Identity
By: FreckledIrishMaiden
Chapter 2: Surprise
Posted: 19-07-05
Summary: Lily Evans is quite an ordinary girl with an extraordinary secrete. Unbeknown to her fellow Hogwarts students, Lily is a member of The Imps, the biggest rock sensation in the wizarding world. Join Lily on her quest for love, friendship, and identity. AU.
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On one bright sunny Tuesday morning a week after term had ended, Lily Evans sat up and stretched, smiling to herself. It was the summer holidays, which meant no school and no tormenting Slytherins for a whole ten weeks. The pretty, petite redhead got up and took a long steamy shower before she quickly dressed and towel dried her loose ringlet curls.
"Morning mum!" Lily said while grabbing some toast from the kitchen table and flopping herself down into the nearest chair. "Don't forget, I'm taking the family out to dinner tonight."
"Lily dear, that's nice of you, but you don't have to," Mrs. Evans protested.
"I know, mum, but I want to. I like doing things for my family, not to mention I'll be leaving on tour in just two days!
"Okay, Sweet pea," Mrs. Evans resigned. "But you already paid off our mortgage and our cars. How many times do I have to tell you to save the money for yourself?"
Lily just rolled her eyes, "Mother, you know perfectly well that I have plenty saved for myself. Now, I really have to be getting off to rehearsal with the boys. I'll see you around four." Lily grabbed her guitar from where it sat in the corner and kissed her mother goodbye before dashing out the door.
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There is nothing in the world Lily enjoys more than playing her guitar, writing, and hanging out with her band mates. They didn't treat her any differently than they treated each other. They treated her like one of the boys, and Lily loved them for it.
"Okay guys, I think that's a wrap, everything sounds pretty good. But Lily, you need to pick up the tempo on your solo in Compromise," the Imps' manager Christopher Wood said while beckoning everyone over. "Now," his eyes gleamed. "I have a surprise for you," Chris paused for effect. "You won't be touring alone this summer."
"What are you talking about Chris? Whom would we tour with?" Benjy questioned while popping the cap to his coke bottle on a nearby table.
"Well, there is this new group that I hear is climbing the charts quite rapidly, this will be their first tour. I hear they are quite the heartthrobs with the young witches. Maybe you know their hit single, 'Prank the World?'"
Lily visibly paled and dropped down on the sofa across from Chris. "Hold on, you can't mean The Marauders. As in James Potter's band?" Chris just nodded, in puzzlement. "Oh you've got to be shitting me," Lily groaned.
"No, I can assure you, I'm quite serious. All the papers are signed; it's a done deal. I hear from the Marauders' manager that they are thrilled to get the chance to tour with you guys."
Lily grimaced at the thought of spending her entire summer holiday with Potter and his best mate, Sirius Black. Chris decided to ignore Lily's reaction to the news and continued on to tell the band about the rest of the week's schedule, which included meeting The Marauders, leaving for London, and promoting their new record, and giving a few autographs. As soon as Christopher was done giving his spiel, he strode out of the room leaving the band to their own devices.
Gideon patted Lily on the back, "Don't worry about it Lils, it can't be that bad, especially since Potter won't know who you really are!"
Fabian nodded in agreement, "He'll just see you as Ella, a fun, saucy rock star. And if he tries anything with you, we'll break his neck."
"That's right, so you just remember to have a good summer and don't let him ruin anything. Lily just smiled at the boys, they really knew how to make her feel better, threatening to break a guys neck for her. She gave them all a quick hug before heading home.
Later that evening, Lily enjoyed a nice meal with her family. It would be the last supper with her family until the end of the summer and the end of the tour. Lily had a good time despite the fact that Petunia remained silent the whole meal while occasionally throwing a few glares Lily's way.
It was upsetting to Lily that her sister disliked her so much. It had all started the first time Lily went to Hogwarts six years ago. Lily and Petunia used to be very close. They spent their childhood playing make believe and talking about how they would meet their prince charming. But Hogwarts created a gap that could not be bridged. Petunia became jealous and felt left out; she didn't want Lily to have something so special and different in her life if she couldn't as well. The gap just continued to widen when Lily and The Imps got their record deal. Petunia became hostile toward 'Pretty Miss Perfect Lily.' Lily often missed her sister and the relationship they had once had.
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Wednesday morning, Lily woke u and prepared to say goodbye to Lily for the next three months. After her shower, Lily slowly transformed herself into Ella Vinys. Lily hated transforming and yet loved it at the same time, she was freeing her self, and aloud to act and behave how she had always feared to at Hogwarts. She stated the transformation process with her eyes. With a wave of her wand, Lily's vivid green, almond shaped eyes became the shocking blue round eyes of Ella. Next, Lily's perfect, loose ringlet curls changed into sheets of perfectly straight hair. Then Lily's face was wiped clear of all freckles before Lily's beautiful auburn hair became a dark brown, almost black color and went from her shoulder blades to just below her chin into more of a bob.
