I can't believe it!" James cried, "It's awful. He'll break her heart. She could do better." He ran his hands through his hair and sat down on his bed dejectedly.
"Better like you? Yeah right." Sirius barked out with a laugh.
"Yeah, right." James told him angrily. "If she saw the real me she wouldn't be like this. She'd be happy to go out with me. And then we would get married and have lots of babies and everything would be wonderful..." he trailed off, eyes misting.
"Bet that won't happen." Sirius told him promptly. "Bet you fifty galleons."
"Sure." James said boldly. After all, fifty galleons is appropriate for a bet between young friends. It's only worth around five hundred US dollars, or two hundred and fifty pounds sterling. They gripped hands and shook fiercely.
"The time limit is until the end of the year. Yeah?"
"Yeah," Sirius agreed, grinning gleefully. "You'll never manage this."
"Evans will be mine by then. You'll see." James told him. He hoped it was true, or his chance with Lily would be lost. Forever...