Disclaimer: Harry Potter? Not mine.
A/N: For all you people who read ch 4 and thought "what the hell?" because of the last little bit, I have uploaded ch 4 again so that I can get rid of the end part that totally ruined the story.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about then don't worry! All is well…I hope.
Chapter 4 - A bald head and Hogsmeade
Genius, James thought, I am a pure genius!
He had finally figured out how he'll shave off Snape's hair.
That day in Potions, his mind wasn't paying attention to Professor Reeve, (because he thought it was much too easy for him), so his eyes were looking elsewhere around the room. He saw something that sparked his attention. It was a label on a small beaker that read:
Use with extreme caution
Powerful sleeping potion
Yes, the idea was genius.
~~~
The lunch bell rang and the students went to Great Hall to eat. James checked his bag to see if a certain cloak was there. It was.
Before he walked into the Hall, he put it on and "disappeared"
Walking toward the Slytherin table, he took out a small beaker, stood behind Snape and when he was looking the other way, emptied the beakers contents into Snape's goblet.
That should do it.
James walked away with a pleased smile on his face and muttered, "James Potter strikes again".
Lunch ended and the Hall was emptied except for two boys. James was still there looking at Snape who was also still there. Snape had no choice; he might as well be dead. He was totally unconscious, asleep, and off in his dreams. His head was slumped on the table.
James smiled and walked towards him.
Just minutes later, Severus Snape, who was still dead to the world, was completely bald.
~~~
As James was walking to his next class, he thought he heard a few Slytherins whispering. Leaning closer, he heard, "where's Severus?"
James smiled.
~~~
By now, the entire school knew that Snape was bald. Apparently, Peeves had found him still sleeping in the Great Hall and shouted out in such a loud voice that the whole school heard.
"SNIVELLY IS BALD! SNIVELLY IS BALD! SLEEPING IN THE GREAT HALL! WHO DID IT, I WONDER"
Sirius was possibly the student who laughed the most, followed closely by James. Lily however was shocked beyond belief. She made her way to James.
"So, how'd you do it?"
"Lily, Lily, Lily, wouldn't you like to know."
"Tell me, Potter".
"I simply used a sleeping potion".
"Ah ha! I know it! I win, I win!"
"What do you mean?"
"You used magic and I specifically said, no magic. And if I'm correct, then I win because you failed to meet my restrictions in the dare, so therefore, I w--"
But she was cut off by James' hand on her mouth. The contact sent a few shivers in her body, which gave her a few goose bumps, but she let it pass without a second thought. She looked up at James who was giving a fake smile to anyone who heard what Lily said. She rolled her eyes; he obviously didn't want his reputation as the "bad boy" be ruined.
He took his hand off her mouth and asked, "Are you cold?"
"No, why?"
"You have goose bumps all over your arms", he said with real concern.
"I'm fine, it's nothing."
"Anyway", James said, "back to what you were saying before…I didn't use magic to do it".
"James, you said yourself you used a potion".
"Yeah, and?"
"And, a potion is magic".
"It is not".
"Yes it is. Would you find a sleeping potion in the Muggle world?"
"Well, n-no, but…"
"There you go. You did use magic".
"But I thought you meant wand magic".
"Did I say that? No. I meant magic in general".
There was a pause before James said, "but you gotta admit, the sight of a bald Snape is funny".
She burst out in laughter and so did James.
A few metres away, Sirius, Remus and Adrienne looked at James and Lily both laughing together.
It seemed like James Potter and Lily Evans were actually getting along.
~~~
So without saying a word, James and Lily had inevitably moved from the stage of enemies to being ok with each other. Heck, they might even be friends, but neither said a word as if it were a crime if one of them admitted it.
So, weeks passed, Christmas came, homework was given, essays were written and James and Lily were still playing Dare or Truth.
Both tried to come up with dares (it always was a dare, never a truth, just to prove themselves) that were a bit extreme.
However, neither of them could deny that they were in fact becoming good friends, and they found it a whole lot easier to hold a civil conversation and share a few laughs.
On their next Hogmseade visit, James, Lily, Remus and Adrienne forced Sirius to do the dare Remus had given him weeks ago.
"But I'm not even part of the game anymore!" Sirius whined.
"It doesn't matter", said James, "you still gotta do it".
"Oh come on!"
"Do you mean to say you are chickening out, Black?" Adrienne asked. She still had a grudge against Sirius.
"Chicken? Me? Never!"
"Then do it", said Remus leading them in to the Three Broomsticks, "ten butterbears in five minutes, go on!"
If he backed out, Sirius wouldn't hear the end of it. "All right fine, I'll do it".
They ordered the drinks and Remus said, "time starts now!"
Sirius lifted the drink to his mouth and forced it down his throat, gulping it all down.
3 minutes in and he had gone through five. Everyone, including him, knew it was futile, he would never finish. But he would still try.
Sculling the next all down, he reached for his seventh and did the same. Sirius now felt sick. Oh well, he thought, being sick is better than Adrienne teasing me for eternity.
"A minute left!" warned Remus, as Sirius forced the contents of the eighth in his mouth.
Sirius felt like vomiting now. He was drinking it so fast now that he could feel it coming up through his nose. But he didn't stop.
"30 seconds!"
Grabbing the ninth one, he didn't bother tipping it into his mouth but poured it roughly around that region with half of it dribbling off his chin.
"10 seconds!"
