Plot: The infamous Marauders weren't alone in their love for pranking. In fact, they often had their butts kicked by a bunch of girls. Now, this is it. Seventh year. Four girls, four boys. Two opposing pranking teams. One hell of a battle to be won.
Disclaimer: Sad as it may be, I am not J.K. Rowling in disguise, and therefore I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters or themes involved. (I do, however, own Jamie, Hannah and Regan and most elements of this specific plot—so I'd appreciate it if no poaching occurred. Thanks.)
WARNING (please read): This is the unedited version, meaning I wrote it a few years ago when my skill level sucked and I had no idea how to properly structure a story. So if you'll please ignore the terrible grammar, dodgy sentence structure, OOC-ness, plot holes, canonical inconsistencies and general immaturity of this whole chapter while I plough my way through all this editing work, that would be greatly appreciated. :) I'm in the process of fixing up all the chapters right now, but you'll have to be patient, because (as you can probably tell just by reading a couple of sentences below) fixing this stuff up takes a lot of time and effort.
Chapter 5 - Home Sweet Home
Soft ripples slid across the water's gleaming surface, sending wavering streaks of light down the lake. Lily watched it, transfixed by the beauty. It was hard to think that in the depths of this body of water, dark creatures resided. But it was, in fact, true. The Black Lake was home to many a creature, some beautiful and kind, and others not so much that way.
But the water wasn't the only place that held dark creatures - in fact, there was one sitting in the boat across from Lily as both she and that creature accompanied the first years across the water. That creature, predictably, went by the name of James Potter. Lily watched him talking to a pair of boys who were leaning over the edge of the raft, and pointed his index finger at them, keeping a straight face all the while. For the millionth time that day, Lily was utterly perplexed by his behaviour. The James she knew would be joining in with the mischief in a second, even if it was a pair of rowdy first years.
"Oi, Lily!" he suddenly called out, causing her to jump. For a moment she wasn't sure that it was James who said it - being addressed by her surname was more common from him - but his somewhat sturdy eye contact with her was a good indicator that he was, in fact, speaking to her.
"What?" she replied, unsure of how to say it; she wasn't aware whether this was going to be a personal attack or a serious comment, so she tried to use a rather flat tone.
"There's a tree ahead. You might want to watch out for it," Lily looked to her right, and, sure enough, there was a tree a reasonable distance ahead of her.
"Thank you," Lily said drily. "But I don't need you to point it out, I'm quite aware of the fact that it's there,"
James shrugged and turned away.
"And since when do you issue friendly warnings?" Lily added.
Again, James simply shrugged. "I just thought you might like to know,"
Lily turned away to him and focused on the first years in her boat instead. Seated in the depth of the wooden boat were four young girls; one small and blonde, another a thin redhead, and the other two a little taller, both with darker hair. Lily smiled in reminiscence, reminded very much of herself and her friends at that age. The girls kept on exchanging rather cheeky smiles, as if planning something mischievous. She wondered if these girls had something of an arch enemy, like the Rogues had the Marauders.
Lily felt as though she should talk to the girls - after all, she was supposed to be the figure of authority. So she said to them: "So are you four excited?"
"Yeah," said the blonde, a little timidly, still shooting glances at her friends.
Lily smiled. "What house do you reckon-"
Clonk. Something hit Lily in the shoulder with full force, violently throwing her off the edge of the boat where she was sitting and causing her to fall into the water with a splash. The cold bit at her skin immediately. She waved her arms about in attempt to resurface, and finally emerged, gasping for air and trying to become orientated again.
By the time Lily had gathered her bearings, the boats had moved a fair distance ahead of where she was floating. She swam quickly and at last managed to catch up with the boats, a little out of breath.
"Are you alright there?" Much to her horror, Lily had caught up with the wrong raft. She found James to be sitting in the boat in front of her, looking very much as though he would like to laugh. Lily scowled as he did let out a small laugh, and shot back:
"Not really. In case you hadn't noticed, I just fell into a freezing lake,"
"Well I did warn you," James was smirking a little as he spoke.
Lily was fuming. Of course he had warned her, but she had been too busy defending her dignity to take any notice. This had, evidently, turned against her.
"Here," said James, holding out his hand.
"What?" Lily said angrily. "You think I'm going to accept help from you?" She wasn't so much irritated by the idea of receiving assistance from him, but nervous at the concept of holding his hand.
