Lily in Full Blossom
Chapter 01: The New Exchange Student
Pre-Author's Notes: This fic is based on the manga, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e also known as For You in Full Blossom. I had to change some elements from the Harry Potter story to make it work, so live with it. Yes, I am aware that some of the facts from the Harry Potter series is off, but I had to change it for the story. ^^ Please beware that this has not been edited by my beta reader.
Lily Evans rushed to class, hoping that she wasn't late on her very first day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardary. She was dressed in the standard boys uniform and lightly touching her fiery redlocks. She had recently talked her best friend, Arabella Figg, into helping her cut her hair.
She was registered at Hogwarts as Lucas Evans, an exchange student from America. Her parents were divorced and she had been living in America for a few years with her mother, while her elder sister, Petunia, lived with their father. She had come to the school for only one reason to meet a star Quidditch player who was her age: James Potter.
Today, being her first day, she didn't hold much hope in seeing him yet. She was just happy that she had talked her mother into letting her return to England. It was hard enough finding out she was a witch when she was ten, but even harder convincing her mother into letting her return to England. After reading so many wizarding magazines, Lily had learned that James Potter attended the school.
He was made a seeker on his second year at Hogwarts and played successfully for the two years, then all of a sudden he had stopped. Lily only came to England to see James play. But, why was Lily dressed as a boy? Why was she trying to pull off such a charade? Because she wanted to be his friend and get close to him. Lily thought that this was the best way.
Her first move was to return to England and meet up with her best friend, Arabella Figg, for the first time. They had only met for the first time because they were pen pals through an exchange program that their respective schools had offered. No one knew that Lily was a girl, except for Bella.
Lily had a bigger problem. She was running late for her first class, Transfiguration. She had taken a wrong turn and had unwisely asked for directions from a Poltergeist named Peeves. Lily had no choice, but to start running as soon as she got her bearings, colliding with someone.
"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Lily quickly. "I'm late for my class. It's my first day. I'm very sorry." It would have been a more effective apology had she not been fleeing the scene at the same time.
The person she had collided with picked up her bag and shook his head. He was headed back to his dorm for a moment because he had forgotten his notes for the Transfiguration class. Instead, he decided to go to class without the notes. If anything, he had to prevent the new student from getting lost on the way over to Professor McGongall's class. It was part of his duties as a prefect.
Lily yanked the door open the moment she entered the classroom, earning a disapproving look from Professor McGongall. "I'm the new exchange student. I'm sorry I'm late. My name is Lucas Evans. I got lost, and the ghost I asked directions from gave me bad ones," said Lily with some effort to make her voice sound deeper. She would have said something more, but someone had tapped her over the head with her book bag. "Ow! What are you doing?!" she demanded as she whirled around. Her jaw dropped as she stared into the chocolate brown eyes of James Potter. He was more than a head taller than her.
"You dropped this in the hall when you ran into me. There I've returned it to you," said James in a monotone as walked passed her to take his seat next to his best friend, Sirius Black.
Lily stood there stunned for a moment. Professor McGonagall gave her a disapproving look over her spectacles. "Mr. Evans, don't you think you should sit down?" she suggested.
"Of course," agreed Lily as her cheeks turned bright red. She walked up to the desk that was closest to her. It was next to a boy who had dark brown hair with light bluish-green eyes. "Is this seat taken?"
"No," he said. "Have a seat."
"Thanks," said Lily as she took a seat and looked over her shoulder at James Potter who was writing notes.
"Hey, do you need a quill? By the way, my name is Frank. Frank Longbottom," said the boy.
"My name is Li—I mean my name is Lucas Evans," managed Lily.
"So, you're the new exchange student from American, but you sound English," whispered Frank. "And you also sound like a girl."
"I'm a boy and I am English," she insisted, wishing that Bella was there. Bella was in Ravenclaw, while Lily was lucky enough to be sorted into the same house as James Potter, Gryffindor. Lily was one of the smartest students in her old school and her records were more than good enough to allow her transfer into Hogwarts. She also knew from news articles that James Potter was one of the top students in the school. There was no doubt that he would be head boy by his seventh year.
After a while, Professor McGonagall let them loose to work on transfiguring a mouse into a cat. During that time, Lily decided to try and talk to James who was busy talking with his three friends: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. He looked up at her.
"What do you want?" he demanded.
"Um…I just wanted to say that I want to be your friend. I transferred schools just so I could meet you," said Lily happily.
There came snickers from around the room. "I'm not interested in that sort of thing," said James. The snickering came from the boys, while the girls looked up.
Lily was feeling very crushed at the moment.
"Go away," ordered James.
"But I—"
"I said go."
"What's going on here? Mr. Evans, I suggest you get started on your transfiguration," said Professor McGonagall. Lily snapped to attention and went back to her seat. She felt embarrassed. She took out her wand and transfigured the mouse into a cat with a single try.
"Mr. Evans has done the transfiguration. Very good," complimented Professor McGonagall. Lily smiled again. She wasn't going to let what had just happened get her down.