Sirius didn't stop to even breathe. He had to do this. Please let me do this. He vaguely heard something shouting, "8 - 7 - 6 - 5…"
Sculling the final butterbear so fast he was almost finished when he heard, "4 - 3 - 2…"
He could feel the burning at the back of his throat as he drunk. On 1, he slammed the glass on the table and screamed, "WOOHOO!! I DID IT!" He jumped up but fell right back down. He was not in a condition to do anything remotely sensible, including standing up. It took too much energy, which he didn't have.
"How do you feel, mate?"
Sirius' answer came in the form of the loudest burp anyone had ever heard. The girls shouted at him while the guys laughed.
"Well, love to sit around and talk but I'm just going to walk for a bit and enjoy the snow. Anyone care to join me?"
"No thanks Prongs, I think I'm too drunk to move", came Sirius' drained voice.
"And I think I'll look after him", said Remus, "So he doesn't burn the place down or something".
"It's too cold out there! I'm definitely not going!" complained Adrienne.
"Lily?"
"You know what? I think I'll go with you".
They all raised their eyebrows at this. Lily wanted to go with James?
"Because I love the snow", she explained to them. But she couldn't help but want to go just because she would be with James. As much as she hated to admit it, she had a crush on James Potter.
Silently, James cheered that she was going with his. As much as he hated to admit it, he had a crush on non other than Lily Evans.
"After you, madam", he said gesturing in the direction of the door.
"Why thank you, kind sir".
He opened the door for her and she blushed a little, "ever the gentleman".
"Only for you", he said in a joke voice but he really meant it.
Outside, a sudden wind blew their way and Lily shivered. James saw.
"You're cold. Do you want to go back inside?" he asked with true concern that made Lily blush again.
"No thanks. It just takes time getting used to".
She shivered again and James thought, now or never. Come on James, just do it!
He took out his coat and put it over Lily's shoulders.
She looked at him and their eyes locked for a moment. He quickly looked away and muttered, "take the coat, I'm not that cold".
"Thanks", she whispered.
James looked at her and laughed.
"What is so funny?"
"It looks like you're swimming in that coat. It's huge on you".
"May I remind you that it is yours?"
"Are you saying I'm fat?"
"No, just big".
"I'm offended!"
"Aww, little James! I'm sorry", she said in a baby voice.
"You better be".
They both laughed quietly.
Then something happened that made them both cringe.
An awkward silence.
It lasted for a while. They didn't know what to say.
"So…" James began then paused, "what do you want to do?"
"Um…well, I think we should continue the game".
"Right, yeah. The game".
"Ok so, who's up next? Oh, you are. Go on then"
"Dare or Truth?"
"Dare"
"I dare you to…" then an idea sprung into his mind, "I dare you, to fight back!"
"What? Fight back against what?"
"Me".
She was about to ask what he meant when suddenly, a large snowball hit her on the face. When she got over the shock of it and the coldness she looked and saw James with an evil smile.
"Ok, you did not just do that".
"Oh, I think I did".
"Well, you will regret it".
And then the friendly battle began. Snowballs were being flung from one to the other and laughter could be heard. Sirius, Remus and Adrienne heard it and looked out the window of the Three Broomsticks.
"Well, well, well, would you look at that. I think, my friends, that James and Lily have finally gotten over their hatred for each other", Remus said with a smile.
"Aww, they look so cute, flirting and all that. They really are perfect for each other. Everyone knows that. Oh, it looks like so much fun! Let's go join them", Adrienne suggested. She turned to walk out when Remus grabbed her arm, "I think we should leave them alone for a while. We shouldn't ruin it".
Back outside, James and Lily were still flinging snow when Lily started to chase after him. James smiled and ran with Lily in pursuit. A few seconds later, James transformed into a stag to run faster. Lily saw this in and ran even harder, but she couldn't keep up to a stag. She slowed and shouted, "Wait! James! Stop! Please!"
James knew he had an unfair advantage so he stopped and returned to Lily's side.
"Thanks", she said.
Then she did something that surprised them both. She started to run her hands along his short fur. Slowly patting him.
Even though he was in the form of an animal, they both knew that this action was something more than a simple petting.
He slowly transformed back and looked down into her bright green eyes. She looked up at his.
"What did you do that for?" James asked softly.
She didn't have an answer; she didn't know why.
His hand sought hers and he entwined his fingers with hers. She didn't resist and kept looking at him.
James smiled and asked, "Would you like a ride?"
"What do you mean?"
"Would you like a ride?" he repeated, "on my back".
Lily smiled back and nodded.
He transformed back into his animagus form and knelt low so that Lily could get on.
Once she was on, he slowly moved forward with Lily's hand around his neck. He felt Lily grow more confident and he began to run. She laughed and he felt comforted by her laugh. He had grown quite fond of it.
She squealed and he was smiling inside. He loved that only he could take her on a ride like this. He did a little leap and she giggled. Her arms then left his neck and she spread them wide, just enjoying the ride on his back.
When he stopped she jumped off and he transformed back into a human.
"Thank you, James, that was brilliant".
He smiled at her, his hazel eyes sparkling. He realized he loved to make her happy. He moved his hand up to her face and ran a gloved finger along her cheek. She didn't pull away.
Then they sat under a nearby tree and nothing was said, but the silence wasn't awkward. They had grown closer in those last few minutes than they had in the past 5 and half years they had known each other.
They sat under the tree for hours and neither of them minded. James closed his eyes and thought; I really do like this girl. Is that normal? Is this meant to happen? I need a sign.
Just then, Lily lowered and rested her head on his shoulder and took his hand in hers and James smiled. Thank you.
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