Lily and James the Prequel

"We wanted to see you get in a fight. The whole point was for you two make up!" one guy from the Ravenclaw table shouted.
"Idiot" Lily muttered.
"Hey, James, don't show up on the quidditch field until you kiss her!"Lily drained her glass of orange juice and left the hall.
"Well great, that's just what I need." James muttered.
"Aren't you going to go get her?" some Hufflepuff shouted.
"WHAT DOES IT EVEN MATTER TO YOU?"
"Well, several things. We don't really like you going out with Lily because she's really pretty, and we would all like to go out with her."
"No offense, James, don't take it personal. It'd be the same if it was any other guy."
"But, you see, as long as you're going out with her, you're unavailable for other girls, so we have free market."                                                                                                         "That is the craziest, most twisted thing I've ever heard in my life." James said.
"STUDENTS, PLEASE STOP SHOUTING ACROSS THE ROOM!" Professor McGonagall shouted, effectively shutting everybody up.
"Should I go after her?" James asked his friends.
"Yes." Remus said.
"Yes." Sirius said.
"No, make her beg." Peter said.
"Shut up Peter." both Sirius and Remus said.                                                               James went to his dormitory and got several sheets of different colored parchment. He transfigured them into roses and wrote a note for Lily. Then he attached it to an owl, who would bring it to Lily during divination. He hoped it would work. He had already found out in his young life that it wasn't good to be on the receiving end of the anger of Lily Evans. He briefly wondered what her full name was. He would have to ask once they were back on speaking terms.  During Divination James's owl did give the flowers and the note to Lily. She tossed them out the window. James decided by the end of class Lily hated him and Trelawney was getting weirder and weirder. She had some kind of 'vision' this time directed at James and Lily. She said, "Ah, The Prophecy will come true about you two. No matter how you fight and argue, you can't escape your fate. No one can. Quit fighting it."