As soon as class was over, Frank offered to show Lily around the school. He showed her the different places around the school and warned her about the tricks that Peeves pulled. He also warned her about Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris.
"You're a pretty weird guy," said Frank offhandedly.
"Am I?" asked Lily.
"Yes, you are. You look like a girl. You really do," said Frank. Lily had a denim vest to flatten out her chest. She was actually quite flat chested, but she still felt more comfortable with the vest on. Suddenly, she was attacked by a large dog. It was a massive dog.
"Fang!" shouted Frank as he tried to grapple with the beast.
"What is this?! Why is this dog attacking me?!" exclaimed Lily as the dog licked her face.
"That is strange. That dog only likes females," said Frank as Hagrid came to get Fang off of Lily.
"I'm sorry about Fang," said Hagrid.
"Are you alright?" asked Frank anxiously.
"Yes, I'm fine," replied Lily as he helped her to her feet. Hagrid took Fang away with him.
"And that was the Games Keeper, Hagrid. He'll have to come back to introduce himself after he's put Fang away. Gee, it is strange Fang didn't have a problem with you. I probably should correct what I said before, Fang prefers females over males. The only two males that Fang likes are James Potter and Hagrid. I suppose you're now one of his favorite people," explained Frank.
Lily laughed nervously. Fang likes me because I'm really a girl, she thought.
"Then again, you must look enough like a girl for Fang to like you," continued Frank. "But, I mean if you were a girl, you'd have breasts, wouldn't you?" He patted her chest as he said this.
Lily looked like she was going to scream for a moment. "Let's go to the Quidditch Field," he said as he walked ahead of her.
She looked down at her chest. Oh, good. He didn't notice. But, what a strange feeling.
*
Later in the afternoon, Lily returned to Gryffindor Tower to look for her room. It turned out that she was going to have to stay with a prefect because there wasn't enough room in the dorm for her. She wondered who she would have to share a room with. A good bonus was that the prefects had their own private bathrooms. They were small and cramped, but private nonetheless. Lily wasn't sure if she could take a shower or bath around the other boys.
She opened the door and found James Potter sitting on his bed. He barely looked up at her as she entered the room. "I'm sorry about that misunderstanding earlier. I just thought I should clear it up. It was a bad choice of words," she said.
"But, I wasn't wrong about wanting for us to be friends. I want to see you play Quidditch," she continued.
"I quit playing Quidditch," he told her.
With utter disbelief, she lunged towards him and grabbed him by his shirt collar. "How could you quit?!"
"I wasn't aware that I needed your permission to do anything," said James coolly.
Lily released him and shook her head. "You're right. It's none of my business what you do. I'm sorry," she quickly apologized.
James stood up and walked out of the room. There was something about the new boy he couldn't quite understand. The boy had a strangeness about him that James could sense, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
*
Lily sighed as she waited for Bella to meet her. "What's wrong, Lucas?" asked Bella as she took a seat next to her.
"My roommate is James Potter," replied Lily. "I made a really bad impression on him."
"You did? What happened?" asked Bella.
Lily told her the whole story. By the end, Bella was laughing so hard that she was clutching her stomach. "It's not funny!" exclaimed Lily defensively. She had come all the way from America to meet James Potter only to have it blown up in her face. She sighed.
"Are you going to practice with the broomstick racers today?" asked Bella, knowing how quick Lily was on a broomstick. She had trophies to prove it.
"I don't know. Probably just a short run," said Lily as she went off to the Quidditch field where Madame Hooche was waiting with the club members.
"Today, you are to take this broomsticks and race them as quickly as you can," said Madame Hooch. "Now mount your brooms."
Lily mounted her broom and launched into the air. The rest of the students, specifically the ones from the racing club, watched with wonderment. Madame Hooche walked up to her. "Mr. Evans, where did you learn to handle a broomsticks so well?"
"Uh…I just can. I'm Muggle born, but it's natural to me. I guess," said Lily distractedly as she thought about how coldly James Potter was treating her. She noticed that he barely smiled, even when he was with his friends.
"Hey! New guy!" shouted a member of the racing club. "Wanna join our club?"
Lily looked at them with shock. There was a whole group of them and they were vying to have her in their club. She looked at them and decided to make a run for it. She was a pretty fast runner and they weren't expecting her to run.
She ran around the castle as a group of them followed her. She made a dash for some bushes to hide from the mob. She knocked into someone again. It was James Potter. Great. Am I meant to go through life like this? thought Lily miserably.
He stared at her for a moment. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Um…hide me. Please. Don't tell anyone I'm here," she replied quickly as she ducked.
"That new kid's got red hair! How hard could it be to not notice where he ran off to? Hey you! Over by the bushes," asked one of the members of the racing club.
James shut his book and stood up. "Excuse me?"
"Um…Potter. I had no idea you were there. Have you seen that new kid? The red headed, skinny, and short one?"
"No. I haven't."
"Oh, sorry to bother you, Potter." The members of the racing club backed off and ran. Lily waited until they were gone from the bushes and stood up. She straightened up her uniform and dusted off the grass.
