Lily
Chapter 4-Ugly Duckling
One month is a very long time to hold onto a rumor. Yet, Hogwarts seems to have risen above my expectations and lingered upon this so-called gossip. Yes, I, Lily Evans, have apparently been very busy. James Potter may have started the talk, but he certainly didn't finish it. I can't go anywhere without people calling behind my back, "Evans, going to go give Snape's lips a bit of exercise?"
Ew. No.
Why Snape? I mean, I hardly ever talk to Severus Snape. It's beyond me why the two of us, who hardly ever associate in social situations, are on the receiving end of these rumors.
Thank Merlin for Holly though. She's been doing her best to try and shut everyone up. Might I let you know, that Holly can be very forceful when she wants to. After I slapped James Potter across the face, she managed to clobber him over the head with her schoolbag. I had never been more proud.
I'm not even sure if Potter feels remorseful in the least. He carries on as if the world should worship his every breath. I've never met someone so full of their self. Well, maybe Sirius Black, but then again, he never really lets on to his arrogance. You've got to actually talk to him to know. Potter, on the other hand, would scream it from a building that he thought he was Merlin's gift to the world.
Let me tell you, I'm not in a very thankful mood. Sorry, Merlin.
I'm only fourteen years old and only yesterday, I swear to God, I saw a gray hair. I nearly had a heart attack.
Holly had to come in and settle me down. I'm telling you, if I go gray at fourteen, I will bloody murder
James Potter. And while I'm at it, I may as well give Snape a grand snog because he'll be the only one
willing.
Reasoning Behind So-Called Gray Hair
1) School--Fourth year is not supposed to be this hard. I may have developed a slight hunchback due to the exuberant amount of books I've been forced to carry. Not only will I be gray, people will lock me away in the Astronomy Tower and call me Quasimodo.
2) My cat--I really am worried about her. Despite the nightmares, she really is an odd cat. The poor thing only has one eye, which is pretty unique in itself. Frankly, I have no idea what happened to the other one, but I really am not all that willing to find out. I bought her at an animal shelter in London with my sister and my mum. Petunia was absolutely appalled that I chose, in her words, 'the most demented cat in the entire lot', but I knew that I had to have her. I mean, the chances of someone else finding the beauty in a one-eyed cat was slim to none. The world is sadly filled with a bunch of Petunias. I couldn't just leave her there to rot. The eye has sort of grown on me too. It still freaks Holly out, but we love Jules all the same.
3) Transfiguration--I suppose that this would qualify under school, but let me tell you, Transfiguration in itself is a burden. I just can't bloody concentrate. Hard enough as it is, it's even worst when I hear James bleeding Potter boasting about how he managed to achieve the assigned task with his eyes closed whilst hopping around on one leg. Yet another reason to smack him across the face.
4) Bad Genes--Mum doesn't have gray hair and she's extremely ancient in comparison to me. I suppose that I must receive all the recessive genes in our family. Maybe premature graying is one of them. I mean, I am the only witch in the family. It is highly possible that I received the worst genes.
5) Maybe it wasn't a gray hair at all. Maybe I am simply evolving into a slob and have taken to getting food caught in my hair. That seems simply preposterous though. And disgusting.
Finally, the true reasoning why I feel I've developed a gray hair,
6) James Potter
***
Lately, I've taken to noticing the changes around me. Maybe I'm just sentimental or I don't deal well with change, but everything seems to be getting so different without any warning whatsoever.
Only just yesterday, I noticed the change in my best friend. Holly has always been striking and a wonderful person to look at, but something seemed so mature about her. She seemed very adult-like yesterday and I could hardly believe that the two of us were in the same year. Why had she changed so much and I so little?
I still look the same as I did when I came into Hogwarts back in first year. My hair still gets frizzy, my eyes still bagged and bloodshot when I don't sleep enough, I still get blemishes on my face when I eat too much chocolate, my clothes never fit right, and I still seem younger than I really am.
Holly's gone from normal to extraordinary in less than a year's time and well, frankly, I am a bit jealous. She always seems much more collected than I, even when she endures the same situations as I do. It's enough to make one miserable.
Plus, she didn't find a gray hair on her scalp.
I must be like that old muggle fable, the Ugly Duckling. Holly's the swan, while I'm still caught in the before phase.
And it's not only Holly either. Others in our year have transformed, so to speak. It makes me wonder when my time will come. Will I know?
According to the entire school though, I've matured a lot since last year, snogging Snape and all. That rumor has got to stop. It really is getting tiring. Well, at least people won't mistake me for a first year anymore. Now, that was unfortunate.
Great, Holly the new queen of perfection has just strode in and told me that now people are talking about Snape and I becoming an exclusive item. There is going to be hell to pay, James Potter.
Got to go deliver a beating,
Lily, the graying duckling
A/N: Let me know what you think. This was sort of a perspective chapter. I wanted everyone to get to know Lily & her friend a bit more. Hope this helped. Please review.