By Dimantrien
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply…
Rating: PG 13
Dedication: To Patricia, because if she didn't do the Sorcerer's Stone for her book report in fifth (or was it sixth?) grade, I never would have found about Harry Potter and the marauders. (awwww, ain't that sweet -_-) Also to my other demented friends *gets whacked at the back of the head* OUCH! OK, I take it back, I do not dedicate this to any other friends who are not really friends. (lol)
Warning: I'm crazy! That is all…
Chapter 1: More than a Geek
"I think we should do a charm that would transfigure them all into monkeys as soon as they take a bite of the banana cake that the house-elves like to feed us so much…" Sirius Black suggested. The four marauders were in the common room, plotting a new prank to play on the Slytherins. As usual.
"Cool, but what if some of them don't like bananas? I don't blame them if they don't, I know that the house-elves could cook up a storm but when it comes to anything related to the banana, they're a different story," James said, shuddering slightly. He hated bananas.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Just because you hate them doesn't mean the whole of Slytherin house does too, Prongs," he said impatiently. "They'll eat anything and everything they can get their hands on, I'll grant you that."
Remus smirked. Sirius was always on the defensive when somebody opposed his brilliant (or so he claimed) plans. "It seems like a good idea, but what if they eat it at different times? Then the others will know not to eat them and some of them might even hex us since they know they're not going to turn into chimpanzees anytime soon," he said matter-of-factly.
Peter nodded vigorously. He didn't really do anything during their daily plotting, just nodding and agreeing and laughing whenever the other marauders said something funny. Actually, he really wasn't much use at all, but he stuck with them because of Sirius and James and along the ride had gained some of their social power as well.
For five whole minutes, James and Sirius argued about food and enchantments when Lily Evans and her two best friends, Celeste and Chase, arrived.
"Hey guys, what's up?" she asked them, looking at the still arguing James and Sirius and clearly finding out what was up.
Remus sighed. "The usual. They're fighting about the advantages and disadvantages of banana cakes," he said with a straight face.
Lily laughed and sat on one of the armchairs by the fire.
"I never knew that the merits and demerits of banana cakes held such a crucial role in practical jokes," Chase commented, sarcastic as always. James and Sirius instantly stopped fighting at once.
Celeste flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder. "Really, Chase, you don't know anything at all when it comes to organizing. If you want the operations to go smoothly then every single detail must be all planned out—"
"And I thought you disagreed with the way we do our pranks, Miss I'm-a-Little-Angel," Chase interjected in a bored voice. "You know James, you should just put a charm on the Slytherin table so they all get the urge to eat banana cakes at the same time. Allergic or not, enchantments always win over their better judgments."
James' eyes lit up. "Great! I didn't think of that! Hey Pete, we better go to the library tomorrow, we've got a lot of research to do…"
"Why me?" Peter whined.
"Because," Sirius said, in a peeved sort of way, "You hardly do anything in our pranks, and since you are literate, it's your job to read up stuff that we need! Okay then, once we get all the spells to perform the trick, we have to split them up to the different people who are best at them…James, I think you better do the spell that will turn them into monkeys, Rem, you put the Stopper Spell on the chairs, and Chase, you'll do the charm that you said a while ago, since it was your idea…"
Lily tuned out as Sirius drilled all the details into them, Remus writing down what he said furiously on a piece of parchment. She noted that a lot of girls were staring at the marauders. They were, after all, the most popular boys in the school. Almost the same number of boys was also gazing intently at Chase, Celeste and Lily. For some reason, a flashback occurred in her head, weeks of her first year in Hogwarts. She certainly wasn't popular back then, not at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite…
~~~MeMoRy SeQuEnCe~~~
Ten-year-old Lily Evans came home from school one day, lugging her huge backpack behind her. That day was one of the worst she had yet. She thought that getting perfect scores and acing all her classes would have done her some good, but all her life it had backfired on her. She was always being called a geek, a dork, a nerd, a dweeb…or any other name the other kids could think of related to a person who was really smart, and in their standards "uncool." It just wasn't fair.
