Lily quite couldn’t believe it. She had been most flattered when she received her letter along with her shining Head Girl badge, back in summer, but now she wasn’t so sure she appreciated it much anymore: as soon as she boarded the Hogwarts Express yesterday, she was met by her best friend, Helen Bloom, who had told her she had quite a bit of unexpected news.
“So, um, Lily, heard anything from your, um, fellow Head Boy?”
“Of course not… I don’t even know who he is! Do you know who he is?”
“You could say that…” smiled Helen. “You’ll never guess!”
“Okay…” she paused, thinking. “Tell me it’s Remus!”
“It’s not, but you’re close,” retorted Helen, still smiling.
“Close to Remus? Hm… Is it that friend of his, that nerdy Hufflepuff, Jedediath Stoid or something?”
“Nope, not even close.”
“Just tell me! I don’t know!”
“C’mon! Okay, I’ll give you a hint… You don’t have to be a Prefect to be Head Boy!”
“What? You mean Dumbledore picked someone who wasn’t a Prefect? Why? I mean, that hasn’t happened since “ what? “ a hundred years!”
“Yeah, and you still haven’t heard who it is!”
“Who is it? Come on, I’d like to know who my Co-Head will be before we get to school…”
“All right… brace yourself, Lily, because it’s going to be… well, shocking to say the least… it’s your beloved admirer””
“Not- not Potter, right?” Lily interrupted, horrorstruck.
“Right in one, Lily,” said Helen, laughing at the look of horror that spread on Lily’s face. “C’mon, Lils, I’m sure it won’t be so bad…”
“Oh. My. God. Is Dumbledore completely crazy or what? Why make him of all people Head Boy? The guy’s doesn’t even know what a Head Boy is! He’s the worst prankster this school’s ever seen along with Black, and Dumbledore makes him Head Boy ?! Why?”
“Hey, don’t take it out on me, girl, I’ve got no idea. I always said our dear Headmaster was completely mad.”
“This is going to be one long year…”
And though she had pondered about it for the whole night, she still couldn’t explain it to herself. Who in their right mind would make Potter Head Boy? He’d just abuse of his authority. It made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Lily had never liked James Potter much. She always thought him to be too full of himself, because of his talent on the Quidditch field or his brilliance in class. But these feelings of mere contempt had turned into full-time hate when, back in fourth year, Potter had decided that she, Lily Evans, was going to be his one and only love. Not that Lily had actually believed for one second that his feelings for her were true: Potter was also well-known around Hogwarts as a womanizer, who could have all the girls he wanted. Well, if that’s what she wanted with her, he was not getting it.
She thought if she just rejected him, he’d get tired of harassing her sooner or later. How very wrong she was! Because each time she turned him down, he would shake his head and smile his usual cocky grin, before asking her out again barely ten minutes later!
Why, of all the female student population of Hogwarts, a handsome boy like Potter (handsome? I meant obnoxious, arrogant, and foul) would ever focus his attentions on her was still a great mystery. Lily wasn’t ugly, but she definitely wasn’t as drop-dead gorgeous as a lot of other girls in school: she wasn’t very tall, with fiery red hair and freckles, and she was a bit too skinny for her taste; the only thing she liked about her appearance were her emerald-green, almond-shaped eyes, that she had inherited from her father.
“So, Evans, heard the great news, have you?” asked a voice that startled Lily. She had thought she was alone in the common room, but apparently someone had come in without her noticing. Unfortunately, he wasn’t exactly the person she wanted to see at the moment.
“What do you want, Potter?” she drawled, rolling her eyes.
“I asked whether you’d heard I’d be your partner in crime for this year,” he said, smiling smugly and nodding towards his Head Boy badge.
She stared at him. “Partner in crime? Oh, Potter, if you think I’ll let you abuse of the authority Dumbledore foolishly gave you for your stupid little pranks, or… or to hex whoever you want without getting in trouble, you’ve got no idea how very mistaken you are.”
“What? Oh, come on, Evans, it’s only the first day and you already accuse me of such crimes! Why, I haven’t even had time to do anything!” he replied, mock-hurt. “Plus, now that I’m Head Boy I really have to be responsible now, don’t I? Especially with you as Head Girl… aw, my pranking days are over…”
“Authority has never stopped you before, now, has it? I mean, if your friend Remus being a Prefect didn’t knock any responsibility in that swollen head of yours, why should us being Co-Heads make any difference?” asked Lily, raising her eyebrow.
“You never know, Evans. You’ll see,” he added, smiling. “So, um, Evans, I was meaning to ask you””
Lily rolled her eyes before interrupting. “No, Potter, I will not go out with you, now or never, and no, snogging you senseless is not my greatest wish at the moment.”
James stared. “That wasn’t what I wanted to ask you.”
“Oh,” replied Lily, blushing. “Well, at least I made that clear, didn’t I?”
“Sure did.”
“So… what was it you wanted to ask me?”
James screwed up his eyes in concentration. Then he relaxed, smiled his cocky grin at her, ran a hand through his hair (a thing Lily hated above all others), and said cheekily, “Nope, you were right, that was exactly what I wanted to ask you. Answer’s still no?”
Lily threw her hands up in frustration and didn’t even reply. “You’re such a prick. Will you ever grow up? Ever?”
