Chapter Two
I entered the Great Hall at the time I did every morning, about twenty minutes before breakfast ended, feeling a bit groggy. I must have looked a mess. I couldn’t sleep the previous night; I was too angry and I hated going to bed angry. So I overslept, more than I usually did, and didn’t have time to shower. My hair was everywhere, tousled and dishevelled, and my eyes half-open. Usually, I liked my hair messy. But I liked it a contained mess, something I had control over. That morning, even the best wizard couldn’t have controlled the cowlicks in my hair.
I was only vaguely aware of the whispers that broke out throughout the room. I didn’t really notice the disappointed look on some girls’ faces, or the relief on others that I had eyed in the past. I had that reputation, remember?
I could hear a distinct chorus of “I knew it” and “I figured as much”. Many of the guys looked pleased that their competition had been eliminated, but honestly, my eyes weren’t even open. One thing was for sure “ all of Hogwarts seemed to think that I was having a secret love affair with Sirius. Later that day, the rumours would escalate to people like Snape and Slughorn being involved. There would be talk of midnight rendezvous, secret affairs and illegitimate children (don’t ask me about that one!) by that afternoon.
Norah chuckled when she saw me. She knew I wasn’t gay, but found the whole thing quite amusing. I gave a weak smile in her direction, knowing we still had something.
Everything came rushing back extraordinarily fast as my eyes fell on Lily Evans. She was eating a piece of toast, and reading The Daily Prophet, a small smile dancing on her lips. I couldn’t tell if she was actually reading the paper and smiling because of something in it, or listening to the various conversations around her. I concluded that it was the latter and the anger flooded through my veins. I really wanted to hit her, her red hair and green eyes. I HATED THOSE EYES!
I had never been so angry with anyone in my life, let alone a girl. But she was awful! She beat me at my own game and I didn’t like it. She completely ruined my reputation and dignity. Everyone thought I interested in blokes! It wasn’t fair; and she didn’t even care. I wanted an apology and a public statement admitting that she lied. Of course, being fifteen, I didn’t care that she just did the same thing we were attempting to do.
If Sirius and I had achieved success, she would be the humiliated one, her prefect status mocked. But that was not the case. I didn’t give Evans enough credit. She was quick on her feet and smart, not to mention possibly as verbally gifted as me. She wasn’t as prissy as I had anticipated, but she sure was ruthless and knew how to bring a person down.
I ignored the Marauders and sat down across from Evans. At the sound of me setting my bag down, she glanced up for a second, only to return to her paper.
“Wild night, Potter?” she asked with a small smirk, her eyes still scanning The Daily Prophet. A few people around laughed and I immediately tried to smooth my hair down, which was odd, because I always did the opposite. One thing was for sure; I didn’t need anyone thinking a boy caused my messy hair.
“Actually, no,” I said, trying to sound stern and believable. “You’re a liar! You know that I’m not, erm, what you say I am! Why did you say it?” I asked angrily. Evans looked up at me with interest.
“I can say whatever I like. You and Black have an unusually close relationship. I just call them like I see them,” she said simply. My eyes narrowed in disgust. Yes, for once in my life, I was appalled. She was really cruel. How could a Gryffindor be that terrible? She didn’t even care that this would probably follow me until I die.
“You’re mean,” I said genuinely, because she was.
“I’m…mean?” she asked after a second, as if she didn’t believe was she heard. “That’s what you have to say, Potter? You think I’m mean?”
I nodded, hoping to have struck a nerve.
“All I wanted was an apology. I thought you had a little bit more integrity than to spread lies. Guess I was wrong.” I lied too. I didn’t really think she had more integrity, but I guess I might have expected it. She was a Gryffindor and everyone always raved about her kindness, charm and wit. I never saw it in her, but I figured it might exist, even if it was only a cover-up. Then again, she didn’t like me much, I don’t think.
“Integrity? When you start showing some respect toward everyone around you is when I’ll apologize!” she yelled, standing. I had never seen her so angry, which was strange, because I hardly said a word. “You’re just a stupid prat who thinks you’re better than everyone else because you can ride a broom. NEWSFLASH, Potter, you aren’t better than anyone. You’re just a rich git who has never had to work for a thing in your pathetic life.”
Evans was harsh. I looked her in the eyes for a moment.
“And sorry, but no one actually cares if you and Black have a thing. You think that you’re the centre of everyone’s life, but you aren’t. No one gives a damn about your dismal life, which will amount to nothing!”
Evans was gone; she stormed out of the Great Hall and left me there. Her words stung and once again, I was publicly mortified. The whole school was watching. How I despised Lily Evans! People cared about my life and me. I was important. I did need one thing though: payback.
“I HATE EVANS!” cried Sirius in the dorm later that night. “I really loathe Lily Evans.”
“If you hadn’t been wandering around after curfew, none of this would have started,” nagged Remus. Both Sirius and I spun around and glared at him.
“It wouldn’t have happened if Lily Evans wasn’t a two-legged monster!” I exclaimed. What was with Moony? He frowned slightly.
“She’s not that bad,” he said vaguely. I could see Padfoot’s eyes bulge out of his head. Neither of us cared if Moony knew more about her than us. She was the epitome of evil to us.
“Not “ that “ bad?” he breathed, shocked. “THE WHOLE SCHOOL THINKS PRONGS AND I CRAWL INTO THE SAME BED AT NIGHT!” he screamed.
