Disclaimer: I don't own Hogwarts or it's students, no copyright infringement was intended, and I'd have to be twice my age and a great deal richer if I did.
Inside the Fairytale
By Zayne
If you were to ask any general student from Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, James Potter and Lily Evans were friends. If you asked a teacher or a Gryffindor, the two were rivals whose competition sometimes spilled over into open fights. In reality, James Potter and Lily Evans were acquaintances who both had good marks and Lily occasionally stepped in to stop James from hurting and bullying other students.
James Potter was a good-looking seventeen-year-old with untidy black hair and lively hazel eyes. He often got into trouble, but more often than not was able to sweet-talk his way out of it. Quidditch was his life, and no teacher had ever been surprised when he admitted he didn’t have his homework because he had been out flying. He had his fair share of girls, though he had not quite amassed the fan club that seemed to follow his best friend, Sirius Black, around. He had been born into a wealthy pure-blood family, and, as the only child of rather aged parents, was quite spoiled.
Lily Evans was a pretty witch with red hair and smiling green eyes. She was quite popular and considered very kind and helpful. She tutored students after lessons and always had her homework ready on time to hand in. She had dated a few guys, but usually ended it with ‘This isn’t what I’m looking for right now.’ She was Muggleborn, but her family completely supported her and she had proved quite adept at ignoring insults.
At least, that was the view the school took on the soon-to-be seventh years. In reality, they were quite different.
….
“Petunia, where’s my laundry?!” Lily Evans gasped, flying down the stairs and nearly colliding with her sister.
“Upstairs, where I put it every single year,” Petunia replied, exasperated. Why it was always this rushed and frantic, she didn’t know. It couldn’t be that hard to get ready the day before, could it?
“Thanks, ‘Tunia,” the redhead shouted, already halfway back up the stairs, leaving her sister shaking her head with wonder and more than a little annoyance.
Almost an hour later, the family of four piled into the car. Mr. Evans sped off while Mrs. Evans scolded her daughter. Petunia made gruesome faces at Lily, while both mimicked their mother, an event that had long since become a yearly ritual.
They finally screeched to a stop in front of King’s Cross station, and Lily jumped out, tripping over the side of the car and sprawling over the asphalt. She winced and rubbed her scratched hand as she stood up, and yanked her overstuffed trunk out of the back of the car, dropping it with a loud clunk onto the trolley Petunia had fetched for her.
“Thanks,” she gasped, starting to jog towards the station. Her family followed at a bit more of a moderate pace.
In front of the barrier between platforms nine and ten, her mother began to sob.
“Oh, my Lily, all grown up and going to her last year of school,” she cried into Lily’s shoulder, “Head Girl, and graduating…”
“Er… it’ll be ok, Mum,” Lily said, patting her mother’s back awkwardly.
“Oh, but Lily…”
A faint train whistle could be heard, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Merlin! Mum, I’ve got to go! The train’s about to leave,” Lily gasped, breaking from her mother’s embrace and giving her father and Petunia a quick hug, before dashing through the wall and, presumably, onto the train.
….
James Jordan Potter was tired. Very, very tired. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep and dream about the sixth year he had asked out the year before, Haylee Jamisson.
However, Mrs. Potter had made it quite clear this was not going to be the case.
“James, what are you still doing in there?” she screeched just outside his door, causing him to wince and cover his ears, “I woke you up and hour ago!”
“Sorry, Mum, I fell asleep in the shower,” he called back.
“Hopeless,” he could have sworn he heard her murmur, as a slight creaking told him she was walking down the hall towards the kitchen, away from his room.
He quickly pulled a small mirror out of his pocked and whispered, “Sirius.”
A young man’s handsome face appeared in the mirror, looking if he had just awakened.
“James?” he asked, blinking blearily.
“Sirius, you’re still asleep?!” he asked, slightly stunned.
The young man, Sirius, glanced at his clock and swore.
“Sorry, my alarm clock didn’t go off,” he apologized, fully awake, “And I’m used to either my mother or your mum waking me up. Having my own flat’s nice, though.”
“I can imagine,” was the envious reply, “but you’d better get packed and get over here. Mum’s expecting you for breakfast. She’s already livid that I’m not downstairs yet.”
“Well, you’d best get going, then. I’ll be over as soon as I’ve got my trunk packed. It shouldn’t take long, now that I can use magic!”
James nodded and slipped his nightshirt off and clothes on, before dashing downstairs towards the wonderful smells emanating from the kitchen.
“Thanks, Mum,” he said, grabbing a cinnamon roll greedily and piling toast onto his plate.
Mrs. Potter whacked his hand sharply.
“Have some manners at least, James. And when is Sirius going to be here?”
“Right now,” a familiar voice boomed from behind her just as she was drawn into a bone-crushing hug by the son she had, for all practical purposes, adopted.
“Sirius,” she said sternly, face softening only slightly.
“Where’s Mr. Potter?” Sirius asked, looking around.
“He had to go to work early,” Mrs. Potter said, only her eyes betraying her disappointment. James and Sirius instantly sobered.
It was well-known in the wizarding world that the mysterious murders, which had started ten years ago, were rapidly increasing in number, and Aurors were spending every moment of their time, aside from what was required for sleep and food, to hunt down the killers. It was a very serious threat, and everyone seemed to take it as such.
