2. Surprise

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 7^th 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

3. Concerts, Beer, and Butterbeer

Identity

By: FreckledIrishMaiden

Chapter 3: Concerts, Beer, and Butterbeer

Posted: 23-07-05

A/N: Just a reminder that this is rated PG-13 and that there is some more mature subject matter in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the Harry Potter related characters, places, terms, or phrases. This goes for the entire story. So just remember, I don’t own a thing, I’m just writing for my pleasure and hopefully yours as well.

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Saturday morning, Lily awoke to bright sunshine washing across her face. She felt an intense energy flooding through her veins mixed with a nervous tension. Lily always got really nervous before concerts. Lily glanced at the clock next to her king size hotel bed and was surprised to see it was still quite early, only 6:30. Lily tried to drift back to sleep to no avail before giving a frustrated sigh. It was impossible, Lily decided, she needed to do something, she had just too much energy. Making up her mind, Lily hopped out of bed and threw on a sports bra, tee shirt, and running shorts. In a matter of minutes, Lily’s shoes were laced and she was in the hall closing the door behind her.

“Ella?” Lily whipped around at the sound of her alias’s name, wasn’t it a bit early for the paparazzi? She wondered. “Oh. Potter, it’s you,” Lily intoned before continuing down the hall.

“James, please call me James. What are you doing so early this morning?”

Lily explained that she had planning on going for a run to rid herself of some of her nervous energy, hoping James would leave it at that and let her be on her way. As tolerable as James had been the past two days, Lily wasn’t sure she wanted, or could deal with him so early in the morning. But much to Lily’s dismay, James seemed to have perked up at the word run.

“Run? You run? That’s great! I was just going for a run as well. Mind if I join you? We can go at whatever pace you want,” James offered. Lily grudgingly agreed to let James run with her, to refuse him, she decided, would be rude and uncalled for. “Do you play Quidditch?” James asked. “That’s why I try to run in the summer, gotta stay in shape for the season, even if I can’t fly because of the number of muggles around.

As soon as Lily and James exited the hotel, they started off at a run down the street towards Hyde Park, just a few blocks from the hotel. “No, I don’t play Quidditch, I prefer to keep two feet on the ground,” Lily said while concentrating on her breathing.

James turned around and started running backwards in order to look Ella in the eye to make sure she was completely serious. “You mean you don’t like fly?” James asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” Lily returned in mock seriousness, “I mean I don’t like flying.” Lily started to laugh at the look on James’s face, “Man, you make it seem like some kind of sin or something!”

James just shook his head in disbelief at the girl next to him as he started running normally again. “Come on, lets pick it up,” Lily said before she sped up. The pair continued their run in companionable silence, Lily because she was concentrating on her breathing, and James because; well because it took all his self-power not to stop and just to keep up, despite his screaming muscles.

When Lily and James arrived back at the hotel, James noticed Ella’s breathing was quite normal, as if she hadn’t just spent the past 45 minutes running. Meanwhile, James was bent double, gasping for breath. “Nice job James, I’m impressed. I didn’t expect you to keep up. If I were to guess, I’d say we ran a good nine kilometers,” Lily complimented while wiping sweat off her face with the bottom of her shirt, rewarding James with a brief glimpse at the pale skin that was Ella’s stomach. “Well, I suppose we should get ready for breakfast, no?” How about you and your mates meet me and the guys in the hall in say… thirty minutes?” James just nodded, still struggling for air. He wasn’t entirely sure he would be able to make it all the way upstairs to his room without his legs collapsing beneath him. His legs felt like extremely heavy jello. Lily watched James closely to make sure he made it to his room all right before disappearing into her own room with a smirk to take a shower.

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James staggered into his room and collapsed onto his bed with a groan. “Alright there Prongs?” Sirius questioned as he woke up.

“I’ve never been so sore in my life!” complained James, his voice muffled by his pillow.

“Why, where were you?” Sirius looked suspiciously at this sweaty friend.

“With Ella,” James mumbled. “Damn that girl, she sure as hell knows how to give me a work out.”

Sirius’s eyes widened in shock, “Oy, Prongs! You’ve known the girl for two days and you’ve already managed to shag her? Bloody hell, I knew you were in to her but I didn’t think it was like that!” Sirius finished letting out a low whistle.

James rolled over onto his back and threw a pillow at Sirius, “No you prat! I did not shag Vinys; we just went on a run you idiot! I know where your mind is you dirty bastard.”

“Yeah, okay Prongs, a likely story, on a run… right,” Sirius said doubtfully before disappearing into the bathroom and closing the door.

“I DID NOT SLEEP WITH ELLA VINYS!” James yelled at the bathroom door at the precise moment Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew walked it.