With her transformation complete, Lily threw on some old cut offs, a tee shirt, and a pair of thongs before grabbing her guitar and rushing out the door at the sound of Benjy honking in the drive. Outside, Benjy was waiting in his brand new convertible 'vette. Benjy, with his star status and connections, had managed to get a never before driven '59 corvette in black and silver. Lily grinned at Benjy sitting in his car; it was a nice ride. After Lily hopped in, the two 17 year olds speed off for the studio.
"Lil, I don't know how you do it," Benjy commented at a red light.
"Do what?"
"You always manage to look fantastic whether you are Lily or Ella." Lily smiled; she knew she loved the guys in the band for a reason.
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"So, didn't you guys go to Hogwarts? A year ahead of us, Gryffindor house as well?" James asked nonchalantly as he lounged on a couch talking to Gideon and Fabian.
"Yeah, that's right. And Benjy, our lead singer, he's a current Gryffindor 7th year," Fabian explained.
"What about the chick in your group? Ella?" Sirius asked, sitting next to James.
"I go to Beauxbatons. Seventh year," Lily walked in, removing her sunglasses. "Hi, nice to meet you, Ella Vinys," Lily extended her hand to Sirius in a very stiff business like manor.
Sirius eyed Lily up and down, "And very nice to meet you too," Sirius purred as he brought her hand to his lips. Lily rolled her eyes. Sirius was always such a Lady's man. Sirius quickly dropped Lily's hand as Benjy and Gideon came up on both sides of Lily and each laid a protective hand on each of Lily's shoulders. Lily grinned at her band mates, they were making sure Sirius knew not to mess with Ella early on.
Ella and Benjy continued to introduce themselves to The Marauders- James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin. When James was introduced to Ella, he had a strange feeling that he had met her before, but he couldn't quite place her. He just shook off this feeling, assuring himself that he had never met someone from Beauxbatons before. There was no denying The Imps' guitarist's good looks, what with the striking contrast between her dark hair, pale skin, and shocking blue eyes. Lily on the other hand had to be very careful not to grimace as she shock hands with James Potter. Lily had decided that she was going to really try to pretend she had never met any of The Marauders before, and to do this, she had to, with difficulty, push all the grudges and prejudices she had against these four boys for six years to the back of her mind. It's a good thing Lily has a good sense of self control.
After a rather long meeting with the mangers of the two bands and the concert organizers, the teenagers were left to themselves to socialize. "Okay, to make sure this summer goes smoothly, and to make sure I don't have to murder anyone, I'd like to set down a few ground rules," Ella said, all business to The Marauders. "First off, no one except me touches Rickie. And I mean nobody, that is my baby."
"Who's Rickie?" asked Peter curiously.
"Oh, that's just what El calls her Rickenbacker 360-12," Fabian answered nonchalantly. "It's her guitar of choice."
James, who has been sitting in a chair, balanced on the back two legs, fell forward with a thud, awestruck. "You've got a Rickenbacker 360-12? As in the same guitar that George Harrison uses?!" Lily just nodded; she couldn't help but grin at the look on his face.
"Oh, thanks for reminding me Li… Ella. And don't anyone touch my 4001S-LH. You do and I chop off your fingers, one by one, the muggle way," Fabian threatened.
James started gaping like a fish, "There are two Rickenbacker in your band?" James paused when he saw Benjy gesture to himself. "You have a Rickenbacker too? That is so not fair. I have yet to find a shop in the UK that sells them, and I ordered myself a 325 Capri months ago and I still haven't gotten it!" James pouted.
"Yeah, that's the problem with ordering those American guitars, it can take up to six months to get it delivered. But we all bought ours when we were on tour in the states last year," Fabian said.
"Hey James, you can use my Capri until you get yours, I prefer my Fender Stratocaster," Benjy managed to say before James started exclaiming his thanks.
After everyone in both bands finished listing off their pet peeves and ground rules, the group dispersed to their own homes. Lily had to admit that James actually hadn't been that bad or cocky. It was actually fun talking to him about music. When Lily arrived home, she carefully placed her guitar in the corner of her room and decided to finish her packing for tomorrow. Tomorrow, they would all drive up to London in a bus. Lily got goose bumps from her excitement. She could already hear the crowds in her head.
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"I know mum, I'll miss you too. I'll call and I'll write but I've got to go now. The band is waiting," Lily managed to say through her mother's tight embrace.
"Okay, bye dear. Have fun… but not too much fun. Don't drink, and don't do drugs," Mrs. Evans said to her youngest daughter, Lily, as she got on the bus and waved.
An hour into the two hour bus ride, Lily was doing some homework. She might as well finish it sooner rather than later since after this bus ride, Lily knew she would neither have the time nor the motivation to do homework. Dimly, Lily registered the fact that someone had sat down across the table from her. "Whatcha doing?" James asked while trying to read what Lily was writing upside-down.
"Homework," Lily replied absently.
"My, my, we're studious aren't we?"
Lily just shrugged, "Might as well get it done with now so I don't have to worry about it later."
