Summary–Lily tries to enter the supposed club the girls in her year have suddenly created. But they want some proof of her worthiness before they let her in. In an not-so-well-thought through plot, the truth is...they're just trying to get Lily to give James a chance. friendship/romance

Disclaimer–I do not own Harry Potter, which belongs to its respective owner(s) and is only being used in a fan-made, fictional story.

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Shock and Awe – "quick paralyzing assault"

Chapter 2

By–Moon Prynces

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"Hey Peter," Lily said brightly, stopping by the Marauders as she walked through the Great Hall. The four of them looked up in confusion.

"Hi Lily..." the small boy said slowly, glancing around at his friends.

James' downtrodden look only lasted a second. "Hey Lily!" he also chimed in enthusiastically.

"Hi James." She spared him a glance and a warm smile – something unexpected.

And with that strange event in mind, the boys watched as Lily walked away from the group and sat down with a small blonde girl.

"What just happened?" Sirius questioned.

"Lily just said hi to me!" James said excitedly. "And with her beautiful smile, as opposed to her beautiful scowl."

Remus rolled his eyes at James' exuberance.

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"Hey, time to go!" someone said, grabbing her arm and pulling her up from her seat.

Lily stared at the two girls in mild shock. "Wha– Where are we going?" She glanced around the common room to find it pretty empty. Was it really that late?

"Shh," Jessica said with a smile, putting a finger to her lips. Lily's gaze rested on said girl before looking to Annie who stood next to her silently. "Just grab a sweater or something and your wand, and meet us back here in two minutes," she whispered.

"What? Why?" Lily whispered back, though she didn't know why because two people were sleeping on the other side of the room while three younger girls were heading up to their beds with sleepy looks and big yawns.

Jessica just winked. "Just go on."

Lily gathered her books with a bewildered look and made her way up to the sixth year girl's dorm room. She took a moment to change out of the school uniform and throw on a pair of shorts and t-shirt as well as grabbing the sweater and her wand.

When she got back down Jessica and Annie were sitting in armchairs by the fire and the room had cleared out.

"What time is it?" the redhead asked, making her way over.

Jessica shrugged and got up. "Well, let's get going." She and Annie started making their way to the portrait hole.

Lily blanched. "What?! We can't go out now! We'll get caught or something! It's after hours and teachers are patrolling, not to mention the ghosts and Filch and–"

A hand went to her shoulder. "Lily, stop worrying. We're just gonna go to the kitchens for a snack or whatever. And you are coming," Jessica smiled assuredly. As the redhead looked ready to protest again Jessica sighed as Annie watched. "Come on Lily, just let it go. Don't be so afraid of all the consequences and just take the risk! I can't promise that you won't regret it because I can't read your mind but doesn't just the thought that anything could happen make it seem worth it?" she pleaded.

Lily stared at her blankly.

It was pretty well-known that Lily Evans was a stick in the mud, straight-laced, goody two-shoes who followed rules like no one else at Hogwarts. And most people probably thought it was because she liked being a spoilsport or loved rules – but really she just didn't deal well when things went wrong, so she avoided it.

But then she never really thought about it that way. Was it worth it in the end to be so careful and precise and keep yourself inside the lines? Sure she had fun of her own but rules didn't leave room for flexibility. There were times when she wanted to go jumping around the grounds as it rained or sit atop the astronomy tower at three in the morning and stare at the stars for a while but she never indulged in those things.

Jessica stared at Lily before speaking again. "Come on Lily, think about it this way," she said in a low voice. "If you don't do any of these random, spontaneous, impulsive things that you want to do now then won't you just regret it all later on?"

Slowly at first, she nodded, "Yeah, I will."

Jessica clapped her hands excitedly, realizing her victory.

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"Hey, what chapter are we supposed to be reading about in Charms?" Jessica asked as the three sat around at a table in the kitchens. She leaned on it with her elbows, chewing on a bar of chocolate.

Annie shrugged, eating a bowl of pasta. Lily barely paid attention as she looked around the kitchens in awe, it being her first time down there.

"Lily?" she asked.

"Huh?" the redhead whipped around.

Jessica just smiled and shook her head, making the earrings glint, even in the lighting. Lily stared. A house elf scurried over and smiled happily, pushing a plate with a piece of pumpkin pie to her.

"No, I'm not–"

The house elf just shook his head, gave a secretive smile and left before she could continue her protest. Seeing as she didn't want to leave it there and it was looking delicious, Lily picked up the fork and started.

"I was wondering..." Lily started off, "About all the piercings you've got."

"Oh, well I don't know if there's much of a story behind it," Jessica said.

Annie shook her head.

Lily stared at the two before Jessica sighed and spoke again.

"Well ok... I'm just...kind of...addicted," she responded with a shrug.

"What do you mean?"

She flicked at her ear. "I guess I just like them. People think it's weird, I know. It's not like I'm gonna go overboard and regret it later. I love them... I just can't really explain why I'm so attracted to them."