After class was over Lily started walking out on her own. "Lily, please don't be mad at me." James said.
"I'm not mad anymore. I just don't care."
"Come on, that's not true. You can't just quit caring about your best friend."
"Yes I can."
"But you don't want to."
"Yes I do."
"Come on Lily. Quit being so stubborn. What's your full name?"
Lily smiled, "James, you're the only person who would ask that at a time like this."
"At a time like what? And you still didn't answer my question."
"Lillian Marie Evans."
"Cute."
"What's yours?"
"I'd rather not say."
"I told you my name."
"Will you be my girlfriend again if I tell you?"
"That's blackmail."
"So?"
"Fine."
"James Harry Potter."                                                                                                 "How sweet." Lily declared.
"So. Umm, Lily, please don't be mad at me anymore."
"I'm still mad, but it's only temporary. Just give me a little bit longer to cool down."
"Okay, how much longer?"
"Probably until after the quidditch match tomorrow."
"That long?"
"Don't push it buster."
"Alright. Well, I'll see you at practice tonight." James said, and reluctantly walked away from her.                                                                                                           Meanwhile, in Dumbledore's office....
"Minerva, we've got a major crisis." Dumbledore said with uncharacteristic worry.
"What Albus?"
"All of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh years know about The Prophecy. It is taught to third years in defense against the dark arts. I've already told Marzipan not to teach it until Lily and James graduate."
"Oh, dear, that is quite a problem."
"Yes. I think we'll have to call a meeting. I'll notify all of the teachers not to mention it. And we'll also have the choice of putting a memory charm on the older students or forbidding them to mention it to any third years and below."
"I think forbiding it would be the wisest choice. And hope they obey it. The Prophecy has always been regarded as the highest prediction ever."
"I agree Minerva. I'm also afraid they have already put it together. Remember the incident in the Hall. I believe it was a result of some Ravenclaws figuring it out."
"OH NO! You're right! We need to call this meeting immediately."
"Yes. I'll go tell the teachers immediately." Dumbledore said, and put a copy of The Prophecy in his robes.                                                                                                    "Ah, only Sybill and Morano left." Dumbledore muttered to himself as he walked down the halls. He reached into the pocket of his robes and felt the copy of The Prophecy was there, and pulled out a lemon drop.
Lily was walking behind the headmaster down the halls. It looked like he was heading towards the potion dungeon. She was personally headed towards transfiguration. He reached into his robes and when he pulled something out a piece of parchment fluttered out. Lily knelt to pick it up. When she looked up Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen. Lily put the note into her own pocket, promising herself she would return it to the headmaster unread.  Lily was in the middle of transfiguration, and she couldn't forget about the note. She finally took it out of her robes and covertly read it.
In the days when love is hard to find
One great love will rise above the land.
In the days when loves seldom lasts,
We will see a love splendid and grand.
This love, it shall never tarnish,
Staying bright and new.
These lovers, powerful they may be,
Strong separated, invincible united.
When these two procreate
This child will be powerful and great.
None of these shall have a superior,
No one to stop them.
They must guide eachother,
Wandering down their own path.
Stumbling over roots and rocks,
Catching each other when they fall.
Who will these great ones be?
The heir and the mate.
The stag and the fox.
The one who supplants and the flower.
What is this? The one who supplants means James. The flower means Lily I suppose. Fox and stag. My animagus is supposed to be a fox. James is a stag. That's us. It's talking about us. she thought to herself.
"OH MY GOD!" she yelled out loud as realization dawned.                                         "What's the problem Miss Evans?" McGonagall asked sharply. The whole class stared.
"Umm, nothing now Professor. I just suddenly got a sharp umm pain in my leg. It hurt very badly, but it stopped." Lily improvised.
"If that's all Miss Evans, please curb future outbursts."
"Yes ma'am."
"Now, back to illegal animagus....."  As they left transfiguration Sirius said, "That must have been a major leg cramp."
"Yes it was, wasn't it." Lily agreed, not wanting to tell anybody about the note.
"You mean it really was a leg pain?"
"Yes. That's why I said it."
"Well, I guess you'll just have to get Jamsers to massage it for you." Sirius said with an evil grin.
"Can't you ever be serious for once?" Lily asked with exasperation.
"I'm always Sirius."
"How cute. You know what I mean."
"Jamsers won't like it if you go around calling me cute." Sirius said in a whiney tone.
"I don't honestly care what Jamesers thinks at the moment. Why are you calling him that anyhow?"
"To make him mad."
"Figures."
"It does, doesn't it."  That night as the three Gryffindors walked down to the quidditch field together Lily asked, "So, oh great captain, do you have a master plan for defeating the Slytherins tomorrow?"
"Pardon?"
"How are we going to beat the snakes tomorrow?"
"Oh, yeah, I uh haven't really worked that out yet."
"You are pathetic, you call yourself our captain."
"Lay off Lily. My mind is otherwise occupied."
"With what oh great one?" Lily questioned, apparently not beleiving it.
"You."
"I should be the least of your worries. Who knows, Lucius Malfoy might turn out to be good, even though everyone knows he bought his way onto the team."                       "Lily." James said with exasperation, "What am I supposed to think about? Never mind, I don't want to get into it right now. About Slytherin, well, I guess we should probably work on the chasers the most. Cherry pick. Lucius is the seeker, so we're practically home free there. The snitch will have to fly down his shirt for him to be able to catch it."
"Sounds good." Lily agreed, making James stare at her with an incredulous expression.
The Gryffindors practiced hard that night, especially the chasers. This year they had perfected their cherrypicking skills. The chasers were definitely the team's strong point. Lily and James had developed the method in the beginning of the second year, and had worked on it lightly since. At the beginning of this year James and Lily had worked on it together extensively, then later brought in the third chaser.  The next morning Lily rose early to charm her hair back the normal color. This time she put highlights of Gryffindor gold in her hair. They went through classes as normal that day, but the whole school had an excited feeling. Gryffindor was in the lead for the house and quidditch cup. If they beat Slytherin they would seal their victory for the quidditch cup. It would be the first time in a decade. All they had to do was beat Slytherin. The game against Hufflepuff wouldn't even matter. James was getting more concerned as the day went on. He couldn't get his mind off of Lily. He though briefly of Snape's pick up line, "You keep running through my mind." Snape wasn't too far off base. The state James was in he wasn't going to be in any condition to play quidditch.

By the end of the day James was in a state of bundled nerves. He was nervous about the game. What if they lost? If they won they would win the quidditch cup the first year he was a captain. That would look good if he ever tried out for a professional quidditch team. He was also nervous about Lily. What if she didn't forgive him?