“Now, now, no need to talk about such depressing things just before you being your seventh year,” Mrs. Potter said brusquely, helping herself to toast and eggs, “It should be a happy day! After all, James, you are Head Boy! Oh, my little munchkin, I’m so proud!”
“Er… yeah,” James said lamely, mouth half full of bacon.
They finished their breakfast, Sirius and James yammering about things that, to poor Mrs. Potter, seemed to be nonsense, and piled into the old-fashioned car that had spent most of its years locked in a garage. Sirius had a great deal of trouble attempting to jam his suitcase in the boot, but thanks to a shrinking charm from Mrs. Potter, had finally managed it. James spent twenty minutes making fun of him for not thinking to do the same thing.
“So, James, thought about our beginning of the year prank?” Sirius asked, his eyes gleaming. Mrs. Potter frowned in the front seat.
“I don’t think I’m going to help with it this year,” James said, suddenly quiet.
“Ha ha, very funny. Now, tell me.”
“No, I’m serious. And don’t you dare go on about that. I’m Head Boy now; I really need to show some more responsibility.”
Sirius began to rub his ear.
“What are you doing, Padfoot?”
“Cleaning my ear. I think I’m hearing things.”
James Potter just shook his head and let the car lapse back into silence.
…
“Ginger!” Lily called, waving to the young woman with auburn hair and smiling grey eyes as she slid the compartment door open.
“EEEE!!! Lily!”
“All right, who gave you the chocolate?” Lily asked stopping and staring at the bouncing girl in front of her.
“What chocolate? I haven’t had any chocolate! Why would I have chocolate?! I don’t even like chocolate!”
“Well, obviously you’ve had some… I bet Black slipped it to you again.”
“Black? As in, Sirius Black? Why would he do that?” she asked, giggling madly.
“So you would act drunk in front of the entire school,” was Lily’s frowning reply, “I don’t know how you can possibly be so hyper all the time.”
“Me? Hyper? I’m not hyper,” Ginger exclaimed, now standing and dancing around the cramped compartment.
Lily just sighed, “I’ve got to go the Head’s compartment, and I’ll meet up with you later, alright?”
“See you Lily-kins,” she said in a singsong voice, bending down and digging in her bag for something to eat.
Lily left the compartment, shaking her head exasperatedly. Only Ginger could even get that hyper off just a bit of chocolate. She finally came to a stop in front of a compartment door labelled ‘Heads’ which she softly slid open.
“Potter?” she asked incredulously at the sight of familiar messy black hair.
…
“Well, boys, what are you doing?” Mrs. Potter snapped, “We’re here, out of the car!”
Sirius began pulling the trunks out of the back of the car, and James set off to find a few trolleys. He had almost reached them when a familiar brunette caught his attention.
It was his girlfriend, snogging the brains out of a sixth year Hufflepuff.
James Potter had never, in his entire life, been angrier. Looking around, he realized it probably wouldn’t be wise to do anything here, in a crowded station. However, once they got back to Hogwarts…
The Beginning of the Year Prank was back on schedule.
…
“Right, now that we’ve got all the details, I have to go meet the new Head Girl. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” James said, grinning wickedly at his best friend.
Remus Lupin, a fellow seventh year with sandy brown hair and toffee-coloured eyes, sat across the compartment, looking a bit anxious. A short boy sat next to him, looking outright terrified.
“Don’t be worried, Peter, we’ll make sure Snape doesn’t get back at us through you this time,” James said, noticing the small boy’s fright, “Right, I’m off, I’ll see you later,” with a coy wave, he left.
He walked down the corridor smiling and waving at the numerous friends he encountered, until he finally reached the front of the train. A compartment door that read “Heads,” in elegant gold told him where he needed to be, and he walked in.
No one was there.
Deciding that perhaps the Head Girl was late, he began to wander around the compartment. It was a great deal nicer than the regular compartments, he noted. The seats looked newly upholstered, and the wood was brilliantly polished.
He was just succumbing to the temptation to run his hands along the deep red velvet on the seats when the door opened behind him. Within a half-second he had spun around and found himself face-to-face with Lily Evans.
“Potter?” she asked, sounding angry.
….
Lily was stunned, to put her current state of mind lightly. Obviously, the headmaster had gone mad. What other reason could there possibly be to explain why James Potter, the school’s popular bad-boy, was standing in the Heads compartment, wearing the Head Boy badge.
“Hey, Evans,” he said calmly, smiling politely.
Noting that he was being polite and didn’t seem to be getting in any sort of trouble, Lily decided to take the nice-girl approach.
“Potter, congratulations on making Head Boy. I must admit, I’m surprised.”
“I thought they’d put my name on Moony’s envelope,” he joked.
With a slight grin, Lily said, “I suppose we’d best begin the meeting with the prefects?”
He nodded and followed her to another compartment, this one labelled Prefects in the same elegant scrawl.
The prefects were gathered around a table that one of them had, apparently, conjured for the purpose of playing Exploding Snap. A brunette girl was attempting to extinguish her burning hair, and a blonde boy was holding ice to his singed forehead.
The moment the prefects noticed their Heads standing in the compartment door, at least one looking thoroughly alarmed; they scrambled to clean up their mess and hide their injuries. Within a few moments, they were seated and cleaned up, and actually resembled the people one would expect to be prefects.
“Right, then, let’s begin the meeting,” Potter said, sounding completely unconcerned.
....
Many thanks to the amazing Arnel, who is beta-ing for me.