Chapter 1: L.O.V.E and Iola are very different things.
I am waiting in the Dormitory. No one else is around. There are five beds, but I am the only one here. I pace up and down, biting my lip. I know there are first year Gryffindor girls, I saw them be sorted, but where are they? I was alone on the train, too scared to talk to the others in the carriage, alone at the feast, too scared to talk to the people around me, and now I am alone in the Dorm “ too scared to go and look for the others. Am I doomed to spend my years at Hogwarts alone? But suddenly, the door opens, and a gaggle of giggling girls come through. I sigh in relief.
I am Lily Evans, and I am a witch. I just thought I’d get that part out straight away “ it’s pretty important. It is my first day at Hogwarts, and I am completely overwhelmed. But at least the girls coming through the door seem friendly.
First comes a confident looking girl, with blonde hair, and blue eyes. Her hair is entwined with flowers. I smile at this.
“Hi! I’m Eve Chase,” she says, extending her hand. I smile, and stammer my name, taking her hand and shaking it. “This is Valerie, um, Harris?,” she points at a tall girl with dark hair, and quite dark skin, that has a bronzed effect to it. The girl nods in confirmation. Her eyes are very dark too. “And Ophelia ... Summers. It is Summers, right?” a small girl, with mousy brown hair waves at me, and nods too. Wiry is the word that comes to mind when I see her.
“Hello. Lily Evans. Uh, like I said. So, um, should we pick our beds?”
“Too late!” Valerie calls, already lounging out on the bed furthest from the door. We laugh.
“Well, this is mine!” Eve claims, jumping on the one next to it. Ophelia and I look at each other uncertainly.
“You choose,” I mutter. She shrugs and picks a bed. There are two left. “Do you think someone got lost?” I ask.
“They must be pretty stupid if they did,” Valerie chuckles, “There’s a massive sign on the door.”
“If they were late, they get last choice,” Eve points out, shrugging. Ophelia nods at this. She still hasn’t said anything.
I pick up my trunk and place it next to the bed further from the door out of the two. This seems to be the trend. I sit down uncertainly. The door bangs open and it makes me jump.
A girl with long, glossy black hair enters, laughing and dragging a trunk of her own. “The most funny thing just happened!” she gasps. “My cousin, James, he tried to get up the girls staircase, and it turned into a slide! The look on his face! He was terrified! I already love this place, don’t you?”
We stare at her. She seems so at ease, and I am slightly in awe of her. “What’s your name?” Eve asks, bluntly.
“Iola Potter. At your service. Hey, you guys nicked the best beds!”
“We weren’t sure if you existed or not,” Valerie tells her.
“Oh. Well, um, I seem to,” she says, laughing. I smile at her. Mum always says that people who don’t smile give off bad vibes. She smiles at everybody in the street, and it’s rubbed off on me. Not my sister though, Petunia. She glares. We get on okay, but since I was admitted to Hogwarts, and I found out I was a witch, she’s got ... scared of me. Which is odd, because she’s actually older by a year and a half.
Mum and Dad were so happy, though, that they bought me a cat. She’s a tiny, fluffy little grey kitten, with stripes. I called her Missy, and I love her. She seems a bit bonkers, though.
As I remember her, I jump, and open the cat carrier on the floor. She meows indignantly, and I cringe. I had let her out on the train, just for something to do, but she must have been stuck in that carrier all through the feast. I pick her up, and squeeze her to say sorry.
Ophelia gasps, “You have a cat? She’s so adorable!” These are the first words she has spoken.
“Who wants a cat?” Valerie says to herself, “Owls are so much more useful. That’s what all my brothers say.”
“How many brothers do you have?” Eve asks.
“Three. Two older, one younger. They’re in third and fifth year. They’re both on the Quidditch team, and I will be too.” She gets a dreamy look on her eyes.
“First years aren’t allowed brooms,” Iola says, pointedly.
Valerie sits up, fast. “I’m not stupid! I meant next year! I’m a Chaser, you see. They have two Chasers in seventh year, Howard told me, so next year they’ll have two places, and one is going to be mine.”
“Well in that case, my cousin, James, will play alongside you,” Iola says.
“Um,” I pipe up, getting their attention, “What are you guys talking about?”
“Quidditch,” says Valerie, as if I’m supposed to know what that means.
“Valerie, she must be Muggle-Born,” Eve points out, sounding sorry for me.
“Is that a bad thing?” I ask, my eyes round.
“Of course not,” Ophelia tells me gently. “It just means you’re not as used to the magical world as us. Although, I’m only half-blood. But my Mum and my sister Olivia have told me all about this place. Although, it was mainly Mum. Olivia was pretty busy ...”
“What’s your other sister called? Octavia?” asks, Iola, a note of sarcasm in her voice.
“I don’t have another sister,” Ophelia tells her, missing the sarcasm. “Anyway, Olivia is really busy a lot of the time. She’s so much prettier than me. So much better at everything.”
I detect that Ophelia feels quite oppressed by her older sister. “But,” I say, trying to get back to the point, “what’s Quidditch meant to be?”
“It’s a sport,” I am told by Eve. “On broomsticks.”
“Wow,” I breath. I probably wouldn’t be any good at it, though. Physical activity is really not my thing. “So, if Valerie plans to be on this Quidditch team, what do the rest of you want to do here?” I ask.
“I want to date as many boys as possible,” Eve says, laughing. I doubt she will have a problem achieving this goal.
“I want to show Olivia that I’m just as good as her,” Ophelia says, defiantly. Oh yes, she is most definitely oppressed.
“I don’t have a plan,” Iola says, “But I would like to team up with James and cause mayhem!”
“What good will that do?” asks Eve, scornfully.