Lily nodded, another piece of pie going in her mouth. "So how many do you have?"

Jessica grinned and pulled her hair back for Lily to count the three on one ear and four on the other, including a cartilage piercing.

"That's kind of cool actu–"

"And!" Jessica jumped up and pulled the hem of her shirt up midway to show off the piece of metal in her navel. "Tada!"

Lily almost fell out of her seat. "Your parents let you do that?!" she questioned in disbelief.

She just shook her head and laughed, pulling the shirt down again. "Bet you didn't see that coming."

"What do you mean?" Lily stared at the piece of pie left, recovering from shock.

"I just didn't think you'd ever been exposed to the kind of mischief I get into," Jessica shrugged. "We only ever really saw you hanging out with Alice, and that's not a bad thing but you definitely need to get out a little more that's all. Us kids are supposed to get into all kinds of trouble at this age. It's how we learn."

The three sat in silence a moment – Lily in thought, Jessica thoroughly thanking the nearby house elves and Annie finishing her pasta with a glass of water.

"Maybe I'll get one. I used to think about it." She paused. "But I always wondered about the tongue one." And she stuck out her tongue, making a face.

Eyes glanced over at the unexpected words.

Lily smiled, lifting a glass of water that had been put down on the table earlier.

"To no regrets."

The other two girls smiled after sharing a quick look and raised their own goblets.

"To no regrets," they chimed together.

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"Alice, I think I'm having a panic attack." Lily stared off with her face frozen in what looked like pain.

The blonde looked up from her notes to her friend. "What're you talking about?" She rested her chin in her palm and followed Lily's gaze.

"I don't...go on dates," Lily said in a pained voice.

Alice smirked, turning away with a noncommittal noise of agreement.

"Where do you go on dates?" she asked in desperation as class continued on without anyone noticing. "Oh, why am I asking you when you still haven't given Frank any inclination of your feelings?" she asked herself.

"Hey!" Alice gaped at the redhead's smirk.

"Where do people go on dates when you live at a magical school?" she questioned again with a sigh after the amusement of her friend's situation faded.

Luckily for her, an opportunity arose itself when Lily looked up from where she sat in the common room to find Peter by himself trying to read one of their class texts.

She steeled herself and got up to walk over.

"Hi Peter. What's up?" she asked as she stood by the table that he occupied by himself.

He watched her warily. "Hi, Lily."

"What're you reading?" she questioned, genuinely curious.

He showed the cover for their History of Magic class and Lily unconsciously slid into a seat.

"What chapter are you on?"

Again, he gave a strange look. "It wouldn't matter if I was finished with the book because I'm never gonna be able to remember it all. I don't know how I passed my O.W.L.'s," he grimaced.

Lily made a similar face. "I know how you feel."

"What?" Peter asked in shock. "How did you do?"

"Well, I didn't do so great in Care of Magical Creatures..." she said, looking ashamed.

"Well nobody's perfect," was his response, trying to be helpful. "But that class was a killer."

The two paused a moment before breaking out in laughter at his unintended pun. Lily smiled kindly and they both paused, examining the different parts of the room.

"Lily," Peter finally said, turning to her.

"Hm?" she responded, turning to face him as well and tearing her gaze from where Gina and Angela sat in another corner of the common room.

"Why are you talking to me?" he asked directly, startling her as he stared at her honestly.

"What?"

"I mean, we aren't really friends or anything. I know already that you argue with Sirius over his bad habits and you're good friends with Remus and you hate James but you and I never–"

"What?" she asked again blankly through his rant. Lily stared at the boy in front of her.

"So why start now?" he concluded.

Lily looked on with her mouth agape. "What?" she shook her head, trying to take in all that he'd said. "I..." she started again. "I don't hate James," was the first thing she said.

Peter noticed this and turned away to hide the grin he had. Then he coughed quickly and faced her again.

"And as for us not being friends... I mean, why not change that? I've found out a few things this past week," she replied wistfully, chin in her palm. "I'd been so wrapped up in my own world for such a long time, even though we're in a school full of other people. I haven't given many people the chance to be friends." She smiled at him. "And I noticed it too – that I seem to interact with James, Remus and Sirius but I never really got to talk to you with them always around and causing trouble."

He grinned, thinking of the mischief the Marauders loved.

"So," she went on. "There's no reason why we shouldn't be friends, only reasons why we aren't already," Lily concluded. She looked around at the dwindling room of people. "I think I'm gonna head up and get ready for bed. We have that Charms test tomorrow."

Peter groaned, smacking his head. "Yeah, I knew I forgot something!"

The redhead smiled pitifully at him. "Don't worry about it too much. It's only a minor test and you can make it up next time if you do that badly," she comforted before turning to walk away. Then she stopped and looked back. "Hey, Peter?"

"Yeah?" he asked while replacing the History of Magic book in front of him with the Charms text.

"Wanna hang out the next Hogsmeade weekend we get?" Lily questioned.