Remus raised an eyebrow at James, “Well that’s good to know James, but you might want to yell a little louder next time, I don’t think people across the English Channel quite heard you.” James just groaned and pulled another pillow over his head, ignoring Remus’s comment.

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After everyone was awake, dressed, and showered, the two bands crammed into an elevator and were debating on where to get breakfast. “How about the Leaky Cauldron?” Suggested Peter.

“No,” Lily immediately killed that idea. “While you might like eating with a bunch of witches hanging all over you, I find it nauseating. Lets go some place muggle, where people won’t know us.”

At that time, the elevator reached the main floor and the doors parted to greet The Marauders and The Imps with a rush of noise and many bright flashes so that the lobby was covered in the purple smoke admitted when a magical camera took a picture.

“Ella! Benjy! We love you!” Two hysterical teens shrieked right in front of the elevators. “Well, I guess they found us,” Benjy whispered into Ella’s ear.

What looked like the manager of the hotel pushed his way to the front of the crowd to talk to the eight teens that were busy forcing their way out of the elevator. “I’m sorry gentleman and lady,” The middle aged, balding man stuttered. “I don’t know where they all came from. It is like one moment the lobby was empty and the next all these lunatics were everywhere! I don’t know where they came from, and all dressed so strangely. Maybe there has been a mass break out at the institution. Anyway, I called the police. They should arrive any moment now and they can help escort you wherever you need to go. I’m so sorry to disturb you. Please forgive our hotel. Ah, here comes the police now.”

Once the manager started retreating back through the crowd, everyone grinned at each other, enjoying the manager’s confusion. “I’m guessing our being in London is providing the Ministry with some extra work this weekend,” Remus yelled over the crowd.

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Hours later, Lily and the Imps had just finished all of their final sound checks and last minute preparation for the concert when the first group of fans entered the arena, adding to Lily’s nerves. The young witches appeared to make a beeline towards James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, would were all sitting on the edge of the stage, discussing one of their songs. Lily turned around and started walking back stage dejectedly. Before and after concerts, witches and wizards always seemed to swarm the male members of her band while she was always pushed to the back of the crowd. Lily had noticed that many men did not think that Lily was ‘worthy’ to be in such a big band, stereotyping rock bands as just for men. And females always just swarmed the guys because of their shallow natures. Lily hated thinking about it because it made her feel self centered, but she just wished that she could be treated the same even though she was a woman.

In the background, Lily could hear Sirius greeting the girls, “Ladies nice to see you!”

Lily started walking faster when she heard her name called out. “Ella! Please don’t go yet!” Lily turned around to see that the three girls behind her had completely bypassed the Marauders, leaving Sirius looking crestfallen, and were standing by the edge of the stage as close as they could get to her. Lily approached the maybe fourteen-year-old girls timidly. “Can we have your autograph?” They all asked at once.

Lily crouched down and took the nearest quill offered, “Of course you can!” Lily smiled genuinely.

“Ella, you are so amazing! I wish I could play the guitar like you!” The shortest girl declared.

“Yeah, you are amazing! And it must be so hard to have to live with just a bunch of boys for an entire summer!” The first girls friend added shyly, causing Lily to chuckle.

“Yeah,” Lily wrinkled up her nose. “Boys can be pretty annoying sometimes, huh?” Lily glanced at the four Marauders as she made her last comment, and caught James’s eye. As their eyes’ met, Lily had a strange feeling at the pit of her stomach and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Lily quickly blinked and looked away, trying to shake off this new and unwanted feeling caused by James Potter.

“Well girls, I’ve got to go backstage and change now, but enjoy the concert!” With that, Lily straightened up and walked back stage, feeling slightly ness nervous and more confident about that evening’s concert. It was amazing how just three young girls could affect Lily’s nerves and attitude.

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Approximately five hours later, the arena roared with applause as Lily’s chest and upper lip glistened with sweat with the finish of The Imps last set. Lily grinned at all her band members as they took a bow. It had been a great concert. The arena was packed, all the equipment worked fine, the sound was great, and they didn’t miss a beat. The Marauders joined the Imps on stage and they all gave a final bow to enthusiastic cheers.

Once the arena started to empty, the two bands stumbled back stage where Benjy fell onto a couch where Lily collapsed on top of him, into his lap. Laughing for no reason. “Man, I’m so exhausted!” Lily Exclaimed energetically. “Lets go out and party! The night is still young!” Gideon, Fabian, and Benjy could clearly recognize the signs of Lily on an adrenaline high.

James watched Lily and Benjy silently. He felt strangely jealous and possessive even though he knew he had no reason too. Ella was certainly an enigma. James had liked Lily Evans for the past two years but suddenly Ella Vinys comes waltzing along and he suddenly experienced the same strong feelings he had around Lily Evans, but now they were for Ella Vinys. After numerous rejections, his friends had tried to get James to move on and forget Lily for years to no avail. So how was it possible that within just seventy-two hours, James was falling for someone new, someone completely different than Lily Evans? James just didn’t understand how his feelings could change so quickly after they had been the same for so long.