Just then Black (another one of Lily’s least favorite people along with Potter) entered the room. He stared at the two in amazement. “Well?” he asked.
Lily and James stared. “Well, what?” Lily spoke up.
“Well, as in, ‘has the world stopped spinning or something?’,” said Black. When he continued to receive blank stares from the couple he decided to elaborate. “Come on, Prongs, you and Evans in the same room without her yelling at you… since when have you been doing that? Talking normally, I mean,” he added hastily.
Lily shrugged. “It’s too early in the morning, I can’t retaliate well like this.”
“Oh well, that explains it,” muttered Black. “Well, I’ll just leave you two to your talking, then. See ya at breakfast, Prongs.”
Lily got up from the couch she was sitting on. “No, wait, I’m coming too. I’ve already seen enough of Potter for today.” And with that she hurried down the stairs.
Once alone in the common room, James stared at Sirius, who was trying to hide a grin. He smacked him hard on the head. “You idiot! What did you do that for?!”
Sirius decided to play dumb. “That what, my dear friend?”
“Oh, stuff it, Padfoot, you saw it on the map that Lily and I were alone in here,” he muttered angrily.
“I did, did I? My apologies, Prongs, I did not mean to interrupt,” said Sirius, this time grinning openly.
“You sure as hell didn’t mean it. You’re such a jerk, for the one time she wasn’t yelling at me!” exploded James.
“I know, that was so weird! I had to make sure you weren’t doing anything else…” trailed off Sirius.
“You are a jerk.”
“Thank you. I do try.”
“Hungry?”
“Starving. Race you to the Great Hall.”
“You’re on.”
And with that, the two tore out of the room.
“Hey, Lily, what kept you so long? The muffins are cold by now,” said a tall girl with a round, friendly face.
“The usual idiot who won’t stop badgering me, Alice. Nothing to worry about,” retorted Lily, huffing.
“Oh? And what did Potter want?” asked Helen, who was seated on Lily’s other side.
“Like I said, the usual. You know, asked me out… it’s starting to get quite boring. I mean, the guy is just too predictable, you know?” She paused. “I wish he were more original than that: I mean, everyday it’s always the same story…”
“More original?” asked Alice. “I didn’t think you’d enjoyed it when he enchanted the ceiling of the Great Hall to read ‘Lily Evans loves James Potter’- with that disturbing graphic underneath it “ last year.”
Lily thought for a moment before answering, “No, Alice, you’re right. I guess I like him best when he’s not that creative.”
“Do my ears deceive me, my companion?” asked a voice from behind them.
“I daresay no,” answered Black, who was standing beside James. “I fear I too heard Miss Evans pronounce the words ‘I like him best’ referred to you. Quite unbelievable.”
Lily’s face was crimson. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Potter. The only way I’d ever like you would be if you’d completely lay off me, truth be told. But you’re too much a prick to figure that out, aren’t you?”
“Well, I don’t think that’s what I heard you say, my dear,” said James, smiling. “Was that what she said, Padfoot?”
“Nope, it wasn’t. I believe the words were ‘I like him bet when he’s not creative,’” answered Sirius.
“In that case I won’t be creative. I was already thinking of a very creative way to ask you out, but I daresay you’d prefer a direct question?”
“I’d prefer you shutting up once and for all,” said Lily.
“I’m afraid you can’t have everything,” spoke up Sirius.
“So, Evans, how about a little snog session in the broom closet on the second floor?” asked James innocently.
Lily got up and walked towards him. Alice and Helen, still seated, watched with interest. Potter just stared at her nearing form. “Pot”James,” she murmured seductively.
James stared at her, shocked. She had never called him by his first name before. “Y-yes?”
“Now, listen very carefully to what I’m about to tell you,” she continued, still talking quietly. She got even closer (something that made James clearly uncomfortable), so that her lips were barely an inch away from his right ear. “If you so much as say something else today about the two of us involved in anyway that isn’t our Head duties, I’m going to perform a nice little charm on you I’ve only just learned. It’s called Shrinking Charm. Unfortunately, I still have to learn its countercurse. Is that clear?”
She was still talking calmly and seductively, but James jumped back and stared at her in horror. “Y-you wouldn’t!”
She smiled serenely. “Do you really want to try me?”
James gulped. He stared down then back up at her determined face. “Fine,” he muttered, and stalked away.
Back at the Gryffindor table, Lily was met by rounds of applause by Alice and Helen. “Brilliant! That was absolutely brilliant!”
“I know. Should have done it earlier, shouldn’t I?” asked Lily.
“Oh no, today was perfect. I would’ve paid a hundred galleons for the look on his face!” said Helen enthusiastically.
Alice frowned. “Do you really think your threat is going to have him back off for the whole day?”
“No,” said Lily, “but at least I think I’ll be fine for a couple of hours. And I didn’t even have to waste my voice yelling!”
Helen smiled wickedly. “If he does say something, are you really going to shrink his… you know…”
Lily paused. “I didn’t really mean it, but it would be fun, just for the look on his face…”
And with another laugh, the three friends made their way to class.
A/N: So, how did I do? Does Lily sound less harsh and more Lily-like now? I hope I managed to make her less harsh but still cruel enough…. I’m not sure though… Anyway I really hope you like this chapter and please please review to let me know how I did, okay? Thanks!