"Sure." He looked up to smile sincerely.

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Lily stared around the room as she got up to the sixth year girl's dorm the next day. "What happened?" was all she could ask.

"She's trying to find something to wear on her date tomorrow," Angela replied shortly from where she sat cross-legged at the foot of her bed and stared at the brunette who was examining herself in a full length mirror at every possible angle.

Lily looked over at Gina who was staring at her reflection critically.

"It looks fine to me," she shrugged, walking over to her bed and throwing herself onto it. "Where is everyone?"

Gina turned around looking ready to cry. "But–"

Angela hurriedly got up and went to comfort the girl as Lily sat up wide-eyed and wondered at her mistake.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't realize that–" she started stuttering out.

Gina swiped at her face and quickly she was almost back to normal. "No, I'm just out of my mind over this that's all," she replied quietly.

"She's liked this guy since fourth year but she kinda gave up on actually dating him. Now they're partners in potions for that upcoming assignment and he's realized how great she is."

"Oh," Lily blinked, taking it all in.

Gina looked bashful at Angela's compliment.

"Anyway," Angela continued, walking over to a bureau and picking through some clothes. "Mary and Jessica went down to the kitchens and I have no idea where Alice and Annie are." The small blonde carefully inspected something before shoving the skirt into Gina's hands. "So," she turned to Lily who sat there watching, "You wanna help us out?"

"Uh..." Lily stared around the cluttered floor at the other side of the room. "Well...I mean, I don't know all that much about..." She trailed off unintentionally as her voice became smaller.

"Oh come on! I totally trust your judgment!" Gina said, suddenly happy as she pulled off the dress she had on in front of her friends. Lily looked away in embarrassment but no one else seemed to mind. "You coordinate things so well sometimes that I'm envious. And it's never flashy or over the top too! You always look put together and simple," she gushed happily.

"Really?" Lily asked curiously, looking down at her clothes.

"You should give yourself more credit," Angela replied with an affirmative nod and her hands on her hips before examining the skirt Gina had pulled on.

Lily stared at the skirt and looked around the room in silence. "How about...that shirt?" She got up and grabbed up off one of the beds.

"A t-shirt?" Gina looked to Angela uncertainly.

"Trust me," Lily said before suddenly pulling it over the other girl's head. "The shirt is a solid fuchsia color and your skirt is white and tiered. It'll look simple, like you aren't trying at all." Gina's head and arms were through the designated slots. "When he sees you it'll look like you just threw on some clothes and went out to meet him."

After adjusting some things on her makeshift doll, Lily turned the girl to the mirror and eyes went wide.

"You're so right!" Gina said, staring at her figure with her mouth open. "And all I need are some easy to walk in flats and my hair could be in some messy half up-do and it'll look great!"

"That was pretty brilliant," Angela commented with a smile. "I've been trying to reassure her for like the past hour." Lily just smiled back, unsure what to say as Gina went about pinning up her hair for a test run. "Your opinion matters you know," she went on, staring straight at the slightly taller girl.

Lily was startled at the admission. Her shocked expression slowly eased into a grin. "That's...how it is with friends, right?" she responded and found it was the right thing to say.

The three laughed and continued to watch as Gina asked Lily for more advice on what she hoped would be future dates with the sixth year Ravenclaw named Kevin. Angela got tired of it quickly, seeing as she had been there longer than Lily and started to throw on some of the jewelry, hats and other accessories that Gina had lying around.

"How do I look?" Angela questioned, walking around exaggeratedly and making pouty faces.

Lily started laughing at the makeup and nearly fell off the bed. She caught herself quickly and glanced down.

She stared at the piece of clothing on the floor.

"Hey, so what do you think?" Gina and Angela both looked to her at the same time and asked.

"Uh, looks great," she responded, managing a tiny smile.

The brunette girl just sighed and dropped the dress from holding it in front of her. "I don't want you to just agree with me and not give your honest opinion here."

Lily chewed her lip, thinking this over and glanced at the shirt one more time. Gina followed the redhead's gaze.

"Oh..." She stooped to grab the shirt. "Did you want to try it on?" she suggested. "It's Angela's but..."

Lily shook her head firmly.

Angela rolled her eyes. "Come on Lily Evans. Stop being so uptight. It's more than okay if you wanted to borrow something. In fact–" She looked at the shirt closely after snatching it out of the other girl's hands. "I don't think I'll ever be wearing this. I'm not exactly sure why I bought it." She smiled slowly and tossed it over to the bed Lily sat on. "Try it on!" she said excitedly, forgetting all about her weird combination of seashell necklaces and pink eyeshadow.

Lily smiled gratefully. "Ok!" she said, getting excited as well.

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I've reread this a bunch of times but I should do so again before posting. And yet I won't. I'm being lazy. If I keep putting it off then I also put off posting it so I just decided to go for it and then reread after.

Tell me what you think!

6-27-10

12:21am