Ella jumped up and went to Sirius, the most awake person in the room beside herself, and pulled him to his feet. “Come on Sirius! Lets go to the discotheque. If these party poopers don’t want to come, they don’t have to, but I want, no I need to dance!” Sirius raised his eyebrows in amusement before consenting to go with Ella.

“I can’t just let a pretty girl like yourself go to the discotheque unescorted now, could I?”

The two teens left the room before Ella stuck her head back in the door, raising one eyebrow. “Anyone else coming?” The remaining six boys exchanged glances before grudgingly following Ella and Sirius who were frolicking out the back door into the street, laughing loudly.

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Lily and Sirius were in the middle of the Saturday night crowd at the discotheque, the music pouring through their veins as they danced together. Lily was completely absorbed and was having loads of fun. She never thought that she, Lily Evans, would be able to have such a good time with Sirius Black. Throughout the night, there had been plenty of other guys who had tried to cut in and dance with Ella, but she stuck with Sirius, her preferred partner.

Meanwhile, James was sitting at the bar, jealousy washing through his blood. He was just watching Sirius and Ella dancing together. James picked up is glass of muggle beer and drained it, putting it back on the counter a little harder than he had meant to, next to the two other empty glasses. James ordered another beer as he watched Ella lean forward to say something in Sirius’s ear, her hair touching the side of Sirius’s face. James abruptly turned his back on the scene and picked up his new drink. He hated himself right now. He had never been a jealous person and he was surprised by how easily Ella did this too him and hated her for it. He was jealous, and jealous of Sirius at that, Sirius who was like a brother to him!

In a matter of seconds, the object of James’s desire was leaning on the counter right next to James with Sirius on the other side. “Alright there James?” Lily said while Sirius ordered them both a drink. James didn’t seem very receptive towards Lily’s attempt at conversation so Lily talked around him to Benjy, sitting on James’s other side. Remus, Peter, Gideon, and Fabian were all otherwise occupied with various dance partners on the dance floor.

After Lily had finished her fourth drink, Sirius ordered them both another with a mischievous look in his eye. “Okay Ella, I’ve got a proposition for you. I bet you I can chug this beer faster than you can.” Lily studied the glass in front of her for a minute.

“You’ve got a bet Sirius,” Lily said a little louder than necessary.

Sirius grinned, “Good, and when I win, you have to kiss me!”

Ella snorted, “If, you mean if you win. But if I win, then you have to kiss the bartender!”

Sirius groaned, “But, but, but, but he’s a, he’s a he!” Lily just grinned evilly and nodded. ”Oh, fine, I’m going to win anyways! James, you be the judge.”

And with that, Ella and Sirius brought their glasses to their lips and started to drink as fast as they could. By the time they had finished half of their glasses, half of the bar seemed to be watching the chugging teens, waiting to see whom would win and if Sirius would have to kiss the bartender. The contest was close, but in a matter of seconds, Lily had emptied her glass and slammed it down on the counter top, raising her hands in victory, concentrating on keeping the liquor down. Sirius had finished very closely behind but not soon enough. Lily stuck her tongue out triumphantly at Sirius as people at the bar started egging Sirius on to take his punishment for losing.

Reluctantly, Sirius got up off his stool and leaned across the bar and kissed the bartender before quickly pulling back to wipe his mouth on his sleeve. This even drew a laugh from James, and made him much happier now that he knew Ella did not have to kiss Sirius. Lily was grinning maniacally. She had finally gotten Sirius back for some of the pranks he had pulled on her over the years.

James was feeling happier than he had all night. Once the commotion had died down, James leaned towards Ella and asked her to dance. Lily accepted and the pair made their way onto the dance floor. In a matter of minutes, Lily was completely absorbed in the music and in James. She could hardly remember why she had ever hated him as their bodies mingled with the music. As the night went on, their dancing became slowly more intimate.

Lily could hardly realize how closely she was dancing with James; the alcohol had truly loosened her up so she just didn’t care. James’s hands were low, very low on Ella’s back and Ella’s hands were around his neck and in his hair. Ella and James were dancing to a slower song when James leaned his head into the crook of Ella’s neck. “Oh, Lily,” He mumbled into Ella’s hair and She froze. Her muscles went rigid as she took a step back.

“What did you call me?”

“What?” James asked d confused before his eyes widened in realization of what he had just done. But it was too late. Before James could respond, Ella was already weaving her way through the crowd, making her way back to the hotel.

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Lily groaned as the sun shinned brightly in her eyes. “Bloody hell,” Lily tried to sit up. “Would someone stop shinning that damn light in my face?” Lily managed to say before she collapsed back onto her pillow as her head started pounding.