On top of that, her older sister Petunia and her friends had once again mocked her to her face for the fifth time that day. Petunia was popular in their school, mainly because she was a trendsetter and one of the biggest gossipmongers Lily had ever seen. It didn't matter to Petunia that she was hurting her own sister, no. All that mattered to her was being on top of her image and having the power to squish a person's reputation by just saying a few harsh words. And enjoying doing it.
These were Lily's bitter thoughts. She banged the door hard as she came into the house. Thankfully, the house was deserted. A note on the kitchen table read: Went to buy groceries. Be back at 5. Love, Mum and Dad.
She sighed and stomped her way to her room. There was no need to finish homework; she had done all of it at lunch break. After all, what else was a geek supposed to but do assignments in school? Nobody would bother playing with her anyway. It was a good thing that the school year was almost over. She couldn't wait for summer, where she could get out of the house and away from Petunia and her stuck-up friends…and speaking of which…
The front door of the house banged open and a chorus of high-pitched female laughter followed. Lily quickly shut her bedroom door closed and locked it. No doubt she would be attacked by the Snob Squad if she didn't hide soon enough. She sat on the edge of her bed and tried to drown her sister's annoyingly gossip-induced voice from her hearing range.
Barely a second later, a large barn owl swooped into her window. She ducked, momentarily panicked at the thought of a mad owl flying around in broad daylight and choosing an innocent ten-year-old as its first victim of attack—
Instead, the owl sat, as still as stone, on her bed, an envelope tied to its right leg. Slowly, Lily straightened up and looked at the owl. She took the envelope from it and before she could open the message, the bird had flown back out.
She slit open the slightly yellow envelope and unfolded two pieces of paper on it. She read the contents, hardly believing her eyes. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore….Order of Merlin, first class…equipment needed: 1 pewter cauldron, 5 sets of black robes, 1 black pointed hat, 1 wand…
She didn't know how long she sat there, reading and rereading the letter. She briefly considered somebody pulling a practical joke on her…but it was too tricky…it had to be true…
Lily heard a car pull into their driveway and catapulted out of her bed. Her parents were very surprised to see their second daughter smiling so happily; usually Lily's expression was one of impassiveness to cover up the hurt she felt from school. They too were shocked that she was a witch, and Petunia, who had seen off the last of her friends five minutes ago and had listened in to the whole thing, was paralyzed with fear.
"Don't touch me, WITCH!" Petunia screamed when Lily made to hug her.
"Petunia Evans! Do not speak to your sister that way!" their mother said angrily.
"You should be proud, my dear," Mr. Evans added. "Honestly, a witch in our family, this is a great honor indeed…"
Petunia looked at them as though they were demented. "Mum, Dad, she's a witch! Don't you know what this means? She's a freak, she's going to turn us into cockroaches once we get her angry or something—"
"I would never do that!" Lily protested, horrified at the thought.
"Petunia! For the last time—"
"SHE'S A FREAK!!!"
"You're grounded!"
There was silence. Lily's grin widened, Mrs. Evans looked enraged beyond words, Mr. Evans' face was a mixture of pride for Lily and anger at Petunia, and Petunia was as white as one of the varieties of the ornamental plant she was named after. Without saying another word, she stalked up the staircase and slammed her bedroom door shut.
Mrs. Evans sighed. "I'm sorry that your sister isn't taking the news very well, dear…but we're really very proud of you, that's what matters."
"Absolutely," Mr. Evans agreed. "There's only a week left of school, we'll buy your things immediately after that so that you can get started on the feel of the magical world…"
And that was how Lily Evans found out that she had more to her than brains and the permanent title of "class geek."
*****
The summer passed quickly enough and before she knew it, she was pushing a trolley around in Platform Nine and Three Quarters. She had had a little help from a kind old witch that was outside the barrier, and now she was all alone, since her parents were what the wizarding world called "Muggles" and therefore couldn't enter the barrier because they didn't have magic in their veins.
Sighing, she found a compartment near the back of the train and waited for it to move. A minute later the train departed the platform.
She was just settling in when the door slid open and a boy with light brown hair and a pale complexion walked in.
