Of Mudbloods And Sex

-8-

(A/N: Aha! Speedy update! Actually, I've finished this for like two weeks now, but i just wanted to post it up on the day I'm starting my sophomore year of high school... which is today! YAY!

And the dividers STILL don't work.

anyway, more detail on the girls next chapter, just wanted to get this one out... have fun!)

-8-

Chapter Eight - New Stars

-8-

Lily was half-expecting the Hall to explode when the three of them set foot inside.

Her eyes greeted the familiar scene of the first day of every school year – the flickering candles scattered about the Great Hall, the excited chatter of her fellow students, the four familiar long tables and the Head Table at the front. For a second, Lily felt the knot in her stomach that had settled there as soon as she had bid her parents goodbye tighten painfully, afraid of what her peers would say, afraid of what her professors would say.

But most of all – although she denied it vigorously in her mind – she was afraid of what James Potter would say.

She held her breath as they walked in, expecting to be bombarded from all sides – stared at, yelled at – thrown out, perhaps.

Instead, they trotted along peacefully towards the Gryffindor table. Lily braced herself for the worst – but nothing came. She blinked. No excitement, no reaction.

Lily let out the breath she had been holding and sighed. I suppose it was too much to expect that anyone would care, she thought morosely, about to take a seat next to Kirst, who had insisted on heading to the middle of the table "so that everyone will see our new look!". Although she felt a slight feeling of relief, Lily was still annoyed that the amount of effort she gone through during the summer would be all a waste.

A loud voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Lily?"

She jumped.

"Lily Evans? Is that you?"

She winced and turned around. A Gryffindor girl in the year below her – Denise, who was very well known for her loud voice – was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Merlin, it is you! I would recognise that shade of hair anywhere!" At this, the Hufflepuffs at the next table, as well as several Gryffindors, looked over at the three girls, who were fidgeting nervously.

The girls glanced at each other, and remembered their so-called 'training' – they all stood up a little taller, and acquired an air of nonchalance.

They were ready.

"Lily! Kirsty! Romanda!" another girl beside Denise exclaimed, continuing her friend's thoughts. "You… you look…"

All conversation stopped at the Gryffindor table and parts of the Hufflepuff table next to them. It only took a few seconds for the other half of the Hall to notice what was going on and look over at the Gryffindor table, the Hall quieting. For a moment, the girls were surrounded by a sea of stares, the silence deafening.

Suddenly, talk exploded amongst the students. Catcalls resounded throughout the Great Hall – apparently the guys had found their new looks appreciative, and, although the three girls were a little overwhelmed at the situation at hand, they couldn't help but hide a smile.

They silently thanked Karl for his neverending berating to practice keeping their cool – he had yelled at them once, after a tiring day when the three girls had been irritable, unable to master this latest "lesson". "You cannot afford to panic under pressure when a cool head is urgently needed to make a good impression!" he had screamed, and they had taken his word for it.

Lily had had the worst time of it. Her legendary temper made its presence known to everyone – and this time it was no different. But as she got humiliated again and again and her friends achieved their own control, she was determined to prove Karl wrong. She gritted her teeth through the taunts and slights that Karl threw at them, and slowly but surely, she had a firm grip over her temper. The first time she had succeeded, she felt a tidal wave of confidence roll over her. For once in her life, she had managed not to blow up. She always wondered how she had managed it – in the past, her temper really had a mind of its own, and chose to show itself at the worst of times. She was very proud of herself for finally managing to rein it in. (Karl, of course, had merely raised an eyebrow and moved on to the next lesson.)

A little bit of ego-boosting never hurt anyone, Kirst seemed to say in her grin, as she shared a look with her two best friends. Lily and Ro returned the look, though Ro looked somewhat nervous. Lily couldn't help but think of Potter – but she quickly shoved it out of her mind.

Their fellow female students in the immediate vicinity started to crowd around them, clamouring for their attention and asking question after question after question, never giving them a chance to answer. All of this happened in a matter of seconds – it had only been half a minute since the girls had walked into the hall, and already the rumour mills were turning, wondering when and how this remarkable change had happened.

Down the table, the Marauders were busily planning their latest prank on the school. Having been busy gathering materials and such, they hadn't looked up in midst of all the commotion. No; rather, they were quite occupied with their latest problem – unforseen circumstances on Sirius's part that had caused their prank for the evening to be cancelled.

"It's all your bloody fault!" James hissed at Sirius, as they leaned in to discuss their plans. "If only you could do something right for once, we'd be laughing our arses off right now!"

"Well, I'm sorry," Sirius drawled lazily, his eyes belying his voice as they flashed angrily. "It was a horrible idea anyway! Why would anyone ever put a Dungbomb under the teacher's table before spiking their drinks with Firewhiskey? It's the worst prank ever!"

