Operation Crowd Control

CH. 1- The Discovery

Lily opened her eyes and briefly looked out the window next to her four-poster expecting to see the lake iced over and snow falling. When she didn't see anything she closed her eyes again and rolled over sleepily.

Someone said her name abruptly.

“What?” Lily asked groggily.

“James has pranked you again Lily,” called one of Lily's best friends, Keira, from below.

Lily sprang awake, surprisingly quick for someone who had been dead asleep a few moments before, and became aware of obnoxious laughter coming from somewhere below her. Lily looked around and suddenly realized why she hadn't been able to see out of her window: she was no longer in her dorm.

Currently, Lily was in the Gryffindor common room, her bed levitating above the Gryffindors that were now laughing at her, namely James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin (who was not laughing, but rather looking on disapprovingly). Other various Gryffindors were gathered around watching; James' and Lily's rows were well known for being entertaining and there was usually a good display after one of either James' or Lily's pranks.

Lily sat back on her bed calmly and quietly issued a spell. As soon as the words left her lips, her bed fell out of the air harshly and James and Sirius had to duck out of the way to avoid being crushed.

“You know, Potter - I'm disappointed in you,” Lily said, in that same calm manner.

James' smile faltered a bit and he looked perplexed.

At James' silence, Lily continued. “You've done this prank at least five times. I mean come on Potter; I could've thought up a better prank in my sleep.” Now Lily was getting off her bed and shrinking it so that she could easily get it back up to her dorm. “And it's not even a school day, so I don't care about being late,” she said, levitating her bed back to its resting place in the girls' dormitory.

“What are you trying to say, Evans?” James asked with his brow furrowed.

“You've lost your touch Potter,” Lily said venomously. Some of the onlookers gasped. Lily turned her back on James and walked up the staircase to her dorm.

There was a prolonged silence among the Marauders.

“She was bluffing,” James said confidently. “She had to be…,” he said, revealing much more doubt.

“I don't know Prongs,” Sirius said with a thoughtful frown. “Your pranks have been getting kind of tired.”

“No they haven't,” James said defensively. “What about the prank I pulled on Snape the other day?”

“You mean the one where you jinxed him so that whenever he came out of the school, the snow on the roof would avalanche onto him?” Peter asked.

James nodded.

“Yeah, he has a point; that was a pretty good prank,” Sirius said.

“Maybe it's just his pranks on Lily that are lame,” Peter suggested.

“They are not lame!” James said angrily.

They ignored him. “Yeah, I think you're right Wormtail,” Remus said.

You could almost see a light bulb click on above Sirius' head. “I think that's exactly right,” Sirius said teasingly. “The reason Prongsie's pranks suck when it comes to Evans is because he is suddenly starting to see her as the fiery red-head that she really is and now he is too busy thinking about her to focus on anything really important like pranks; it's because Prongsie fancies Evans,” Sirius said with the air of a man who has just found the cure for cancer.

“I don't fancy Evans you wanker!” James said, apparently appalled at the accusation.

“No, it all makes sense now,” Remus said looking from James to Sirius. “The way he always manages to find a seat next to her in class and rumples his hair when she's around. The way he always forgets what he was saying when she walks by and that dazed look he gets in his eyes when she says something to him,” Remus said, once again ignoring James and talking directly to Sirius.

“Shut up, Moony! I do not fancy Evans!!” James yelled, making several second years nearby start.

“Ah, but Prongs, we think you do,” Sirius said mockingly. “Just admit it Prongs, you can tell us that you fancy her.”

“But I don't!” James said firmly. But he wasn't able to block out the doubtful voice in the back of his head that said, “Or do you?”

A/N: There's the first chapter. Tell me what you think.