“You do realize people are going to start thinking we’re involved,” interjected Peter. He certainly didn’t want that reputation anymore than I did. Moony sighed, obviously in a fix.
“Fine. What do you suggest we do?” Remus finally asked, giving into us.
“Hmmm,” mused Sirius, happy that Remus was in.
“What do we know about her?” I asked. We needed to start at the bottom, with simple information, before we could get sweet revenge.
“She loves school,” Padfoot suggested.
“You don’t really know that. That’s an implication,” Moony reprimanded. Padfoot rolled his eyes.
“Fine, we imply that Lily Evans loves school.”
“She’s good friends with Aletta Richmond.”
“But keeps to herself, in a way,” Remus added.
“Slughorn loves her and she’s really good in Potions.”
“She has green eyes.”
“She had red hair.”
“She’s popular.”
“She’s Muggle-born.”
Okay, so we didn’t know much about the girl. Well, I suspect Moony might have known more, but didn’t offer any information.
“She’s the only person, not in Slytherin, who doesn’t like us,” said Peter. That was true, but even most Slytherins loved us. They weren’t all bad actually; it was pretty much only Snape and his gang.
“Which makes her a weirdo, since it’s impossible not to like us,” I said cockily. It was like a light bulb went on in Sirius’ head. He put a finger in the air, as if saying ‘eureka.’
“Got it!” he exclaimed. “I have a plan.”
“Spill it,” I said with a grin.
“Okay. You said it yourself “ everyone likes us. We’re charming, we’re witty, and we’re handsome. So what Moony can do is ask her out!”
“What?” asked Remus, leaping from his seat.
“Just listen,” said Sirius, his hands in from of himself as protection again Moony.
“What kind of plan is that? And what would it do?”
“Listen!” Moony obliged and waited for the second half of Sirius’ plan. “Okay, since Evans likes Moony best, he’ll ask her to Hogsmeade. And then make her fall in love with him.” I didn’t follow the plan either. What was wrong with Padfoot’s mind? But, I still continued to listen silently. “And then,” he said excitedly. This was the grand finale. “You, Moony, will dump her!”
“I’m not doing that!” he cried. “There are so many things wrong with that plan. What happened to pranks and jokes?”
“Lily Evans is cunning and crafty. She’s smart and she’ll be expecting something like that. We need to go deeper than a prank. She’ll either stop the prank or won’t care about it. With this, she’d have to live with the fact that she fell for a Marauder.” Sirius did make a good point, I must say.
“I won’t do it,” Moony said flatly. That was it. It was Moony’s verdict and there was no swaying it.
Sirius turned to me. “Will you do it, Prongs?” I looked at him skeptically. I wasn’t sure. There was no doubt in my mind that Evans would date me, but did I want to spend a whole day with her and possibly more?
“I don’t know,” I finally answered.
“Come on! Then everyone will know we aren’t gay.”
“Why don’t you do it?” I snapped.
“I am occupied during the next two Hogsmeade trips. I happen to know that Norah isn’t going with anyone. It’ll be the perfect way to make her jealous. Besides, Evans is more likely to fall for you.”
“No she isn’t! What’s that supposed to mean anyway? That I’m Lucifer’s type?” I asked angrily. Everything was always pinned on me.
“No,” Sirius defended. “Well, yes. More than I am,” he continued after a pause.
“No I’m not! She called you good-looking.”
“She also called me gay!”
“Minor detail,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Look, are you going to do it or not?” Padfoot asked, annoyed. “You want revenge, don’t you?” I bit my lip, looking at the expectant faces of Sirius, Peter and Remus. Yes, I wanted revenge. I supposed Lily would have to be behaved on a date.
I knew it wasn’t a good idea. What good could I get out of asking Lily Evans out, the one girl I hated? The idea of getting her to fall in love with me and then dump her seemed like the bad romance novels my mother used to read. It was stupid and would probably never work. How could I charm a girl if I wanted to punch her every time my eyes graced her red hair?
“Unless you don’t think you can do it,” Padfoot said. That did it, and he knew it would make me do it. And it would make Norah jealous…
“Of course I can,” I huffed.
“Prove it,” challenged Sirius. He knew me too well.
“I will.”
So we schemed. Remus was hesitant the whole time, but he knew his true place. He knew that, at heart, the Marauders came first “ we were his family. And I don’t think he wanted to be known as the werewolf who likes male werewolves…
We decided that there would be about five dates needed, at least two snogs (I cringed) and at least three meaningful conversations, or “heart-to-hearts” and I would ask her out the following day. It was strange, because I still loved Norah. I was positive Norah was the one for me. But, then again, I didn’t have any reason to think otherwise. I dated a few other girls, but never got to know them, so in retrospect, Norah was the only girl I really knew. We were friends, and I didn’t learn until later that what one feels when one is young isn’t always the same when one ages and changes as a person.
That night I couldn’t sleep. I wondered how Lily would accept my invitation to Hogsmeade. Would she smile and whoop with joy, or say ‘of course’ politely? I hoped she wouldn’t be too bad on the date or that she wouldn’t nag or rant about school.
Light Up My Life by KASK
Chapter Notes: Thanks again to my Beta, Preethi!
The chapter is Never Surrender by Corey Hart. And that's exactly what James has in mind. :]