A/N (Which stands for author's note, dontcha know.):
I want to say thanks so very much to my reviewers! I know, I know, I'd get more if I wrote more. So that's what I'm doing. I love really nice reviews (not a mean one yet!) but I would like some constructive criticism, and ideas for how you think the story should go next!
Disclaimer: Think about it. Would J.K. Rowling be wasting her time on NO. She should be using her time to write tear the final book in our beloved series.
In case you didn't understand the babble, I am not J.K. Rowling. Thus, I am but a poor, starving artist. Okay, maybe not starving.
Ok, I'll stop babbling and get on to Chapter TWO!
--------------
"Lils! It's great to see ya! How was your summer? Mine was great, I'm sure you had a good one, you being you an' all," Potter said, grabbing my miniscule, French-manicured hand in his incredibly large one and pumping it up and down enthusiastically, as though we had just met. It sickened me.
"Potter, my summer was just fine." I said, tugging at my arm. It didn't come free. Curse those strong, quiddich toned muscles!
"Come on," James somehow said through his overly large smile (how are his face muscles not aching by now?).
I felt myself being dragged down the hall, James…I mean, Potter never once loosening his grip on my arm.
"Here we are, Lilykins. The Prefects Department." We stopped outside a compartment with a specially-shiny door handle. Potter opened the door with the hand that wasn't attached to mine and pulled me inside.
"Now you might be wondering if I'm a prefect," he said, reading my thoughts.
"No, I am not," he said. I breathed a sigh of relief. "I am not a prefect. I am, however, Captain of the Gryffindor quiddich team," I groaned inwardly. Another reason I should be kept away from quiddich games. "…which gives me an equal status to prefects, believe itor not. ThePrefects bathroom is open to me, anyway. I'm only in themeeting on behalf of old Lupe here," he said, slapping Remus Lupin on the back, causing him to stumble forward and fall onto me.
"Remus! I thought we were friends…how DARE you lay your hands on the girl you know I adore with all my heart!" Potter said, grabbing Remus, who was currently trying to get up by grabbing onto my shoulders (not a very comfortable situation for either of us) and shoving him into a chair in our compartment.
Somehow, through all of this, Potter never once loosened his grip on my arm. Amazing.
James sat down and pulled me with him. I ended up sitting next to him. There were no other seats open.
James chatted away to Remus, forgiving him quickly, and the compartment slowly filled up. Somewhere along the way Potter released my arm while he was wildly gesturing to Lupin. People lined the walls once the seats were all taken, and we waited patiently for instructions from the Head Boy and Head Girl.
Oh, wait.
That's me.
"Who's the Head Boy?" I shouted over all the commotion.
"That would be me," answered a guy from Ravenclaw. He was obviously a 7th year; you could tell that by his air of authority. Or maybe his obvious authority came from the shiny badge on his robes that matched mine perfectly. It was hard to tell, but he stood up, carefully pushing back his brownish-blonde hair and talking to the whole group like he owned the place.
I barely listened, because a.) It's the same thing every year. And b.) It was much easier just to stare into his gorgeous blue eyes.
"…all right then, so we're all set? Prefects patrol the halls and make sure no one gets into trouble. The Head Girl and I," he shot me a glance with those eyes of his that either freeze your insides or melt them into mush. Sometimes it's hard to tell which. "…will be patrolling the halls, making sure you don't get into any trouble. You can stop to say hello to your friends, but make sure you get back to your duty afterwards!"
"My name's Kyle Beauregard, by the way," Mr. Ravenclaw-superman said as he opened the compartment door and ushered us all out.
--------------
I stumbled along, only running into two people on the way back to my compartment.
I beat on the door professionally, and barked, "Prefect inspection!" in a voice that I hope didn't sound too much like my own.
Nadia peeked through the window. That's cheating.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. There are no prefects here to inspect. Perhaps you ought to check the next compartment over?" Nadi said, opening the door.
I rolled my eyes and stepped inside.
"As Head Girl, I shall have to get back to my duties soon," I said, addressing Nad, Adrian, and Effie. Wait…where's…?
"…but before I do, I would like to inquire as to…where is Ms. Shinkeen?"
"Ms. Leyna Shinkeen? I believe she's sitting with her boyfriend, one Mr. Sirius Black."
This certainly was a new development. I switched from formal prefect mode to full-on gossip mode.
"When did this happen? Why would sweet, innocent little Leyna date the one person who I would say is possibly more evil than my arch-nemesis?"