"Sorry, but there're no more empty compartments in the train—is this seat taken?" the boy asked, pointing at the seat opposite Lily.
Lily shook her head. Sighing with obvious relief, the boy sat down and positioned his trunk at a corner of the car.
"Thanks. The name's Remus Lupin, by the way. You?"
"Lily Evans," Lily almost whispered. She wasn't used to people being this friendly to her before. Petunia had made sure she didn't have any friends.
"Nice to meet you Lily. Are you a first year too?" Remus asked. His voice was pleasant enough, but Lily had a feeling that he looked strangely tired, as if he had just been sick a few days before.
"Yes," Lily answered. "And I didn't know I was a witch until only two months ago."
"That's fine," Remus said, waving his hand dismissively. "We're all on the same level anyway. Even pure-blood witches and wizards our age don't know much yet about how to do real magic."
The two of them chatted all the way to the school. Nobody came to interrupt them in their compartment. Remus filled Lily in on stuff about the wizarding world, while Lily told him what it was like in the Muggle world and how they lived without any magic at all. They reached the school at nightfall and were led there through boats crossing a large lake.
"Wow…this is the school?" Lily breathed, looking up in awe at the magnificent castle whose exact size was immeasurable.
A young witch, maybe only about twenty-four, met them at the entrance. She looked quite stern and had square glasses perched on her nose. "Move along now, it is time for the Sorting."
After a brief introduction of the four houses and the point system, the witch, who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, led them in a straight line to a room so large that more than five hundred people would have fit comfortably inside it.
"This is the Great Hall," McGonagall said, "Where you shall have your daily meals and the banquets that we hold on special occasions, such as this one. Before you could eat, however, you must be Sorted into your respective houses.
A stool and a worn wizard's hat stood in the center of the Hall. It broke into a song about the four houses before the real Sorting commenced.
The list went through the "A's" first since they were being Sorted by alphabetical order. Lily watched all the students being sorted first with interest.
When they reached the "B's," she particularly admired a boy who strode confidently to the front when his name was called. "Black, Sirius," McGonagall had called him, and Lily noted that quite a number of girls goggled and swooned. Even the older years.
And the line shortened as "Bones," "Boot," and a bunch of other people were sorted. Finally, the "E's…"
First was a girl named "Eamon, Maxine." (ring ring ring ^_^ ) "Edenberry," "Elliot," and finally, "Evans, Lily." Lily strode nervously forward, all eyes in the Hall on her.
The hat went straight over her eyes. "Hmmmmm. Lily Evans. You are clever indeed…shall I put you in Ravenclaw?"
Lily bit her lip. If it put her in Ravenclaw, then she would really be known as a geek. Remus told her that Ravenclaws weren't really called nerds because they were naturally bright, but Lily knew that hers was a different story. It was always that way. She never wanted to go through that again.
No, Lily thought desperately. Don't put me in Ravenclaw…
"Not in Ravenclaw? Well then…" the hat said-thought. "What is this? I sense fear and anxiety in you, young Lily…"
Just don't put me in Ravenclaw…That's all I want… Lily thought.
"You might need to improve your bravery a little more…then I guess I'd better make you GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted the last word out loud and one of the tables broke into applause as she ambled to their table.
She watched the remaining students to be sorted. Her mind drifted to the food that McGonagall had promised would be served after the sorting and she caught only a few names being called. She was glad that Remus was sorted into Gryffindor too; he was the only friend she had so far. At least she thought he was her friend.
"McKinnon," "Nott," "Potter," "Prewett," "Quirrell," "Rosier." Her stomach started to growl as they reached the "S's." "Schoharie, Celeste" was obviously a rich girl, whose face was already enhanced with the right amount and color of makeup and had waist-long hair that was silky smooth. Her ears glittered with bright blue sapphires and she wore a matching pendant and ring. Lily's first impression of her was a snob.
I hope she's not going to be placed in—
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat announced, and Lily groaned inwardly as Celeste sashayed to their table. Right after her in line was a greasy-haired, large-nosed boy named "Snape, Severus." He was placed in Slytherin.