"Peter, you do know that is disgusting, don't you?" they heard Remus say. They looked at Peter. A small trickle of drool was oozing slowly out of the corner of his mouth.

"Oh," said Sirius. "Ew."

"I quite agree, Sirius. You were most eloquent in your delivery as well," said James.

Peter, coming to his senses, slurped the drool back into his mouth. His three friends turned away with disgusted looks on their faces.

"Sorry," said Peter unrepentantly. "It's just that…look." He pointed. They looked.

It took them a few seconds to register what exactly they were looking at.

"HOLY MOTHER OF MERLIN!"

The girls looked up to see a shocked James Potter staring at them, mouth wide open. Sirius Black was gaping as well, and Kirst noticed with a smirk that he unconsciously licked his lips.

Lupin rolled his eyes at Potter and Black, although he couldn't resist giving the girls a once-over. "Hello, Lily, Kirsty, Romanda," he said to them. "It's nice to see you again."

Potter choked once, coughed, and was finally able to formulate words. "Nice to see you is right. What happened?" he whispered to Sirius. Sirius shook his head – he could not believe what he was seeing.

Potter and Black's outburst had given new speed to the turning gossip mills – the entire Hall was talking about the reactions of the two biggest heartthrobs of the school. Although the girls were still clamouring for the trio's attention, they couldn't prevent a stab of jealousy going through them. Perhaps these girls would take the Marauders' hearts! That would be devastating.

Despite this, Lily, Kirst, and Ro sat down without showing any acknowledgement of the talk around them. Gracefully, of course. They did answer the now-occasional question being thrown their way, but otherwise, they kept to themselves.

It couldn't be denied that they had changed, though. All three were lightly tanned (this had been an extreme challenge for Karl because Lily's skin was easily burnt and hard to tan, but he had achieved it without using spray – 'oh the abomination! Whoever invented that should be taken out and shot!'), and their hair and faces had obviously been completely made over. Hair was sleek and shiny, with highlights – Ro with streaks of brown, Kirst with light blonde, and Lily's a few tones lighter than her natural hair. Their teeth had whitened and their make-up was perfect. Little things like a blemish on a cheek were gone, and their waists had become slimmer, accentuating their new figures (with or without curves in the right places, the three didn't seem to care. Neither had Karl, for that matter). Their legs were now lean, and showed signs of working out. And for those who caught a glimpse of what they were wearing underneath their robes – especially the fashion addicts – they could tell exactly what they were wearing – the latest styles and trends. The males registered their more revealing clothing – short skirts and low-cut blouses. But the biggest difference was how they were holding themselves – with complete and utter confidence.

The Sorting began, momentarily ceasing the talk in the Hall. But as soon as the food appeared, everyone's mouths opened again, and the Hall was filled with munching and frantic talking. It seemed that Hogwarts simply had nothing better to do than gossip about three of their schoolmates' makeovers.

As everyone else began eating, the Marauders still did not take their eyes off the girls. The three girls were eating daintily, their air of nonchalance still in place, and were busy chatting with each other, ignoring the other girls who were still clamouring for their attention. It was Remus Lupin who turned away first, stabbing a piece of chicken with his fork, although he did glance up a few times at the girls.

Sirius picked up his fork and started stabbing at the table without looking, finally stabbing his napkin and taking a bite of it. James reached for the pitcher of pumpkin juice and poured it, not noticing that he had poured over his dish and not his goblet. Peter, who loved food, didn't even notice it. He was too busy shredding his fingernails.

"I think," Sirius said, still munching on his napkin, gaze not breaking away once, "I need a cold shower."

James nodded, as did Peter, eyes wide. Remus glanced amusedly at his friends and bit into his chicken.

Suddenly, as if she had felt them watching her, Lily turned around and looked right at the four of them. James jumped when he realised that she was staring right at him. She flashed him a smile – her eyes half-closed and head tilted slightly away – before turning away to listen to her friends' conversation.

James gulped. Several not-entirely-innocent thoughts sprang into his mind, unbidden. He felt the bulge in his pants grow tighter, and he shifted uncomfortably.

And to think, he thought, as he stared at Lily across the table, I was going to stop obsessing over her this year. Blimey…

-8-

The feast soon ended, and yet the school still hadn't found it within themselves to stop talking about the girls. The boys were placing bets on which one of them would shag the trio first – the girls were making up reasons so ludicrous and extreme as to their classmates' transformation that it was a wonder that anybody actually believed them. As before, the three new stars ignored everyone, and continued their small talk. To anyone but themselves, they seemed engrossed in a discussion about make-up – but Kirst, Lily, and Ro were anxious to reach their rooms and talk about their first day back.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, but the talking did not cease. He tried again, this time paired with an "Excuse me." The people in the front stopped chattering and the rest of the Hall slowly followed, taking well over a minute for everyone to really quiet down to a level that Dumbledore could start addressing the student body.

