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“James Potter, you get back here this instance!” Lily Evans screamed at the hazel-eyed boy.
They had only just gotten off the Hogwarts Express to begin their seventh year and already James had found a way to torture her.
Lily was covered in some sort of paste, but she still wasn’t quite sure if it was disgusting food or bat dung. Either way, she was going to get back at James Potter.
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James had walked up to the Gryffindor dormitory with his three best friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew- all of whom were not only in on the prank, but had mischievous sides themselves.
“James,” Sirius said. “She’ll murder you in your sleep! Much better chance of that now that you two are sharing the Head’s dormitories,” he continued to laugh, almost wishing that James wouldn’t wake up alive.
“Oh please, Padfoot,” James retorted, using his friend’s nickname, “Lily doesn’t have a mean bone in her entire gorgeous body! Besides, she must know that I wasn’t aiming for her. Snivellus was right behind her! How was I supposed to know she was going to change directions?” James was referring to the outcast Slytherin Severus Snape, an enemy to the Marauders.
“I don’t know, James,” Remus Lupin, another friend, and the more sensible of the group said. “Lily looked really angry. I wouldn’t put it past her to hex you into Hungary.”
“Did she really look that mad?” James asked.
“Yes,” Remus and Sirius said in unison.
“She’ll get over it soon enough,” James remarked, trying to make himself believe the farfetched comment.
“I’ve gotta go,” James said, “Dumbledore’s going to show us to the Head’s rooms.”
James waved goodbye at his four friends.
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“Aaa!” screamed a frustrated Lily. “How could this happen again?” She had walked to the Girls’ Bathroom down the hall to wipe off whatever substance was on her.
“Oh, cheer up, Lily,” said Marlene McKinnon, a fellow seventh year and Gryffindor, “at least it isn’t turning you purple like last year’s prank.”
“Oh, don’t remind me!” Dorcas Meadowes cried. She, however, wasn’t helping Lily get the gooeyness out of her hair. Apparently, it was ‘too gross’ for her. “But nothing could be worse than the giant bubble gum incident in third year.” The three girls looked at each other and cringed.
“Listen to us!” Lily got up abruptly, leaving some of her crimson hair in Marlene’s hands. “We need to get back at him. This is the last straw. There has got to be some way!” Lily started pacing the stone bathroom, thinking. “Alright, what could we do to James Potter? Something so bad that he’ll get on the floor and grovel at our feet,” Lily’s pace began to quicken as Dorcas and Marlene exchanged worried glances: Lily never acted on a whim- everything was always thought-out and preplanned.
“Wait!” Dorcas cried suddenly. “I’ve got it.” Her big grin turned into a very mischievous one. “Lily, how many times would you say that Potter’s asked you out in the past year?”
“About a thousand,” Marlene snorted.
“Well, how long do you think it’ll be until James asks you out again?” Dorcas asked.
“Er…. Well, probably in an hour or so… but I’m not quite sure what you’re getting at,” Lily said, throwing a curious glance at Dorcas.
“Well, here’s the plan: You start dating James and-”
“WHAT?” Lily screeched before Dorcas could finish her thought, “Absolutely not!” Lily crossed her arms in defiance.
“You start dating James,” Dorcas continued, giving Lily a knowing look, “and then you dump him. You dump him so brutally that he’ll want to leave Hogwarts.”
“I couldn’t do that, Dory,” Lily said. Dorcas sighed and walked over to Lily.
“Look at yourself, Lily. You’re covered in Merlin-knows-what and it is all his fault.” Lily looked down at her new sweater and anger began rushing into her body, flushing her face and shaking her hands.
“You know what? You’re right, Dory. You’re right! I’m going to dump him straight on his ar-” Lily began.
“Lily!” The rational Marlene interrupted. “Lily, you can’t do this! You’re Head Girl and James is Head Boy! You’ve got an almost spotless record!”
“Arg! No, Marlene, this has to be the last straw. I am through with James messing with us. It’s not fair,” Lily retorted.
“Well then,” Dorcas replied, “the games shall begin tomorrow. Hmm… we need a codename. Um, Operation Dump?”
“Alright, alright,” Marlene said, obviously excited at the prospect of a codename, “I’m in. Ooooo, but only if you dump him on April Fool’s Day. In his honor, of course.” Marlene let out a faint giggle.
“Good, that’s really really good,” Lily said, her darker side slowly revealing itself. “No, Operation Dump is too…”
“How about…. Operation April Fool’s?” Marlene suggested.
“That’s it then!” Dorcas exclaimed. “O.A.F.. Oaf! Perfect Marlene, just perfect. We begin tomorrow!”
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Lily walked to Dumbledore’s office. She was to meet James and Dumbledore there so they could learn the location and password of the Head’s dormitory.
As she walked down the warm hallway, Lily felt ecstatic to be back home; her real home wasn’t really a home at all. She truly loved her parents, but her sister, Petunia, made her life so much harder; she often called her names and every ‘freak’ that came out of Petunia’s mouth hurt Lily more than she’d care to admit.