At seven o'clock they walked onto the quidditch pitch dressed in the scarlet robes. James shook hands with the Slytherin captain and the brooms were in the air.
commentary:
EVANS HAS THE QUAFFLE. FLINGS IT AT POTTER WHO TOSSES TO THE OTHER CHASER, CAN'T REMEMBER HER NAME. SCORE!                             twenty minutes later....
MY MERLIN! THIS IS THE WORST GAME I'VE EVER SEEN POTTER PLAY. THE USUAL PLAYS JUST AREN'T WORKING FOR HIM TONIGHT. GRYFFINDOR IS DOWN BY FIFTY. EVANS AND MOCK ARE CARRYING POTTER ALONG. OH, AND THERE'S A TIME OUT CALLED BY THE GRYFFINDOR CAPTAIN. MAYBE HE'S GOING TO GET HIS HEAD BACK IN THE GAME NOW.
"Lily, I need to talk to you." James said urgently once they had both hit the ground.
"What is it that it can't wait? We're getting our butts kicked out there."
"Lily, are you still mad about what I did in the great hall?"
"No, why?"
"I needed to know. I couldn't take it anymore."
"Don't tell me you called a time out for that!"
"Well I did. I couldn't take it anymore. Lily I missed you." James said, kissed her lightly, then signaled the team to get ready to play again.                                                            twenty minutes after that....
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! JAMES POTTER HAS MADE A ONE EIGHTY SINCE TIME OUT! HE IS PLAYING EXCELLENTLY NOW. SLYTHERIN HASN'T HAD THE QUAFFLE IN THEIR POSSESSION FOR MORE THAN FIVE SECONDS. POTTER AND EVANS HAVE EFFECTIVELY INTERCEPTED ALMOST EVERY PASS. AMAZING! GRYFFINDOR IS AHEAD BY TEN NOW! OH, THE GRYFFINDOR SEEKER IS GOING IN A STEEP DIVE! LET'S SEE IF HE CATCHES THE SNITCH. MALFOY WAS ADMIRING HIMSELF ACROSS THE FIELD, HE HAS NO CHANCE TO CATCH IT. AHHHH HE'S GOT IT! GRYFFINDOR WINS!               After the match Lily got changed as quickly as possible, ignoring Sirius's call of party in the common room, and rushed to the library. There was something she had to find out. It couldn't wait any longer, she would go crazy if it did. She scoured the rows of books until she found one entitled, "The Prophecy: The Guide to Our Saviours". The librarian wasn't there, so she wrote down the book and her name so it could be put in the records. Lily rushed to her dormitory, ignoring James's call, and started to read.                                 The Prophecy was written in the days of Merlin.  It was a prediction made of Merlin's teacher, Medophilin.  In later years, Merlin himself approved of it, assuring its accuracy.  The Prophecy basically announces that in modern times, such as believed to be now, that there will be two great lovers.  Greater and more powerful than the earth, that mean everything to each other.  With their love they can defeat evil.   The following is an in-depth description of the two.                                                                                      The male will have the name James.  James means the one who supplants, or takes the place of.  It is believed he will defend his love with his life.  From interpretations of  The Prophecy we have gathered he will most likely have the animagus of a stag and be an extremely powerful wizard, perhaps even an Sinnient.  He will realize his love early, but be afraid to admit it, and everybody but his love will know his feelings.

The lady will be named after a flower, and have an animagus of a fox.  She will never turn her back on her love, no matter how she wants.  She will have the power to take away the pain of her love.  While the man will bear the hardships of their physical life, such as safety, she will bear the burden of The Prophecy.  She will find out before she is ready by chance and her own curiosity, but know the right path.  She will know early her love, and declare it.

It is unknown whether one or both of them will be Sinnients.  These two will determine the course of the world.  If something should happen that severs their love, they will become extremely ill.  This would only happen if one of them takes back their vows of love. 

"Oh, no" Lily said to herself, "It is us. But it's wrong. Merlin and Metamucil was wrong. James doesn't love me, he's not the type to love. It doesn't matter if I love him or not. Why did I have to find that dumb note? Why, why, why, why, WHY?" she ended up yelling this last part and bursting into tears. Gina had come into the room as she had shouted the last part.
"Did my brother do something to you Lily?"
"No" she sobbed.
"Then I'll go and get him."  Gina ran down the stairs and found James in his usual crowd. "Lily. There's something wrong with her. She's crying."
"I'm there." James said, and took off at a run to the girls dormitory. Lily had put the book away.
"Lily, what's wrong sweetheart?" he asked, scooping her into his arms.
"I can't tell you."
"Yes you can. You can tell me anything you want."
"I can't tell you this."
"That's fine. You don't have to say anything you don't want to."
"Thank you James." she said, and for the second time in her life Lily Evans cried into James Potter's shirt.
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone.
The next morning Lily got up at six o'clock. That was when the library opened. She returned the book. As she was exiting the library the headmaster came in with a worried look in his eye. "So you read the book, eh?"
"Yes Headmaster."
"I assume you understood the meaning."
"That James and I are the ones discussed in The Prophecy."
"Yes, my dear. You hit the nail on the head."
"Unfortunately."
"How did you find out about The Prophecy in the first place."
Lily blushed and said, "You dropped it out of your pockets in the halls one day. I bent to pick it up and when I looked up you were gone. I wasn't going to read it, but I couldn't resist. I thought it sounded like James and I, but I wasn't sure. I had to know, it was driving me crazy."
"Poor Lily. I can see you had very little choice about this book. If you had asked any of the teachers they wouldn't have answered you. Will you tell James?"
"No."
"Very wise. Now run along. Breakfast will be at 7:30."  The strain of bearing her secret was nearly killing Lily. It became impossible for her to eat. She was too nervous, if she forced food down, it came back up. She finally stopped going to the dining hall. Sleep evaded her too. By the end of February she hadn't eaten or slept for two weeks. You may think it's impossible not to sleep for two weeks, well you're right, it is. Lily slept, but it wasn't the refreshing kind. She closed her eyes and saw James and bright flashes of light, causing sleep to evade her. If she managed to sleep, it was ridden with nightmares. Within those two weeks she dropped down to 95 pounds causing her friends to worry about her, but they didn't know what to do. She wouldn't talk to anybody.  Everybody was awed by the calming effect James had on her. She was jumpy when he was not around, but when he was near, she felt halfway normal. She looked frightened and worried all the time. She would only talk to James. Even in classes she stopped raising her hand. One day the inevitably happened. She collapsed in transfiguration.  McGonagall magiced her to the hospital wing and got Dumbledore. He came in before the nurse had made her announcement.
"No need for an examination Poppy. I know what's wrong with her."
"Then by all means tell us." Poppy said sarcastically.
"She is suffering from a combination of stress, strain, exhaustion, and unhappiness. She knows about The Prophecy. She read a book on it, and she knows it's them. I would've performed a memory charm, except she was meant to bear this burden. The only thing that can heal her though is James. If you would have noticed over these weeks, she will only talk to him, and he calms her down. She has to stay near him until she gets her strength built up and she can cope with the secret. She can take away his pain and he can heal her." "That's just what I would do. Put two adolescents together 24/7. One a 13 year old boy with raging hormones. Yeah, that's your best bet alright."
"Poppy, it may be uncoventional, but we are talking about the most powerful witch and wizard. Convention doesn't apply to them. He will have to stay with her, that's all there is to it."                                                                                                                              Poppy sniffed haughtily and said, "Very well, carry on with this fool plan, but don't involve me in it."
"Don't worry Poppy." Dumbledore said, and retrieved James. As soon as James sat down by Lily she woke up.
"See Poppy." McGonagall said triumphantly.
"James, you are going to have to remain close to Lily for the next few days. She has received some nasty news that must remain her secret. Please don't question her about it because she can't divulge the information she was privvy to. I will put a charm on you two, not allowing you two to be twenty feet apart. This goes through walls, so you need not be in the same room."                                                                                         "Whoa. Slow down." Lily said in a paniced voice.
"We're not going anywhere." James said smartly.
"Would you shut up? I can't stay with him 24/7! I'll go crazy! I can't take it! I need my privacy. Three feet of personal space in all directions! I'm clausterphobic. See, I'm going crazy. You're too close, everybody back up! BACK AWAY FROM THE BED."      "You'll have twenty feet of personal space to be exact." Dumbledore pointed out.
"But, I won't be able to leave anytime I want. I'll have to make sure he's with me all the time."
"That's a price you'll have to pay for health."
"Can't I just stay sick?"
"You could, but I assure you it would get old very soon."
"I doubt it."
"Very well. If you don't accept the charm you will be expelled. James, if you don't accept it, you will be expelled."                                                                                                 "Hey, I'm not the one with the problem here, it's her." James said defensively.