"So it looks like you use the same books as Beauxbatons as we do at Hogwarts. Hey, that even looks like the same assignment Professor McGonagall assigned us," James said, taking Lily's scroll to better see it. "Yeah, it is, but you have number ten wrong…"
Lily cut James off. "How do you know I got number ten wrong?" she demanded, relieved that James didn't find it suspicious that a "Beauxbatons student" was doing all her homework in English.
"Well, because Transfiguration happens to be my best subject, and… well, because I did this yesterday," James blushed, causing Lily to grin.
"Well, now aren't you the little studios one?" Lily laughed. "James Potter, I thought you never did your homework. Oh what this would do to your reputation…"
James groaned, "Please don't say anything. Wait, hold on a tic, how would you know that?"
Lily just smiled and covered herself. "Just because I don't go to Hogwarts does not mean that I've never heard of the famous James Potter and his pranks."
Now it was James's turn to laugh, "So you've heard of me? The famous, beautiful, Ella Vinys has heard of little old me. Well you obviously know about me, but tragically, I don't seem to know much about you…"
"Yes, well, maybe if you are lucky, I'll tell you a bit about myself… after you help me with my transfig. Homework," Lily grinned innocently.
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"Hey Ben, is that our Lils over there? Laughing it up with Potter?"
"No that's our Ella-" Benjy quickly glanced to make sure Sirius, Remus, and Peter weren't listening. "She told me earlier that she was going to give James, to give all the Marauders, a fresh start. She really wants this summer to go well and doesn't want her prejudices to ruin it for anyone. I guess she is staying true to her word," Benjy reported to Fabian while tuning his guitar and working on something new.
While James and Lily were finishing up the transfiguration homework, Sirius sat between Benjy and Fabian. He had an all too innocent look on his face, making Lily's band mates weary. "So, Ella over there- she single?"
Benjy and Gideon exchanged a look before Benjy said cautiously, "Yes, but you better watch it. We know your reputation with women. Unless she shows an interest in you, you better watch it. Besides, it looks like your best mate already staked a claim."
Sirius glanced over at James and Lily before replying, "Yeah, but James is to caught up on a girl named Lily Evans to be too interested in Ella…"
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When The Marauders and The Imps arrived in London, they checked in at the Berkeley Hotel and went up to see their rooms. Luckily, they had so far been able to keep it from the public where they were staying, but by tomorrow, Lily predicted that half of England's wizarding population would know that The Imps and The Marauders were staying at the Berkeley Hotel, even though it was a muggle hotel. They couldn't very well stay at the Leaky Cauldron and expect to have any privacy what so ever.
"Okay, so who do you thinks got the best room?" Lily questioned as the elevator climbed up the building.
"I don't know, probably you. Did you see the way that guy behind the counter was looking at you as you paid him with that confounded muggle money?" Sirius sulked.
"You mean you don't think that look may have been because you kept shouting 'Hey Ella! Look at this, this door goes around in circles, over and over again! Oh know, it's going too fast, how do I get out? Ah, James! Help! I'm stuck!' Besides, I'm the only one not sharing a room, so mine won't be the biggest. Gideon, Fabian, and Benjy will probably have the best room, since there are three of them sharing that room while you and James get a room and Remus and Peter get another."
"Yeah! That isn't fair, why do you get your own room and I get stuck sharing with James?" Sirius whined.
But Lily didn't justify Sirius's complaint with a response. As the elevator doors began to open with a ding, Lily exclaimed, "Last one to their room buys dinner!" Before taking off down the hallway, guitar and case in hand.
As Lily looked at the room numbers on the doors, she found that her room was at the very end of the hallway. Gideon and Fabian quickly glanced at each other before dropping everything they held in the hall and taking off after Lily. They quickly gained on her considering that they were each about a foot taller than their lean guitarist.
As Lily approached her door, the twins grabbed her around the waist and the sudden stop caused them all to topple over in a mess of limbs. Lily was gasping for air between laughs while she attempted to untangle herself from the twins. Lily complained, "Oh no, you guys! Now we are going to have to pay for dinner!"
"Oh no, you are quite mistaken there Miss Ella," started Fabian.
"That's right," Continued Gideon. "You are going to have to pay for dinner." And with that, the twins scrambled up and picked Lily up by her arms and ankles. "Ph no you don't," Lily shrieked as Gideon and Fabian carried her down the hall towards their own room where Benjy stood waiting with the door already open for them. During this entire exchange between the members of the Imps, the Marauders stood shocked, right out side the elevator.
James grinned broadly and said to Sirius, "This is going to be a fun holiday."
"Yeah, for you maybe," Sirius said, unlocking his hotel room door with his wand, not bothering with a key. "Moony, how come James always gets the hot girls?! I'm sexier!" Remus just patted Sirius on the back while barely suppressing a grin.
End Chapter 2: Surprise
There you have it, Chapter two. Thanks to all of you who read, and even more thanks to you who review. I love criticism. So if you have a problem with something in my story, or see something wrong, let me know! That is the only way I can make myself a better writer. Until next time…
Au revoir
-KK