"Well, I have to say, this is one of the most lively start-of-term feasts I've ever witnessed during my time at Hogwarts," he announced, his eyes twinkling in their normal, Dumbledore-ish way. This got a lot of murmurs from the students, and it took another half a minute for them to quiet down again.

"As much as I would like to hear the reasons for this uproar, I'm afraid I must have you stop for a few minutes and let me inform you of important notices for the new year. First-years should know that the Forbidden Forest is just that – forbidden – and anyone who ventures in will receive punishment for their actions. Namely, detention."

He paused. He seemed to want to say something else, but changed his mind at last minute and continued talking about the rules. He mentioned that several new additions had been made to the list of banned items, at which point Filch appeared with his cat, Mrs Norris, and glared at everyone. After a few other unimportant announcements – well, unimportant to the girls, anyway – the students were dismissed.

Everyone headed for the doors, and Lily watched as a Gryffindor prefect led the first years away. Lily discreetly grabbed her friends' sleeves, still looking as aloof as possible. Ro and Kirst shot her a look of confusion before following her, out of the crowd and behind a tapestry.

The three girls found themselves in an alcove, and finally released their pent-up emotions.

"Did you see that?" Kirst squealed as soon as the tapestry enclosed their hiding place. "Everyone was talking about us! Everyone!"

"I know!" Even Ro seemed really excited. She was usually a very shy person, and nobody really paid any attention to her most of the time – but this new turn of events had sent adrenaline pumping through her body.

"The plan is working," Lily said, a slight smirk on her lips. "Did you see Potter and Black? They completely fell for it. Or rather, us."

"I know!" Kirst couldn't stop squealing. "Actually," she said, lowering her voice conpiratorially, "I think I saw Black licking his lips."

"Wicked!" Lily exclaimed, her smirk growing.

"Everyone's still going to be talking about us, aren't they?" Ro sighed. "This will make it really hard to get some privacy."

"Oh, you want privacy, do you?" Kirst smirked. "For what, exactly?"

"Would you like to have people asking you endless questions, bugging you in the shower, when you're trying to sleep, when you're getting changed?" Ro retorted.

Kirst huffed. "Well. Fine. You know, it's too bad you don't get private quarters as Head Girl, Lily. We could just live in your room then."

"Well, we can't have everything," said Lily complacently. "Let's go. It's a good thing I already know the common room password, too."

The girls took two seconds to fix their clothes and put on an air of nonchalance before they exited their hiding place. The crowd had long been gone, and save for the stairs, nothing was moving. The girls made their way upstairs, and although there was no one around, they did not lose their air of aloofness.

"You never know. You might have a stalker," Karl had told them. "It is important to have that air of confidence around you at all times unless you're by yourselves or in a room that you know is protected."

Although the girls thought the idea of a stalker quite disconcerting, they followed Karl's instructions dutifully. As they rounded the corner to the Fat Lady, Ro tripped over herself, and Kirst caught her.

"Be careful," she hissed before moving away. Ro's face flushed, but she followed her friends into the common room without argument after Lily gave the password ("Faerie dust").

As soon as they stepped in, they were surrounded by a crowd of girls who, although they had also clamoured for their attention before, still had questions they wanted to ask ("Oh my God, like, how did you do it?" "Like, how much did the plastic surgery cost?" "Did the liposuction hurt?"). The three girls flashed them smiles and brushed them off. A few of the first-years gazed up at the girls with wide eyes as they made their way across the common room towards the girls' dormitory staircase.

Just as they reached the stairs, a shadow moved in front of them, leaning against the banister of the staircase, preventing them from going upstairs. Lily felt extremely annoyed at people and their clinginess, and she felt the stirrings of her temper start up.

Oh, shit, she thought, squashing it down.

"Hey, ladies."

The three girls' training was well-disciplined – they didn't even blink, although they were quite surprised to see that it was Sirius Black himself standing in front of them. He was wearing his trademark smirk, with his usual air of egotistical confidence radiating around him that was screaming I'm so hot, and I know it. Heh.

Lily stopped herself from rolling her eyes – seriously, she was going to get eye strain from this, and then she'd have to go the hospital wing, and it would not be good, especially if Karl somehow heard about it – and Kirst replied, "Hey, Black."

"Please," he said, straightening, "Call me Sirius. All this last name nonsense is getting to me."

"All right, Sirius," Ro piped up flirtatiously, surprising Lily and Kirst. "Then you can call me Ro."

"Kirst," Kirst supplied, shifting her position. Lily didn't have to look to know that Kirst had just revealed a little bit more of her clothing underneath her robes – it was a movement that Karl had showed them – and she herself replied with lowered eyelids and a little smile, "Lily."

Sirius grinned, thinking he had received a postitive reaction from the three girls. "All right," he said, "Although I've always thought of you by your first names anyway."