"Are you serious?  You would really expel me?" Lily asked with disbelief.

"I'm afraid so.  You can't resist it Lily.  Go with it." Dumbledore said, looking right into her eyes.  Lily flopped back onto her bed and said, "Yes Headmaster."

"Very well then children.  I knew you would see the light.  Lily, I will move your bed into the boy's dormitory.  I suggest you two get up earlier than usual in the morning, because one will have to sit outside the door while the other uses the bathroom."

"Hey!  No way!" James said.

"I'm afraid so.  Twenty feet."

"Fine." James said in a resigned tone.  He didn't care much for the idea of sitting and waiting on Lily to do all of her girly things.

Lily left the hospital wing an hour later, much to Madam Pomfrey's disgust. Lily then had oh so fun task of moving her stuff to the boys dorm. She was in the process of putting her books in a box that she could levitate when Gina and Adriana came in.
"Hey, Lil, whatcha doin'?" Gina asked.
"Looks like she's packing her stuff." Adriana observed.
"I can see that, I want to know why?"
"I'm moving to the boys dorms."
"WHAT?" both asked with amazement.
"I'm supposed to stay within twenty feet of James. Once I get my stuff moved into his dorm the charm takes effect."
"Wow. Too bad I couldn't have something like that with a hot guy." Adriana said.
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind being stuck to Sirius Black." Gina declared.
"I'm not expecting this to be much fun." Lily said ruefully.
"Naturally not," Gina said with a devilish grin. "After all, you're only going to be with your boyfriend 24/7."
"Exactly my point. Not much fun. Haven't you ever heard of absence makes the heart grow fonder?"                                                                                                              "Yes, but-"
"Well, we'll get tired of eachother withing the first two days."
"I doubt." Gina laughed.                                                                                                That night after supper James and Lily were playing chess.