“Yeah, sure Lily, and how do you propose we go about turning the sun off?” Gideon retorted sarcastically.

“Fine, but no need to yell, smart arse,” Lily mumbled, hiding her head under the covers.

“Lily, it’s bloody two o’clock in the afternoon. The bus leaves for Scotland in an hour. I suggest you pull yourself together before then and get ready!” Lily heard her manager, Chris’s, voice before his footsteps retreated across the room and the door slammed behind him. Lily pulled herself up gingery to find Benjy, Gideon, and Fabian standing around her room. “What happened last night?” Lily asked while rubbing her eyes.

“We aren’t all that sure. All we know for sure is that you got into a chugging contest with Black before dancing with Potter until he said something and you stormed off back here,” Benjy answered.

Lily groaned, “I was dancing with Potter?” The three boys just nodded in unison. “And you seemed to be enjoying it,” Fabian said quietly, just to the other guys.

“Damn. Well I’m taking a shower. Meet you guys in an hour?” Lily managed to get out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom.

She couldn’t believe herself. She had only gotten drunk once before, she wasn’t the type to drink heavily. Thinking about it, Lily realized that that was when she was on an adrenaline high too. There was nothing she could do about it now though so Lily stepped into the shower and let the warm water help wash away some of her headache.

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The Imps and Marauders arrived in Hogsmeade in what seemed like no time to Lily since she slept the entire bus ride. When the eight teens and the two managers disembarked the bus they were right in front of the Three Broomsticks.

“Madame Rosmerta has prepared four rooms for you guys even though she doesn’t usually offer rooms to rent,” Chris informed. “So be nice and respectful. I’m staying with an old school friend down the street. I’ll se you in the morning. Please try to get a better night sleep,” Christ said pointedly at Lily before stalking off.

As everyone else went off to bed, Lily stayed down in the pub. No matter what Chris said, after sleeping most of the day, she knew she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep now. Lily took a seat at the bar. A few minutes later, someone pulled out the chair next to Lily and took a seat.

“Evening Madame Rosmerta,” came James’s voice. “Two Butterbeers I think?” James ordered, glancing at Ella. “I figure after last night, we’ve had enough alcohol, eh?”

Lily smiled slightly, leaning on the counter with her chin in her hands. Ella and James drank their Butterbeers in silence. When they had finished, they both just sat for a while before James asked if Ella wanted to go on a walk with him. Lily agreed thinking some fresh air would do her good.

After a few minutes of walking, James broke the silence. “You know, I don’t know why I’m even doing this whole band thing.” Lily looked at James questioningly. “What I really want to do is be an auror. I mean, it’s great and all, really fun, but, I don’t know.”

“Really?” Lily asked. She was shocked. She had never heard James talk about something so serious before. She had always imagined James would love this band thing.

“Yeah. My dad was an auror. I think I’d like to do what he did, something that would have made him proud. And I think with the threat of Voldemort looking, the Ministry is going to need all the help they can get.”

Lily studied James’s profile; she had never seen this side of him before. “I think I’d like to be an auror as well,” Lily said quietly. Lily had never confided her ambition to anyone other than Professor Dumbledore before.

“What’s your reason?”

“Well, I’m muggleborn. So, I just feel it is my duty to protect the wizarding world so that, so that more muggleborns can learn where they truly belong and come to Hogwarts…. And Beauxbatons, like I did,” Lily said hesitantly, afraid that James would laugh. But James just smiled understandingly at Lily.

They had arrived back at the Three Broomsticks. “You surprised me tonight,” James said, walking Ella to her room. “Goodnight Ella.” James said before walking into his own room and closing the door. Lily looked at the spot where James had just been. “You’ve surprised me too. Goodnight… James,” Lily whispered to the closed door.

(End Chapter 3: Concerts, Beer, and Butterbeer)

A/N: I appreciate each and every one of your reviews. You are all awesome and I feel great knowing people are just even taking the time to read my story. As always, any thoughts or criticism you have, please share to help me improve and to make your reading experience more pleasurable.

A few people asked where I came up with the idea for my story, so here is how my train of thought went; I all started at an American English (a Beatles tribute band) concert, so keep that in mind. Here is what I was thinking about: The Beatles à British Invasion à British People à Harry Potter à James and Lily and the big secret we were supposed to learn about Lily à If their was a British invasion in the wizarding world à The Weird Sisters à The Marauders sound like a band name à Hey, what if Lily was in a band, that would be cool à Maybe I should write a fan fiction about it?

So that is how I came up with my story. Sorry if you found that hard to follow but that is how my brain works…

Don’t be afraid to review! I’d love to hear from you!

-KK

Identity

1. The Beginning

2. Surprise

3. Concerts, Beer, and Butterbeer