Alice Prewett

I looked up from my copy of Witch Weekly which had a very interesting article about whether wizard robes should be worn everywhere or just at school/work. I personally think that we should wear them all the time, we've been doing that forever. I'm a pureblood so my parents are both wizards . My dad's an Auror and my Mum's runs a little beauty shop in Diagon Alley. This means that they wear wizard robes all the time, and so do I. Sometimes I try wearing only muggle clothes over the summer but I definitely think robes are more comfortable. Anyway, I looked up and saw Lily run in, almost crashing into our table, I immediately lunged to keep my stuff from breaking, only Tanya did that too, so we ended up crashing into each other.

"Owwww" I winced, rubbing my head

Lily looked appropriately abashed for having caused such mayhem but started talking immediately.

"Guys! Guess who's headboy?" shouted Lily

I rolled my eyes. When Lily gets excited, she gets loud. Very loud. Unfortunately, nobody seems interested in my opinion for they all turn to Lily eagerly.

"So I was running to make the head's meeting on time when I ran into Remus and Black.

"The headboy's Remus?" I interrupted

Four pairs of eyes stared at me angrily.

"Hey, I was just guessing!" I said defensively

"No, the headboy's Frank Longbottom!" Lily exclaimed

My insides freeze and I have to force myself to breathe. Frank's headboy? No way. Not that he wouldn't be the best headboy in the world, not that he wouldn't do amazing changes to the school. But still, Frank Longbottom would have private dormitories with Lily. They would see each other all the time… I have to tell you something: Lily's probably the prettiest one here. She'll go on about being a mudblood, being tiny and short, how we're all more beautiful but she is. Mary dates the most guys here because she tries to be beautiful, she puts work into it. Heck, she spends almost an hour in the bathroom every day putting on makeup and stuff. Lily achieves that beauty without even trying! If you want proof, just look at James Potter. She believes he asked her out so many times in 4th and 5th year just to spite her, but James actually really liked her. I can only imagine what will happen if she and Frank become so close. What guy wouldn't fall in love with her. Lily interrupts my train of thought by bursting out laughing. The other girls laugh too.

"Oh my gosh Alice, you should've seen your face!" exclaims Tanya between laughs

"Priceless." chortles Mary

"Alice, Frank isn't headboy. Besides, I would never steal him from you." assures Lily

I frown, I don't like it when they make fun of my crush on Frank. I know it's been like that since 4th year but still. The worst part is that he's completely oblivious, he doesn't know a thing! I'd like to say that I wasn't relieved or anything at that moment but I actually was. Who knows what I would have done, what Lily would have done if Frank was headboy. I'm not saying I don't trust Lily, no, I know she would never ever go out with Frank but I don't trust Frank not to start fancying Lily. He doesn't even know I fancy him! Anyway, I still wanted to appear angry over their stunt even though my thoughts were far, far away.

"Guys, that wasn't funny!" I said

"Oh come on Alice, it was just a joke!" replies Mary

"So, who is the real headboy?" asks Tanya, trying to ease the tension

Lily stop staring out the window to tell us this essential information, or as Mary would call it, a juicy bit of gossip.

"You guys will never guess! It's Potter!" says Lily in disgust

After a pregnant pause, the room erupted in cries of outrage (Lily and Marlene) and cries of excitement (me, Tanya and Mary).

"No way!" Marlene cries

"He wasn't even prefect. Besides, he's a Marauder. Do you know how many pranks they've pulled? Dumbledore's gone mad!" agrees Lily

"Well, James has changed. He's not the same person…" says Tanya, ever the peacemaker

"This is the best thing that will ever happen to your relationship!" I cry

"You guys will be snogging by the end of the month!" Mary agrees in delight

When it comes to James Potter, Lily Christine Evans can be very stubborn. By very stubborn I mean she spent the entire 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th year rejecting him. Poor guy, he used to always come talk to Mary, Marlene and I (we're the only ones friendly with him) and ask us why his techniques weren't working. Truth to be told, yelling it to the entire student population was never a good idea to get Lily to go out with him. It looks like in 6th year he gave up completely. Lily and James didn't talk, didn't see each other, didn't have shouting matches anymore. James Potter had just been erased from our lives. Don't get me wrong, I still saw him a few times in the halls and said hello but that was it. We had gone from seeing him every day to once a week if we were lucky. This upset Mary quite a lot. We both believed in Lily and James together (we called it Operation Jilly) and now it was gone. I can see the light dancing in Mary's eyes as she thinks of all the new possibilities. I force myself to reasonable. Just because they're heads together now doesn't mean they'll get that much closer. It could be purely professional… Oh, who am I kidding, I want this to happen as much as Mary does.

"What did you guys say?"asks Mary eagerly

"Well, I was a few minutes late and at first he was with Remus and Black, so I thought Remus was headboy. When I realized it was Potter, I was really surprised, I was in shock. The head's meeting didn't go too bad, I just told him our new responsibilities and privileges. Oh, yeah, at the end his girlfriend came in, they kissed for so long it made me uncomfortable so I left. I don't think he noticed…" recounted Lily, blushing at some parts

"That's it?" I exclaimed. No shouting matches, no jokes, no conversation. Maybe they really had gotten past this…

"Who's his girlfriend?" asks Mary, disappointed

"Ummm, I think it was Elizabeth Fawley?" hesitated Lily

"Not that COW!" sputtered Mary far too loudly

"Uh, sorry. I just don't like her." Mary apologizes

"You don't like her? Well that's an understatement." snorts Marlene

I don't say anything, but I agree with Mary. That girl is the biggest slag in Hogwarts. I don't know what James sees in her. Then again, that bloke's mind is bizarre.

"Guys be quiet, someone's coming!" says Tanya urgently

We all shut up because Tanya's usually right and she can get very bitchy when you contradict her. Then a girl walks into our compartment.

Her hair is a beautiful bond and her eyes sparkle. She looks very thin but still makes guys turn.

"Shelby?" gasps Lily in shock

No way. This is not Shelby. Nuh-uh. The Shelby I know has five chins, is always eating, gets constantly rejected. But even in my state of shock I can see the resemblance. The only one not surprised is Mary, but she mentioned something about her having changed.

"What happened?" I ask weakly

Shelby is obviously enjoying our attention and replies:

"Well I discovered this wonderful potion, and I worked out a lot this summer. I love being me now, I've snogged more boys in this hour than in my whole life before."

Behind her, Mary nods warily. I can see where this is going. Shelby is now on her path to becoming a slag. I take a deep breath and say:

"Uh Shelby, you transformation's really great but you should probably take it slow"

"No way, I have to make sure I make up for all that lost time," she argues

With that she struts off. After, that's the only thing we can talk about. Mary's not the only one who likes to gossip.

"Oh look, there's the castle!" exclaims Lily

Looks like someone got tired of gossiping about Shelby Brown

"Excellent, let's go." I agree