"Hurry up and move." James said

"I'm analyzing all of my options." Lily said then started muttering to herself, "Let's see, if I take his rook with my pawn his bishop will get it.  On the other hand I could take his knight with my bishop, but then his queen could get me.  Ah, then my pawn can steal his queen."  She finally went with the latter choice, and James fell for it.  Lily had James's king in check twenty minutes later when the portrait hole opened, and in came the headmaster, McGonagall, and Lily's dad.                                                                                              "HI DADDY!" Lily screamed, and ran towards her father, who gave her a bone-crushing hug.
"Hi sweety. I heard you were sick, and I came to see you. I also heard about the er, circumstances around your recovery."
"A little unorthodox." Lily muttered.
"And that's why I want to speak to young Mr. Potter." Lily's dad said cheerily.
"OH, NO. Daddy, please, no. You don't want to talk to James. He uh, has a umm, special illness. Very contagious to muggles."
"Oh, come off it Lily. I can tell when you're lying." Logan said.
"Can you tell with everybody?"
"Yes. That's why I need to speak to James."                                                                 James walked toward Mr. Evans as if he was walking towards the executioner. Mr. Evans pulled him into a private corner and said, "Basically all I have to say is keep in mind the talk we had earlier. Remember that talk well. Lily is the kind of person that makes life worth living. Never spiteful without a good reason, and she forgives. The world would be a better place if we could all have her compassion and understanding, but we don't. So we have to protect the few like her. AND I DO NOT WANT HER HURT. That's all."
"Yes sir. No problem sir. You can count on me sir."
"James?"
"Yes sir?"
"Are you practicing to be in the Royal Navy?"
"No sir, not to my knowledge sir."
"Are you just being a smart alec then?"
"Not purposefully sir."
"Then PLEASE quit calling me sir."
"No problem Mr. Evans."                                                                                                As James turned to sit with Lily again the portrait opened again. This time Marzipan Evans walked in.
"Ahh, Logan. Long time no see. I heard a rumor that my little brother happened to be wandering these halls."
"Marzipan, good to see you again! It's been ages. Actually, Lily's tenth birthday was the last time you've been to the house."
"I know Log. It's been forever. I was surprised this year to see little Lily here near grown when I started teaching."
"So you teach here?"
"My first year. Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"That sounds rather interesting. I guess Lily takes after you more than me."
"Oh no Log. She's more like you than I care to recall. Just ask her friends, and I bet they could agree. She's just as forceful, willful, stubborn, and smart as you ever were."
"Thanks for pointing out my bad traits Pan." Logan laughed.
"Why don't you take Logan to your office Marzipan?" Dumbledore said with a smile, and the two brothers walked out.                                                                                          "Was that your father?" Peter Pettigrew asked in awe.
"Yes."
"He's huge? Is he part giant?" Peter continued.
"Not to my knowledge." Lily was amazed he put two words together to form a sentence.
"I forgot, you're a mudblood, you wouldn't be related to anything magical. I couldn't be either. I'm a pureblood you know. My family wouldn't mix with anything as unclean as giants."                                                                                                                              "I truly feel sorry for your parents Peter.  They must feel awful about raising such a despicable little boy.  If they don't, they belong in St. Mungo's.  And you would be a fool to want to be in your family." Lily said calmly, and made her move on the chess board.

"Really Evans, is that all you can say?" Peter asked nastily.

"Well, Peter.  The way I see it is that I can string together several words to make understandable sentences without stuttering.  You on the other hand stutter over your own name."

"You think you're such a hotshot just because you're going out with James."

"THAT'S ENOUGH PETER!" James yelled.  "WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU?"

"It's kind of my fault." Sirius said without remorse.

"Explain."

"I gave him a boldening potion.  To make him less of an introvert."

"Way to go moron.  You made him ruder than Severus Snape." Lily said.

"Evans, you should just butt out of our conversation." Peter said.

Lily walked over to him in his chair and put a hand on each of the arms, blocking any excape.  "Peter, listen very carefully.  I suggest you shut up, or I will hurt you very badly.  You will cry like a little baby."

"Yes ma'am." Peter said meekly.  Sirius had performed the countercurse for the potion.

"Good.  I'm glad we understand each other." Lily said sweetly, and sat back down.

At ten o'clock Lily and James took turns in the bathroom getting ready for bed, so James was asleep by 10:30.  Lily on the other hand didn't get to sleep until very late.  James talked in his sleep, Sirius was grinding his teeth, Peter and Anthony snored, while Remus actually slept peacefully.  She didn't know how anybody was supposed to sleep in this dormitory.  She ended up going to sleep with her pillow stuffed over her head.  She was rudely awakened by James all too soon.  "Lily, I'm going to take a shower now."

"Good for you." she mumbled.

"Twenty feet.  Remember?"

"Oh, yeah." she said, grabbed her pillow, and slept outside the bathroom door.  When he was done he followed Lily to the girl's bathroom, and sat outside the door.  Lily took a long cold shower trying to wake up.  It wasn't working.  After twenty minutes she gave up and started getting dressed.  Well by the time she got her hair fixed and makeup done another twenty minutes was gone.  It had taken her awhile to get the little baggies under her eyes to disappear.  From the occasional giggles she could hear through the door she assumed some girls thought is was funny so see James out there sitting in front of the door rereading Quidditch Through The Ages. 

James started hitting the door with the flat of his hand after 45 minutes, when two girls actually sat down beside him and started chattering about how awful it would be to play quidditch and get your hair windblown.  Finally, none too soon for James, Lily emerged. 

"Ready for breakfast?" she asked brightly.

"Yeah.  I thought you drowned in there."

"Naw.  Can you see the circles under my eyes?" she asked.

"No, why?"

"I got very little sleep last night between Sirius grinding his teeth, you muttering in your sleep, Anthony and Peter snoring, but thank God Remus can sleep peacefully."