"Are you alright?" asked James. It sounded as if his patience was wearing thin, so Lily just nodded as she rubbed the dirt off her chin. He didn't say anymore as he walked off.
"Then why ask, if you don't care?" wondered Lily out loud as soon as he was gone.
"Ask what, Lucas?" asked Frank Longbottom as he crept up from behind her.
"Ah!" exclaimed Lily in surprise. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"I'm sorry," said Frank. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just ran from the racing club," explained Lily as she tried to make her voice sound deeper.
"My, my. What a first day you're having!" exclaimed Frank as he gave her a friendly pat on the back.
Lily felt herself stumble forward, but she quickly regained her footing. "Do you know anything about James Potter?" she asked.
"Uh? He's been acting differently since he came back this fall. He hasn't been hanging around his friends much. It's been quiet this year," said Frank. "I'm not that close a friend compared to Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Why?"
"He's my roommate," replied Lily.
"Really? I was wondering why you weren't in the regular dorms. I had no idea that we were that hard up for space. That must be the reason why he's annoyed. He had the room all to himself last year."
"I see." That had to be it. She was encroaching upon James' personal space. What she going to do? She was so distracted that she wasn't listening to Frank.
"I'm going to my dorm to change and do some homework. I'll see you at dinner," said Lily as she and Frank split up. She walked back to her room, but she had no idea that Frank stood there staring after her.
He's too cute to be a boy. He's actually very cute. Wait…a minute. What the Hell am I thinking? thought Frank as he shook his head.
Lily was almost there, but then she was intercepted again by someone else. It was a tall boy with longish brown hair and blue eyes. "Oh, you're the exchange student. I heard you were pretty cute," said the boy. Lily stared at him for a moment before she saw the gleaming Head Boy badge on his chest.
"Um…you're the Head Boy," said Lily.
"Yes, I am. I'm from Gryffindor like you. My name is Reginald Baker. You can call me Reggie. By the way, could you pass along the message to your roommate that there's a meeting for the prefects later this evening after dinner?"
"Yes, of course," said Lily. It was an excuse to talk to James. She walked back to her dorm and found James doing his homework. Lily walked up to him and cleared her throat. "Um…Reggie told me to tell you that there's a meeting for the prefects tonight after dinner."
James didn't nod or even acknowledge her as he went back to work on his astronomy chart. Lily sighed and opened her history book to read it. She couldn't blame him for ignoring her. She was probably the most annoying person he had ever met.
Another hour crept by before James stood up. He grabbed some clothes out of his trunk and went into the bathroom. Soon Lily could hear the sound of the shower. She sighed and placed the book face down with the spine open on her chest. It was going to be hard living with him. Maybe she should just give up and say that she was a girl. At least, she could have some peace.
Lily closed her eyes and fell asleep wondering how long James was going to take a shower. During that time, there came a knock at the door. Frank opened it slowly. "James? Sirius told me you had the notes from Astronomy. I can't read his handwriting. James?" Frank paused when he saw Lily sleeping on the floor.
He walked up to her. He's got long eyelashes like a girl. He looks like an angel, thought Frank.
James opened the door and a rush of steam came out of the bathroom. He looked at Frank. "What were you asking for, Frank?" asked James as he rubbed his hair dry. He wasn't wearing his glasses, but he could tell it was Frank.
Frank jolted up when he heard James voice. "Um…nothing. Nothing at all," stammered Frank as he made a mad dash out of the room after slamming the door close.
James sighed and walked up to Lily. He tapped her with his foot. "Wake up," he said.
"Huh?"
"The bathroom's free," said James.
"Okay," said Lily as she went to go and take a shower. She noticed that James wasn't wearing his glasses. He looked different without them. He was rubbing his black hair vigorously to get it dry. She got a change of clothes and went to the bathroom.
She changed out of the clothes. She was glad to be free of the vest as she hopped into the shower. She felt sore from all the day's activities. She felt the hot water warming her muscles.
James was done drying his hair. He realized that his glasses were still in the bathroom. He went to the door. "Lucas! My glasses are still in the bathroom!," he called through the door as he jiggled the door knob, unwittingly opening the door.
Lily's back was to him, but she stiffened up in surprise. James quickly slammed the door closed. He had his back against the door as he wore a shocked look on his face. He only saw her back and it was blurry. Yes. He didn't see anything.
"How could I forget that Lucas is a girl?" he said out loud.
Post Author's Note: There you have it. Yes, it's weird, but I wanted to something fun for a change of pace. How does James know she's a girl? He just does. I'll elaborate more later. What do you think? The characters from the manga correspond with characters from Harry Potter, so I may have to explain later on.
If you would like to reach me for further contact please go to http://remyelf.livejournal.com or sign up at my forum at http://www.dreamelf.net/forum. Or if you just want to learn more about For You in Full Blossom. I do not plan to follow the plotline from Hanakimi. I'll just borrow a couple points as I go.
However, I am still trying to finish the previous fic up. If you want to see more of this fic, please tell me so. Then, this part will be edited before the next part is added. Be warned, it may take a while before I'm done with the other fic. ^_~
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (For You in Full Blossom). I just borrowed these for my fic.