"Tarlise, Chase," was third to the last, and Lily was shocked to see as a girl who looked exactly like Celeste Schoharie, except for the shorter shoulder-length hair and makeup-free face, step forward and sit on the stool. She also was placed in Gryffindor, and after the last two had been sorted and the Headmaster had made a short speech, food magically appeared on their plates. Lily took a while to stare at the mouthwatering food that had appeared, apparently, out of thin air.
As she scooped roast potatoes onto her plate, she heard voices across from her. Celeste and Chase were sitting side by side, and now Lily was sure that they were twins. But how come their last names were different?
"Jeez, Celeste, you didn't have to wear a whole set of jewelry to impress people on the first day. Everyone's going to think you're a big snob," Chase said to her maybe-twin. Too true, Lily thought silently.
Celeste looked annoyed. "That's your opinion. But we'll see who'll be laughing once we find out who'll be more well-known in a couple of weeks."
"A race to popularity. How exciting," Chase noted dryly, and a few people near them, including Lily, laughed.
Farther down the table, Sirius Black was entertaining a bunch of girls who were swarming around him. He seemed to be rather amused with the attention. "Yes, Kylie, scoop up some more buttered corn onto my plate, you, Rachel, get me a roast chicken drumstick…"
The boy beside him, James Potter, had a hefty amount of admirers surrounding him too, but he seemed to want them to back away. "No thanks, I can feed myself just fine, you don't need to lead that spoon into my mouth. Why don't you all go to Sirius? He's more good-looking—really…"
Sirius flashed him a grin. "And well you know it Jamie boy!" he said as the girls continued to act like his personal servants.
Lily wondered for a second what it felt like to be that popular…all her life she was always on the bottom of the social food chain. She was treated like an outcast in her old school and since she was in a new one, she had a wild idea that maybe she could change…
"You holding up alright, Lily?" Remus said to her left. There was a lot of food on his plate, but it was nothing compared to the mountainous pile that was on Sirius Black's. A person opposite him wouldn't have been able to see his face through all the food.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Lily said quietly. After the feast, Dumbledore directed the prefects to lead them to their dormitories and the Gryffindor first year passed through intersecting passages, doors hidden behind tapestries and countless staircases. By the time they reached a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress, where they had stopped, Lily felt like all the weight she had put on after eating a whole lot in the feast was completely diminished.
The prefect said the password ("Gobbledygook") and the portrait swung forward, revealing a huge hole that everybody climbed into. The boys climbed a staircase to the left of the room and the girls were ordered to climb up the one at the right. When Lily got to their dorm, she noticed that her trunk was already at the foot of one of the beds. The other four girls, Chase, Celeste, Kylie and Sylvia went in too, Chase and Celeste arguing (at least Celeste was, Chase looked merely amused with a smirk on her face) and Kylie and Sylvia chattering loudly about the latest makeup products. The four of them fell silent as they saw Lily.
"Hello," Celeste said pleasantly, making Lily have second thoughts about the first impression she judged Celeste with.
"Yo," Chase greeted, raising her chin slightly in Lily's direction. "You're Lily Evans, right? It's nice to meet you." She held out her hand.
Lily took it, looking disbelieving. Here was a girl who was a lot like her sister's friends (except for the fact that she was tons friendlier),
shaking hands with her! It was so surreal.
"You too," Lily stammered. They changed into their nightgowns, Chase listening to her intently as she explained how the school system worked in the Muggle world. As soon as all five girls closed the hangings all around their beds and slowly drifted to sleep, Lily had a hopeful thought in her head.
Maybe she could change after all.
AN – See that button underneath the black line below this note? The one on the right of the Submit Review and dropdown button marked Go? Well, CLICK ON IT! I DEMAND YOU TO!!! Why should you, you say? Because…because…uh…BECAUSE I'VE GOT A KEYBOARD AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT! So there… -_-; Oops…I mean, because if you do, you would be making a seriously-in-need-of-a-psychologist lunatic happy… and that is a major accomplishment. So just click on the damned Go button already and type a review! I don't care if you write "It sucks," or "Get a life, Dimantrien" as long as it's a review! And yes, I am crazy, in case you didn't know that already…