"You get used to it." James said.                                                                                         "I'm sure." Lily muttered.  She didn't like the sound of that. That morning at breakfast Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement that was news to Lily, but apparently old news to most.  “Students, as you are aware, every four years there is the election of the Minister of Magic.  This year is an election year.  Since magicals under the age of 18 are not allowed to vote, Hogwarts will have a mock-election..  In each house common room there is a voting booth, where you may cast your vote.  In case you didn't know, the delegates this year are Anthony Potter, from Gryffindor, and Jackson Williams, a Ravenclaw.  Ironically, both graduated from Hogwarts in the same year.”

“Wow, you're dad might be the Minister of Magic?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, it's kind of a family tradition.  The oldest male in the family always becomes the Minister.” James answered.  Over the next few weeks, the school became tense over the events of the elections and campaigning.  Luckily, magical campaigning wasn't as dirty as that of muggle campaigning.  To relieve the atmosphere, one day in muggle studies, and announcement was made by their teacher.  “By permission of the headmaster, we will be traveling to a muggle field, and do a muggle activity.  We will try to catch fifteen crawdads each.  I'm not exactly sure how often they do it, but they do it nonetheless.  You will have twenty minutes to change into appropriate clothes.”

“Can we have thirty?  Lily and I will have to wait on each other.  Twenty feet.” James said.

“Yes of course.  Thirty minutes class.”

 Thirty minutes later James emerged with shorts, a t-shirt, and sneakers. Lily looked like she was going to the mall on the other hand. She was wearing nice khaki clamdiggers, a green sleeveles shirt and matching flip-flop sandals.
Everybody met in the entrance hall where they were handed a bucket. They went by floo powder to the Potter house, where they walked to a field on the outskirts of town. It was the only wizard place in walking distance to a field. They were given instructions as they walked to the field. The field turned out to be a huge lot of mud with holes, and already occupied. There were muggles there.
"I guess that means it's good crawdad weather." their teacher exclaimed brightly."  Lily directed James to a likely looking spot and proceeded to help him. She was an expert crawdad catcher. As they were walking she spotted one of her old friends. Jason. As they were walking to their spot Jason called, "Lil?"
"Hi Jason." she said.
"Hey, long time no see."
"Yeah, well, we better get to it James." Lily said, trying to walk off. They needed to get 15 crawdads each. They would get to eat them at the next class. Jason followed them.
"Okay James, here's what you do. See these little holes? Well, that's where the crawdads live."
"They won't hurt me will they? Not like blast ended skrewts?"
"No James. They have little pinchers on them though, but they won't seriously hurt you."
"Okay, good." James said. Jason was giving them funny looks. Actually, this would be enough to make the most stoic laugh. Around them, teenagers were sticking their hands in holes and asking what abilities these creatures had, and what kind of magic they displayed.
"Anyhow, either find a hole that is filled with water, or put water in it." Lily said.
"Oookkkayyy." James said slowly.
Lily did it first. She poured some water from the nearby creek into a hole, and a crawdad came scuttling out. She picked it up and put it in the bucket. "See, nothing to it."
James tried the same thing Lily did, but when he went to pick up the crawdad, it pinched him.  It hung on too.  James started shaking his hand in the air, with the crawdad hanging on tight and yelling, "Lily, help me!  It's going to eat me!"

"James, calm down." Lily said soothingly and grabbed his hand.  James didn't feel the pain after she grabbed his hand.  Lily felt the pain instead.  She pried the crawdad off of his finger and dropped it in his bucket. 

"What's wrong with you man?" Jason asked James.  "It's just a crawdad."

James didn't know exactly what to say, so Lily stepped in.  "James is from a very large city.  He's not used to this kind of stuff."

"I though he lived next door to you."

"Uh, he uh-"

"I haven't ever went crawdad hunting before." James answerd smoothly.

"Why didn't you just say so?" Jason asked Lily.

"No reason.  Come on James, we still need 28 more.  Do you want to work together and split the crawdads?"                                                                                                        "Yes." James said, and followed obediently when Lily tugged on his arm.  Jason followed too.                                                                                                                              "Way to go slick." James muttered in Lily's ear as they started walking.
"Well I'm not a practiced liar like you." she retorted.
"THERE'S ONE!" James shouted and scooped a crawdad off the ground.  After about ten minutes Lily took her shoes off, they weren't doing her much good anyhow.  The only problem with that was she slipped.  And fell.  In the mud.  With khakis on.  "Ohhhh no." she moaned.

"Way to go Lily." James laughed.