Hogwarts was filled with friends who cared for Lily; people who accepted her just the way she was: a witch. Why is it so hard for Petunia to understand? Lily knew jealously was partly the cause, but couldn’t her sister just be happy for her?
“Are you all right?” A deep voice asked Lily. She turned around and saw a boy with disheveled ebony hair walking towards her. It was then that Lily realized she had tears running down her face.
“I’m fine, Potter,” Lily said, trying to quickly dry her wet face, “allergies.”
“If you say so,” James said.
An awkward silence came between them and James didn’t know what to say. He knew that something was wrong but he wasn’t sure what to do about it, “Listen, Lily-”
“-Ah, you two are already here,” interjected Dumbledore. James looked over to Dumbledore and sighed at the sudden interruption. “Excellent, just follow me.”
Dumbledore walked down the opposite corridor and James and Lily walked with a quick pace to keep up. James looked over at Lily and could see that her eyes were still very red.
Lily could tell James was staring at her, but what was she to do? She looked over at him and watched as he averted his eyes quickly. The action made her even more upset and more tears spilled out of her eyes. She gave a half-hearted fake sneeze and smiled, giving a somewhat believable performance of allergies. James didn’t buy it though; he looked at Lily once again with intense concern.
“Well, this is it,” Dumbledore stopped abruptly. He turned toward to a portrait on his left. “Winston Mathem, Lily Evans and James Potter are the Head’s for this year. I trust you will serve them well,” Dumbledore smiled at the tall man with extremely dark features who sat within the portrait; he sported a smock and held a paintbrush in front of a seemingly blank canvas.
“Why, hello Professor! How are you today?” Winston asked with a large smile..
“I’m doing just fine, Winston. Thank you,” Dumbledore replied. “Now, James, Lily, this portrait works a little differently than other portraits at Hogwarts. Here, you must answer a question about either yoursel, or your roommate; that would by Lily for you, James, and visa versa. I assume you’ll explain the rest, Winston?” Dumbledore looked at the painter once more and then turned away, saying quickly, “Goodbye, Lily, James.”
“I bet I know more about you guys than you know about yourselves!” Winston chuckled and then began to explain the ‘password’ further, “Essentially, I will ask you a question, for instance, James, what is the color of Lily’s hair?”
“Well, red, of course,” James said matter-of-factly.
“Yes, yes, and that’s all there is to it. Now, the questions will be a bit more difficult. It is to promote the Head’s to get to know each other better. I trust you two will be just fine.” Winston smiled at the pair and then swung open the portrait.
The dormitory was unlike anything Lily had ever seen at Hogwarts. Everything was bright gold and crimson to represent that both Head’s were Gryffindor’s. In the center of the main room sat two couches, a cozy fire, a large desk, and bookshelves that lined the wall with every book imaginable. Across the room were two doors, side-by-side.
“Wow,” James breathed, “This is fantastic.” He walked quickly across the room towards the doors. Lily followed behind him.
“Whoa!” James said. Lily watched as he lifted a hand and began rubbing the front of the door.
“What’re you doin-” But Lily stopped mid-sentence as she noticed what was on the door: a snitch, engraved into the door and painted. It was moving around the front of the door slowly. Neither of them had ever seen anything like it. It moved like any regular portrait, but this was engraved into wood.
James was known to carry a snitch around, and she looked down at his pockets to see that he had one. Lily looked over to the other door and saw another engraving. It was of a Lily flower. It also moved, but only slightly. Its petals were slowly falling yet as each one fell, another one grew.
“That is so odd,” Lily said, staring at her own door now.
“Well,” James said, “shall we take a look?” Lily looked over at James who already had his hand around the doorknob. She grabbed her own door, turned the knob, and opened it up.
A beautiful room came into view with a large four-poster bed. All of her things were already unpacked and her trunk sat in the corner of the room. She around the large room and admired its beauty until her eyes rested on two other doors. She walked over to the one on the right and opened it to reveal a bathroom with a shower, bath. Combined with everything that sat in Lily’s room, she had everything she could ever need or want.
She slowly walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the other door. She put her ear to it and heard rustling noises. She opened it up and saw James moving his trunk to the other side of his room. He had not noticed her enter, and she smiled as she watched him pushing the trunk across the floor.
“Aren’t these rooms amazing?” Lily asked. She watched James’ head snap towards her and he smiled.
“Yes,” James said. They stood there in yet another awkward silence.
Lily broke it by saying, “Well, I’m off to bed then. It’s getting late.” James’ face fell slightly as she turned around and walked back into her own room, closing the door behind her.
Lily changed into her night dress and climbed into the most comfortable bed she had ever felt. She sighed slightly, falling asleep with the image of James in her head.
OAF: Operation April Fools by The REAL Weasley Twins
Chapter Notes: Enjoy!