“It will do me the world of good,” Iola mutters.
“What about you, Lily?” Ophelia asks.
I shrug, “I guess I want to learn as much as possible about this world.”
“Well, in that case, do you mind if we all copy you?” Valerie asks, and I am unsure whether she is joking or not.
“You know what would be so awesome?” asks Ophelia excitedly.
“If you could make chocolate into a gas form and then sniff it up like a drug?” asks Iola sarcastically. She is mostly ignored.
“If we all formed, like, a girl group ... an elite, sort of ... club,” Ophelia says, a misty look in her eyes.
“That’s a great idea!” Eve squeals. “What should we be called?”
“How about ... how about L.O.V.I.E?” I ask. I am instantly proud of this idea.
“Why?” asks Valerie incredulously.
“Because our first initials spell it. Lovie. L.O.V.I.E. Do you see?”
“You’re right!” Eve cries, clapping her hands together. “That’s so smart!”
Iola snorts. “Why would I want to be part of some stupid little girly club?”
“L.O.V.E sounds so much better anyway,” Eve says, almost too quickly. “Are you in, Val?”
“Only if you never call me ‘Val’ again,” she says. We all agree to this request. I am a little scared of this girl already.
“Are you sure, Iola?” I ask. I don’t want her to feel left out.
“Of course I’m sure!” she scoffs.
And so, L.O.V.E is formed.
It’s now sixth year, and things haven’t changed much. Valerie really did get on the Quidditch team. She’s so athletic that she gets up really early each morning to jog round the lake. Eve really did date as many boys and possible “ in fact, she’s still doing just that. She also continues to entwine flowers in her hair every day. The Professors had a problem with this ... frivolity, at first, but when she kept doing it, they eventually learned to ignore it. Ophelia ... well, she tried to prove that she was as good as her sister, but never really got there. She gets up early too, to claim the bathroom and go through an extremely long beauty regime. She comes out of it looking, if not pretty, then attractive. Anyway, now that Olivia has left to be Minister of Magic, or something just as brilliant, Ophelia is coming out of her shell more.
And Iola really did team up with James to cause as much mayhem as possible. As well as their friends Sirius, Remus and Peter. The four boys call themselves the Marauders, and she hangs around them most of the time. I guess they’re our equivalent, just male. In fact, when I think about it, they are. Eve is like Sirius Black “ he’s gorgeous, even if I don’t like him that way. I mean, I’m not blind. Valerie would be like James Potter, I think. Good looking, although not as much as Eve or Sirius, and very sporty. Ophelia would be more like Peter Pettigrew “ small, and quiet, and shadowed. Which means I must be like Remus Lupin “ academic, and sensible. Not traditionally good looking maybe, but not hideous.
You know, we did try and include Iola for a while, but really, when all you get back is sarcastic comments, you eventually get the message. So now we just ignore each other. Most of the time. There’s still the occasional remark from both parties, but that’s all. Nothing nasty. And anyway, it’s not like she doesn’t have any friends “ like I said, she’s perfectly fine with spending time with the Marauders. And even if we did think it was weird that she only ever hangs round with boys, has never had a girl friend in all her time here “ which we don’t. Think that, I mean “ it’s not like she would care. And it’s not like we care when she says we’re just some superficial girls, who need to pull our heads out of our “
Well, we don’t care what she says.
That’s weird, I was just thinking about Iola, and Professor McGonagall asked her a question “ we’re sitting in Transfiguration right now, and it’s boring. Wait, that wasn’t a question “ that was a telling off.
“You may excel in this class, Miss Potter, but I would prefer it if you did not pass notes to Mr Potter while I am speaking!” Oh yes, I forget to mention that Iola is a genius. It must be a family trait, because James is very smart too. And Sirius, but I don’t think they’re related. That’s just coincidence. As well as the fact that all three of them seem to be able to pass every class with high marks, without any effort. “Why can you not use your talents, and listen to what I am saying? You may learn even more, you may be able to use your ability constructively! Rather than on silly pranks, and gallivanting about with Hogwarts’ most troublesome foursome.” Sirius whoops at what he probably took as a compliment. The class sniggers. Except for us, since we can see past their immaturity.
“In short,” Iola says, sarcastically, “why can I not use my power for good, rather than evil?”
James laughs, and McGonagall frowns. “Detention tonight, Miss Potter, eight o’clock sharp.”
Ophelia, who is next to me, leans over and whispers, “She is such a freak sometimes.”
“I know,” I whisper back, “Why can’t she just be normal?” Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall has heard whispering, and looks up to see me leaning towards Ophelia.
“And you can join her, Miss Evans! Now, no one is to say another word!”
What? Me? Detention with Iola? How did that happen? I never get detention! James and Sirius turn in their seats and smirk at me. But they say nothing. Professor McGonagall has moved on, but I am still in shock.
Ophelia! I write on some parchment, Why didn’t you tell her it was you too?
She ignores the note, and is listening intently. Valerie shrugs at me, sympathetically. Eve mouths “Tough luck,” at me, also looking sorry for me. I have no way out.
Great.
AN: Well, how do you like it so far? If Lily seems a little OOC I’m trying to get away from how she is traditionally portrayed. You know, contradicting the statements “She is perfect in almost every way” and “She has amazing friends”. Not that I mind those fics “ I enjoy them as much as the next Lily Evans/Marauder-era lover, but I’m trying to do something different this time. But she does still have some aspects “ ie: she’s still booky. That’s why I love writing Marauder era so much ... the characters are already there, but there’s still so much room for experimenting. Anyway, thanks for reading, and please leave a review. The plot starts moving forward pretty quickly, and my beta for this fic ForbiddenLove (hi!) and little brother CheeseKing both say it’s good ...