"Oh quit laughing and help me up Potter." Lily said.  When he offered her his hand she took it, and dragged him into the mud with her.  He fell on top of her, and she quickly rolled him over so he was lying flat in the mud.  Then they were throwing mud at each other, finally James said, "Aww, Lily quit.  Let's go start a mudfight with Sirius instead."                                  "Okay." Lily agreed, scooped up her shoes and bucket, and went after Sirius.  Jason, the little idiot, followed Lily besottedly.  James and Lily started pelting Sirius and Remus with mud, until they remembered the crawdads.  They stole all of Peter's 12 crawdads, 7 of Severus Snape's, 4 of Lucius Malfoy's, and found 3 each, so they had enough crawdads.  Then they started another mudfight.  Lily was still sliding around, and this time James caught her before she hit the mud, and gave her a muddy kiss.  His whole face was smeared with mud, like war paint.  Lily hit him in the gently head with her shoe again. "Hey, that was uncalled for!" James said indignantly.
"No it wasn't. You're getting me even muddier Romeo."
"In case you haven't noticed, you're already covered from head to toe in mud. I doubt that I'm making any difference." James pointed out. She looked cute in mud.
"I guess you're right." she said, giggling, once she had looked at herself.
"Lily?" Jason asked.
"What?" Lily asked.
"Can I come see you sometime this summer?" Jason asked.
"Umm, yeah I guess so." Lily said.
"Okay, great." he said, and left with his school.
"Students, let's go!" their teacher hollered, and they walked back down the road to the Potter's house. Strangely enough, James and Lily were the only ones covered in mud. Even Sirius was reasonably clean.
"How'd you guys get so many crawdads so fast?" he asked them.                                     "We stole them from people." James answered.
"Why didn't you ask me? I would've helped. I didn't want to catch these little things anyhow." Sirius said.
"Sorry pal, maybe next time." James told him.
"LILLLIAN MARIE EVANS! IS THAT YOU?" a blond head called from behind the Evans's fence.
"Uh, yeah Petunia." Lily answered.
"MUM!" Petunia bellowed, and the whole class stopped to stare at the recent development.
"Petunia what?" her mother asked.
"LOOK AT LILY! HER AND HER FREAK SCHOOL ARE HERE, AND THEY'RE COVERED IN MUD! HER CLOTHES ARE RUINED!"
"Petunia, it's not a big deal, I can just use a charm to-"
"Lily. I can't believe you. I thought we had finally got that tomboy streak out of you. You better watch it young lady or it's finishing school again for you." her mother said warningly.
"But MUM! We were crawdad hunting! How do you expect me to stay clean."
"I notice everybody except for you and James seemed to stay clean. That leads me to wonder what exactly you were doing."                                                                "MOTHER" Lily said in a scandalized voice, "I can't believe you would even think that of me!"

"Oh, Petunia has revealed your true nature to me." her mother said.

"Oh, so you believe Petunia over me now!" Lily said with disgust.

"Why would she lie about it?"

"BECAUSE SHE HATES ME!"

"There's no need to shout."

"I'M NOT SHOUTING!"

"Yes you are.  Now calm down.  I will forget about what Petunia told me, but your behavior better be impeccable from now on."

"Mum, let me get this straight.  You are mad at me because of what Petunia-Miss-Change-Her-Boyfriend-Every-Day said.  I on the other hand, am not in the slightest believable.  Is my father home?"                                                                      "Yes, dear, but-"                                                                                                     "DADDY!" Lily screamed at the top of her lungs.                                                           The Hogwarts students were looking at Lily with amazement. She was plainly angry, crossing her arms and tapping her left foot. Her dad came running outside.
"What is it princess?" he asked.
"Daddy, Mum is saying that I am a not nice female. Petunia told her this. You know it's not true. Please tell her."
"Debbie, Lily is the best daughter we could hope for. Petunia has been lying. I have some more information for this conversation, but it is best done in private." Logan said, eyeing the students.
"But Logan-"
"No buts Debbie. Petunia, come with us, and listen while I talk. See you Lily. Have a good rest of term."                                                                                                                "Uhh, well, are we ready to go then?" their teacher asked in a rather forced voice. Lily answered by tossing her muddied shoes in her yard and walking barefoot toward the Potter house. She followed everybody else toward the living room with a fireplace. The whole class had to wait while their teacher was talking to Mr. Potter. James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus were talking in a group when Lily thought she was being attacked.
"AAAhhhhhhh!" she screamed.
"Relax, Lily. It's just Minky again." James said.
"Oh, yeah, sorry Minky. I didn't see you." Lily said with embarassment. Two house elves were cleaning her and James off. Lily had effectively drawn the attention of the occupants of the room, and the elf apparently liked to dredge up old accquaintances.
"It's okay Miss Lily. Minky remembers when Minky scared Miss Lily when Miss Lily were living with the Potters here. Minky nearly scared the stuffing out of Miss Lily. Master James had to come in Miss Lily's bedroom to stop her screaming. Master James made Miss Lily not be scared anymore." Minky said this with apparent awe at Lily and James. "MINKY" James said in a warning voice.

"Sorry Master James.  Minky is not meaning to give away information you is not wanting divulged."

"It's okay Minky.  Could you just leave us alone?"

"Yessir, Master James sir." Minky said, curtsying and backing away.

"Sooooo, Evans was staying with Potter over the holidays?" Lucius Malfoy said with apparent delight.

"Oh, yessir.  Miss Lily, she is so kind.  She was so nice to Minky.  I hope she stays with Minky and the Potters some more. Miss Lily made Master James so happy while she was here.  And he led her around under the mistletoe, just like Mr. and Mrs. Potter." Minky said with delight.