"Don't be so immature," James said rather seriously. Reluctantly, Lily propped one of her hands up on the edge of the boat and reached the other up to grasp James' outstretched one. It was rather warm compared to hers (this was understandable) and his grip was strong and sturdy. Anxious to get out of the cold water, Lily pulled herself upwards and leaned over the edge of the boat. Unfortunately, she overbalanced and toppled into the raft. She landed on something rather soft and looked up, horrified, to see that she was stretched out, laying almost entirely on top of James. She wriggled around as she dragged her body off if him and moved away.
"Um," she said, once she was seated on the other side of the boat between a couple of first years. "Thanks, I guess," then added, "But I don't need you to do me any more favours. I can take care of myself, thank you,"
"Whatever," James said in a dull monotone. Lily turned to face the other side of the lake. Opposite the raft in which she currently sat, she could see the boat containing the four young girls. Each one was staring directly at her and smirking while laughing quite rampantly.
So that had been the reason for their mischievous grins! Lily suddenly realized with disgust. She shot them a dirty look as she thought of this. Of course, she figured, they had known that the tree was rapidly approaching, and yet they had done nothing but share impish looks and act as though nothing at all was going on. The least they could have done was say something to her, whether it was a simple 'look, a tree' or something of more assistance. Then again, Lily realized with a sigh, at that age, Lily and her friends would have taken great pleasure in watching the Head Girl take a dunk in the Black Lake.
A few moments later, the boats had arrived at the other side, and Lily had a clear view of the castle. It stood in all its magnificence in front of them with its solid grey stone walls, radiant embellishments on its towers and doors, and a warm yellow light shining in most windows. Lily breathed in the cold air and smiled; the Hogwarts castle was such a familiar thing, and it would be terrible to have to say goodbye to it at the end of the year.
Realizing that she was shivering, Lily wrapped her arms around her sodden cloak, her teeth chattering in the cold breeze. It was just her luck to fall into the water on a day like this - now, she would walk into her first day as Head Girl soaking wet, probably making Hogwarts history.
"You must be freezing," Lily whipped around at these words, only to find James standing right behind her, his expression unreadable.
"No, I'm fine," she said stubbornly, and turned away from him. At once, her teeth began to chatter and her body shook violently with cold, revealing to him that her words had, in fact, been a lie.
"No, you're not," James said with a small laugh. "Here, take this," he took off the outermost layer of his robes and handed it to her. Lily hesitated - but, giving into her desire for warmth, she decided that it would probably be best to accept the offer. She took it from his hands and wrapped it around herself, instantly feeling better, though a little cold still. There was excess fabric hanging over her hands and dragging along the ground, just going to show how much taller than her James really was.
"Thanks," she said quietly, and continued to walk, moving a small way ahead of him.
Lily's arrival in the Great Hall was met with a few gasps, some quiet laughs and many whispers. She blushed as she focused her attention on the back wall, trying hard not to make eye contact with any students. Finally, she found the rest of the Rogues near the front of the Gryffindor table.
"What happened to you?" Hannah cried upon her arrival.
"I fell in the lake," Lily admitted.
"How on earth did that happen?" Regan asked, restraining herself from laughing.
"Ugh, don't ask,"
Lily shivered.
"Here," Jamie stepped out of her seat and drew her wand, aiming it at Lily and muttering the incantation: "Secherium!" At once, Lily felt her clothing and hair dry out, and the cold disappeared, replaced by a soothing sensation of warmth.
"What are you wearing?" Regan asked with distaste in her voice, taking in the oversized robe that Lily still had on.
Lily frowned and removed the garment, tossing it across the table to where James had sat down with the Marauders. "Here," she said simply, and turned back to her friends.
"Tut tut," Hannah said, pointing a scolding finger at Lily. "Since when are we accepting bribes from the enemy?"
"It wasn't a bribe," Lily pleaded with her. "I was freezing!"
"We'll let you off," Hannah concluded. "But just this once,"
The Headmaster's booming voice filled the hall suddenly, causing every student and teacher in the hall to turn their head towards him as he began to speak. "Friends," he said. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It gives me great pleasure to welcome every one of you to the school once again,"
Though his words were almost exactly the same as those he had recited at the previous feast, all of the students in the hall were gazing up at Dumbledore with transfixed eyes, strangely captivated by his voice.
"As some of you may know, our Head Students for this year are Mr. James Potter and Miss Lily Evans. Should you have any queries, I'm sure they will be willing to assist you. There is much more to say on this matter, but we must get on with the sorting,"
Professor McGonagall led a large gaggle of tiny first years out into the spacious area at the front of the Great Hall, between the teachers and the students who were already seated at the long tables. In the middle of the area was a very familiar object resting upon a wooden stool - the Sorting Hat, tall and wrinkled with a few patches here and there. Lily stared intently at the hat, waiting for the first student to sit down and put it on.