"Just now. Leyna was pulling her trunk in here, and Sirius had nothing to do because James was busy goggling over you to entertain Sirius with some immature pranks. Black was bored without his friends, so he decided to go pick up a girl. That bloke can be increadibly charming when he chooses to be, so he snatched our little innocent Leyna right from under us," Effie said, sadly shaking her head.
This is a running joke in our group of friends. Leyna looks really sweet, with her white-blonde hair and her perfectly tanned skin covered in the cutest freckles (I've never met anyone else with a tan AND good freckles. I'm as pale as a sheet and my freckles make me look like I constantly have the chicken pox). But she's not. She's of course nice to us, as her friends, but she definitely has the whole bad-girl vibe going on. She's had more boyfriends than all of us, likely because she flirts more than any of us, and she skips class to sneak out to Hogsmeade to meet her boyfriend-of-the-week. Like Sirius Black, Leyna is so good she could charm dragons with just her smile.
They're most definitely perfect for each other, but I really wished I could see Leyna. Somehow she just makes me feel at ease, and even got me into thinking I liked Potter once. Everyone says I do, but Leyna was the only one ever to convince me.
It was 2 years ago, in 4th year. This was Leyna's first year here, since she transferred from some American school. I went over to Potter, fully ready to accept the offer of a Hogsmeade date that I knew he was going to make. My heart was pounding, I remember. I wrote it in my journal that night. I think I still have that somewhere in these bags. I like to look at it sometimes.
Anyway, before I even got to James, Sirius came over and gave me some flowers. He said they were from James. He was smirking and rolling his eyes as he walked away. I bent in to sniff the flowers, and blue ink squirted everywhere. It was all over me, Leyna, Nadia, Effie, and Adrian. Adrian challenged Black to a duel, but Professor Snickfitty, the charms teacher, stopped it before it could begin.
"Leyna's such a traitor," Adrian muttered darkly. This snapped me away from my irritating flashback.
"She's not a traitor, 'ri. She's just…"
"Going out with my arch-nemesis? Think about it, Lil. How would you feel if, say…I went out with Potter?"
Just the thought startled me.
"'Ri… don't you guys hate potter just as much as I do?"
"No."
"No."
"No."
I was astonished. My friends didn't hate him. And the thought of one of them dating him would make me feel…bad. Like I've lost something. Being agitated by Potter isn't the most fun thing in the world, but it's just…part of my daily routine here at Hogwarts. Wake up, be irritated by Potter, irritate Potter, hex Potter, and go eat toast.
"I…wouldn't like it," I admitted.
"Good. I win. Shouldn't you go…yell at Potter for some prank or another, or something?"
I'd forgotten about my prefects duties! The insane gossip that I had missed in my 10 minute meeting was so astonishing, I just got caught up in it and…forgot!
I ran outside and stumbled right into Mr. Ravenclaw-superman. Oops. Maybe I should start calling him Kyle.
"I've been wondering where you were!" he said with that beautiful smile of his. "Okay, Evans, we need to keep patrolling. You take the back, and I'll take the front, ok?"
I nodded, hoping my jaw hadn't dropped too far. He knows who I am! He did call me by my surname, but he did it in the cutest way…
I walked towards the back of the train, peeking into compartments as I passed.
Inside the very last compartment, I found 4 couples making out. The Make Out Compartment. No one ever really says anything about it, but I noticed Leyna and Sirius in there and couldn't help myself.
"Leyna!" I squealed. "How was your summer? Oh, come on, get off of Black and talk to me! It's going to be great having you back this year; I've looked a wreck all summer without your awesome fashion tips-"
"Lily!" Leyna groaned groggily. "Can we talk later?" she mumbled, falling back onto Black with just a little bit less passion than before.
I shut the compartment door, and decided not to tattle on the M.O.C. It would ruin my reputation as…well; it wouldn't ruin my non-existent reputation. But it would give me one as a major party-pooper.
I peered in the compartment opposite the M.O.C. to find the Marauders' compartment. Potter was in there, asleep, thankfully. Weird little Peter Pettigrew was munching on carrots or something of the sort, making a lot of nervous-noise as is his habit.
I slowly made my way back to the middle of the train, peering into compartments and occasionally stopping the Slytherins from hexing the first years.
I found myself right outside my compartment. I heard some very weird noises from inside…Adrian's foul language, Effie's girly shrieks, but nothing recognizable as Nadia. I turned the knob and slid the compartment door open, just to be blinded by a bright light. It was so bright, it hurt. Badly; too bad I had no sunglasses. Those were in my trunk. There was something wrong with this. There were a few more agonizing seconds of insanely bright light, and then a soothing blackness overwhelmed me.
--------------
A/N: I hate cliff-hangers just as much as you do in a story, but don't worry. Chapter three's coming soon!