"MINKY" Anthony and James Potter said at the same time.

Minky hit herself in the head, "Sorry Masters.  Minky is sorry.  She didn't mean to divulge Potter secrets.  Please forgive Minky."

"We'll let it slide this once." Mr. Potter said with a smile.

"Thank you master.  The Potters are so kind and forgiving of Minky.  I wish Miss Lily could be a Mrs. Potter just like Master James's mother-"

"MINKY!" Lily, James, and Anthony shouted, and the house elf rushed out.

"What a charming creature!" Sirius exclaimed.                                                               "Can we leave now?" James asked in a strangled voice.
"Yes, of course." their teacher answered, and one by one, the left the Potter house through the floo network.
Once Lily and James appeared at Hogwarts Dumbledore immediately said, "The charm has been lifted. You no longer need to stay near each other. Lily, your things are now back in your dorm."
"Thanks Headmaster." both echoed, and walked toward the Gryffindor tower after leaving their crawdads with the teacher.                                                                                      As soon as she safely deposited her crawdads, Lily ran to the girls bathroom to take a shower.  The mud was beginning to dry, and really itch.  After twenty minutes of scrubbing, she was clean, all except for her hair.  The mud was dried and caked in her hair.  She got dressed and asked Gina and Adriana to help her.  They were using some really strong soap, and it made her scalp burn.  The mud still wasn't coming out.  She decided to enlist the aid of James the hairstlylist and Sirius the salonist.  Surely those idiots could come up with some way to get the mud out.  She walked down the stairs to see James sitting at a sink in the common room, and Sirius roughly pulling at his hair.

“Can one of you try to get the mud out of my hair?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, I'll try.” Remus said, “Sirius is trying to get it out of James's hair.  That stuff stuck like glue.”                                                                                                                    “How comforting.” Lily said, and transfigured a sink for Remus to wash her hair in.  After an hour of vigorous scrubbing, Lily and James emerged with mud-free hair.  It was a miracle, considering who was washing their hair.  There was also a change in her hair. It looked slightly, er, different.
Her hair was umm, very curly. It looked like curly q's. It wouldn't have been so bad if her hair wasn't a rather interesting shade of purple now. Lavender to be exact.
"What did you do to my hair?" she asked in a panic.
"I don't know. I just used this shampoo Sirius gave me. It's completely not my fault." Remus said, backing away from Lily.
"SIRIUS BLACK! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Lily shouted, her purple curls bouncing.
"Wow, that shampoo wasn't supposed to do that!" Sirius exclaimed with genuine surprise.
"What do you mean?"
"It was only supposed to turn her hair purple, not make it curly too."                               Lily looked at James.  He had blue hair, to match his eyes.  Lily collapsed on the sofa and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" James asked, he hadn't seen his hair yet.

"You're hair!  It's blue!" Lily laughed.

"WHAT?" James asked, and snatched the mirror from Sirius.                                 "SIRIUS!  I'm going to kill you!" he shouted, pulled out his wand, and started hexing Sirius.  Fifteen minutes later, people were coming down for supper, and James and Sirius were still chasing each other around, throwing hexes at each other, Lily was lying on the couch, still laughing, and Remus was trying to get them to go to dinner.

Lily tried the laughter tears from her eyes, and went with Remus to dinner, leaving James and Sirius to their important hexing.  She received several stares at her hair, but nobody asked her about it.  Strange things always happened to Lily Evans.  Just look at her friends though, the biggest pranksters the school had ever seen.  The poor girl didn't have a chance. 

The rest of their third year passed quickly, and much in the same style.  Severus and Lucius grew to hate the Marauders even more.  They were in a waiting period for their animagus potion.  It would have to brew for eight months, then sit for two, and brew for a week.  They were going to boil it in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, then Sirius would let it sit at his house over the summer, and boil it for the week.  Then they would all take it when they got back to Hogwarts.  On the last day of term, everybody was sitting under the gold and scarlet of Gryffindor at the house feast.  Gryffindor had narrowly won over the Slytherins.  They had also won the quidditch cup, causing James to almost have a heart attack.  He was so excited he jumped around for a week.  James was already writing his resume to apply for a spot on England's National Quidditch team.  Everybody was happy except for the Slytherins.  Nobody cared who won as long as it wasn't the Slytherins.  Several people suspected there would be a student strike if they won again.                                                                                      The Marauders and Lily pushed throgh the barrier at platform 9 3/4 at the same time.  They got in the last minute goodbyes, and separated into different directions.  James and Lily went together, since their parents would either be carpooling or be standing together. As it turned out, their parents weren't there yet.  Lily and James took a seat on one of the benches, and tried not to look conspicuous with his owl and her cat, along with trunks.  They waited for about thirty minutes, and they still weren't there yet.  James asked worriedly, "What are we going to do?  I don't know how to survive in the muggle world."

"James, you're not going to start crying are you?" Lily asked.

"NO!  I don't cry." James said indignantly.

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