"Melman, Ernest," McGonagall stated, and a small boy with black hair stepped forward with a large smile, taking a seat on the edge of the stool. Lily could see his feet tapping the ground with excitement as the Professor placed the hat on his head. The hat said nothing for a moment, apparently deep in consideration, but finally opened its mouth and declared, "Gryffindor!"
Lily cheered with the others at her table as Ernest Melman took a seat. McGonagall proceeded to the following student without so much as a nod or a smile. "Keltica, Mina,"
Next to step up was a tiny, mousy girl with wide brown eyes. She appeared to be absolutely petrified as she sat down. Without hesitation, the hat shouted out: "Ravenclaw!" the girl gave a wide smile as she hurried out of the spotlight at sat down at the welcoming table of Ravenclaws.
McGonagall's eyes widened as she peered down at the list for a third time.
"Potter, Stephanie,"
The hall went silent. Lily's felt her heart slow down considerably. She turned and gave Jamie a look of complete shock, before returning her attention to the front of the Great Hall. How was it possible for James to have a sister without Lily having even the slightest idea? Of course, it wouldn't be normal if he had given away personal information to Lily without a completely reasonable cause - most likely related to some kind of prank or joke - but Lily strongly disliked being out of the know, especially when it came to important matters. And this was definitely an important matter.
Stephanie walked out and took a seat on the stool, and as she did, Lily craned her neck to get a good look at the girl. She was relatively pretty, with a straight, raven-black ponytail down to her mid-back, eyes of a similar soft hazel to James' and a pretty, shy face. She had a natural dark outline around her eyes and her lips were quite pink. It was a surprise that somebody so pretty and refined could be related to James Potter - it wasn't as though the boy wasn't good looking (Lily had never allowed herself to go too far along this train of thoughts), but the girl appeared very polished compared to the image of James with his messy hair, lanky figure and wild expressions.
"Did you know Potter had a sister?" Lily leaned over to Jamie and asked.
"How could I? The only civil conversation I've ever had with Potter was about a Potions book, and that was in Diagon Alley before I even knew who he was!"
Lily sighed. She glanced over at James, who sat on the edge of his seat, his eyes completely focused on his sister. His expression was one of severe anticipation, and Lily could see his fingers crossed underneath his long sleeves.
"Gryffindor!" yelled the hat.
Cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table, despite the momentary faltering that had occurred at the mention of the girl's name. James was standing up, clapping loudly and wearing a smile of extreme joy as Stephanie took her place at the Gryffindor table.
"Way to go, Steph!" he exclaimed.
About ten minutes later, all of the first years were sorted, and the feast had begun. Lily enjoyed roast chicken and mashed potatoes, as well as treacle tart and cream cakes among other decadent foods. She chatted eagerly with her friends and also exchanged conversation with some of the other Gryffindor students, including Frank Longbottom and Alice Hanby.
"Did you have a good holiday?" Alice asked politely, raising her small voice a little over the extreme noise level.
"It was alright," Lily replied. "I didn't do anything very exciting, though,"
"Oh," Alice looked disappointed at the lack of a good story. "That's too bad,"
"I'll live," Lily shrugged and returned to her dessert.
After another twenty minutes, Lily was on the way back up to the girls' dormitories with the rest of the Rogues. Her belly was full of delicious food, her heart full of excitement and her head filled with thoughts of all that had happened that day. A lot had occurred in only twenty four hours, Lily realized. Two pranks were just the beginning of the day's excitement - after that, there was the Heads' Meeting, the fall in the lake, and the discovery of James' sibling to throw in. Lily was still baffled by all this - she wanted to understand everything. But most of all she was tired, and wanted nothing more than to retire to the four-poster bed that awaited her in the dorms.
"Blubber," Lily muttered to the portrait of the Fat Lady as they reached the entrance. The frame swung forward, allowing them to pass through into the common room before shutting again.
"Who came up with such a ridiculous password?" Regan laughed.
"Do we know who comes up with any of the passwords?" Hannah replied.
The girls trudged up to the dormitories silently, clearly all exhausted. The moment they reached the top of the staircase, Regan found her bed and collapsed limply onto the covers.
"Home sweet home," she said gleefully, and closed her eyes.
Lily walked over to her own bed, and, opening her trunk, retrieved her pyjamas from deep inside it. She pulled them on and slipped into bed with one final word to her friends, who were all getting ready to go to sleep as well. "Goodnight," she said with a yawn.
"'Night," Hannah replied. There were a few tired groans from Regan and Jamie, but nothing legible. Without another thought, Lily rolled over and fell asleep almost immediately. It had been a very long day.
I hope you liked it! You should be expecting an update fairly soon.