"Really," Lily said with apparent interest, inching closer to Sirius. "And why this suddent urge to introduce yourself? We have been in the same house for the last… oh, six years."

Sirius' grin widened and he glanced down Lily's body and up again.

"Let's just say that summer changes things."

Lily laughed and Kirst also edged closer, running a hand up Sirius' arm. He grinned, seeing these two fairly attractive girls almost press up against him.

"Oh, yes," Kirst agreed, "Some things do change."

But as quickly as they had edged up to Sirius, they backed off and walked away. Unbeknownst to him, their approaches had backed him up against the outside of the banister, leaving the way clear for them to ascend the stairs. Sirius, shocked, could only watch as the girls proceeded up the stairs, and Ro called back, "But some things never do!"

Sirius, still shocked, gaped as they disappeared upstairs before snapping out of it and, mumbling to himself, made his way back to where his friends were waiting by the fireplace.

His friends were snickering as he approached and fell into an armchair.

"Oh, that was wicked amazing!" Remus was doubled over in laughter.

"Hilarious!" Peter squeaked through his giggles.

"Really funny," James added, chuckling, although not as enthusiastically as his friends. He had watched his best mate try to pick up the girls, including Lily, and had been silently fuming as he watched her flirt with him. Watching him get rejected, though, in a similar incident to the one when Lily had left them on the platform last year, had cheered him up a little bit.

"That's not fair!" Sirius cried sulkily. "They were using their feminine wiles to trick me!"

"And they succeeded, with flying colours, might I add," Remus said, still laughing.

The Marauders finally ascended the stairs to their own dorm after they all stopped laughing. They continued teasing Sirius as they walked up, and the whole common room could hear Sirius threatening his friends ("I'm going to Transfigure your pillow into a giant slug in the middle of your sleep! See if you're going to be laughing then!") as they went.

As soon as the trio entered the seventh-year girls' dorm room – which was thankfully empty – they all piled onto Ro's bed, drawing the curtains closed and placing a silencing ward around the bed.

They finally allowed themselves to giggle hysterically.

"Did you see his face?" Lily gasped between fits of laughter.

"He looked like someone just set a snake on him!" Kirst shrieked.

"Oh my God," was all Ro could say, wiping a tear from her eye.

They continued to laugh before collapsing in a heap in the middle.

"You know what?" Lily asked. "I think this plan is actually going to work."

"You actually doubted it?" Kirst sat up, looking down at her friends, her eyes laughing. "How could a plan that I," she paused, pointing at herself, "came up with do anything but work out exactly as planned?"

"Now don't get too egotistical like Potter," Ro joked. "Else Lily's going to have to make a plan for you, too!"

Kirst gasped exaggeratedly, eyes wide and her hand slapped up to hold her face. "No! You wouldn't! Not for little ol' me!"

"Oh, yes," Lily joined in. "An excruciating plan that will humiliate you in the eyes of the entire student body!"

"And what would that be?" Ro and Lily grinned at each other.

"A soundtrack of you singing in the shower!"

At this, Kirst's eyes widened again, not laughing anymore.

"What?" Kirst shrieked. "You didn't!"

"We did."

Kirst launched herself at Lily and started tickling her madly. A few more minutes of scrabbling and uncontrolled laughing ensued, the girls stopping only when they finally were out of breath.

"All right," Ro said, sounding like she was slightly hyperventilating as she tried to breathe and stop laughing. "What are we going to do tomorrow?"

"Well, we'll just going to exactly as we did today," Lily said, sitting up and leaning against the backboard.

"Yes," Kirst agreed, lying flat on her stomach. "Exactly as today. And we have to be ready for some of the boys… It was obvious from their screaming that some of them may… approach us, if you will," she said, winking at her friends.

"Then what will we do if they do approach us?" Ro asked. "Do we say yes or no?"

"Well… I think we should say that we're not looking for a relationship right now, as it is the beginning of the year. I think we shouldn't do anything till Halloween."

"Halloween? But that's ages away!"

"Yes, enough time for us to build a reputation…"

"Reputation?" Lily interjected. "What reputation?"

Kirst grinned.

"Well, as almost virgins, of course."

"Almost virgins?" Ro and Lily chorused, looking somewhat hesitant and confused.

"Yes," Kirst's eyes glittered. "Of course, you don't have to, if you don't want to."

"We'll decide after we hear what it is," Lily decided, Ro nodding.

"Basically we do everything but sex."

"E-e-everything?" Ro squeaked, eyes wide.

"You mean…" Lily's eyes widened even more. Kirst's eyes glittered mischievously.

"Exactly."

-8-

(A/N: so yeah. hoped you like it! if you did, review or something, and let me know.

... i'm going to go review for that stupid geometry placement exam i have to take in... oh, three hours. frickadilly.

tune in next time for the festive Welcome Back gryffindor party!)