Dangerous Liaisons
Summary: James and Sirius have fun ruining the lives and reputations of many girls at Hogwarts. However, James gets tired of sleeping with girls that'll do it with him the moment he starts to seduce them-he wants a challenge. He hears a rumor that one Lily Evans is saving herself for marriage (or at least true love). That's the kind of challenge he's looking for. There's just one problem: she's heard rumors about him too. Based on the movie Cruel Intentions and the book Dangerous Liaisons.
Rating: R for language, sexual themes, sensuality, and possible violence
Disclaimer: I don't own any of JK Rowling's characters or settings, nor do I own any plot elements taken from Cruel Intentions.
Chapter 4: Boiling Over
Lily and her best friend Alyssa Holmes walked down a corridor near Gryffindor Tower chatted idly about this and that-Lily wasn't paying much attention. Instead, she focused on her troubles in Transfiguration. However, Alyssa soon asked a question that drew Lily to her senses.
"What?" Lily asked, not sure if she had understood.
"What do you think of James Potter?" Alyssa repeated.
"Not much," Lily replied, trying to sound impassive on the subject. "Why?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Because I was thinking that I might want to get to know him a little more." Alyssa said casually.
"Are you serious, Lyssie?" Lily asked, not believing what she was hearing. "Do you really want to go out with that sleazebag?"
"ALL the rumors can't be true, can they?"
"Well, from what I've heard, from someone I trust, he is a dishonest and deceitful person." Lily explained. "I wouldn't go out with him if I were you. I mean, have you seen him walking around the school like he's god's greatest creation? He's so damn cocky I wouldn't go near him in a thousand years!"
"Wow, that seems like a practical sketch of his character. Have you even tried to give-" Alyssa broke. "Oh shit! I've completely forgotten! I have to go tutor that second year in the library! McGonagall's going to kill me, it was part of the deal I struck with her to earn back those points from that bloody essay!" without so much as a "good-bye," Alyssa sprinted down the corridor, looking horrorstruck.
Concentrating so rigidly on her thoughts, Lily was hardly aware of where she was walking and before she knew it, she had ran straight into somebody. She looked up, about to apologize, before realizing that it was none other than James Potter.
Before she could speak, James said, "Don't think much of me do you?"
"Do you have nothing better to do than pry into somebody else's business, Potter?" she asked angrily.
"It's my business if you're talking about be, isn't it?" James asked. "Besides, when one hears their own name being spoken, they automatically listen in-it's human nature. I'm sure you do it."
"No I leave them to their own conversation. After all, it doesn't really matter what they say and I have no interest in hearing it," Lily said simply.
"Don't you want to know if they're gossiping about you?" James asked, his eyebrows raised.
"Well, luckily for me, I have a good reputation and nobody gossips about me," Lily replied defiantly.
"Clearly you haven't been into the boys bathrooms lately," James lied.
"Why, what are they saying about me in the boys bathrooms, Potter?" she asked with narrowing eyes.
"I thought you didn't want to hear gossip and you wanted to leave everybody to their own business," James replied.
"Well you were the one that brought it up," Lily remarked, pointedly.
"Just like you were the one who brought up the fact that you thought I was a conceited, self-centered jackass," James retorted, a sort of hurt.
Lily blushed and turned away, but said, "I never said that."
"Yeah, well you can't admit that you implied it."
"Sorry," Lily mumbled, although she wasn't quite sure if she was yet.
"Sure you are," James replied sarcastically.
"You know what, Potter?" Lily asked, "You're right. I'm not sorry about what I said, it's true isn't it?"
"That I'm a conceited, self-centered jackass?" James asked, "One would hardly dare to call themselves that."
"Well, do you ever think of anybody besides your self? Is anything you do for the greater good of the world or is it all for the greater good of James Potter?"
"I like to think that the things that benefit me also benefit the rest of the school," James replied. "No, seriously. The way I see it, things that benefit me put me in a good mood. When I'm in a good mood, I'm less likely to hex people in the corridors and more likely to perform well in Quidditch games and make people laugh. When I make people laugh, perform well in Quidditch games and don't hex people it benefits the entire school," he reasoned.
"Oh and that's not conceited at all," Lily replied, sarcastically.
"What, it's true, isn't it?"
Lily shook her head and muttered "Hopeless," before strolling away down the corridor and leaving James their thinking that honesty might not be the best policy in this case-Lily didn't seem to care for his honest opinion much.
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Special Disclaimer: This scene was taken almost directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 28: Snape's Worst Memory.
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had just finished their Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL, their second to last OWL ever. They went, followed by many others, as they so often were, down to the lake. They sat down under an oak tree, resting casually with the wind blowing in their hair.
"Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake," Sirius said. "I'll be surprised if I don't get Outstanding on it at least."
"Me too," said James. He put his hand in his pocket and took out a struggling Golden Snitch.
"Where'd you get that?" Peter asked, impressed.
"Nicked it," James said casually smirking, causing a couple girls to giggle. If he had been his old self, he would've cared and tried to seduce the girls. However, at the moment, he only had one goal-Lily Evans. He started lying with the snitch in hand, hoping that Lily was somewhere around watching. He allowed it to fly as much as a foot away and then seized it again. Both the giggling girls and Peter watched him in awe.
Remus pulled out his Transfiguration book and began to study for their Transfiguration exam, which would take place on the following day. Sirius, meanwhile, stared around and looked at the students looking haughty, but extremely hot. Several girls smiled and waved at him. He, however, didn't return any of their smiles-he wasn't in the mood for girls right now, which was really saying something.
Sirius jumped as James made a difficult catch and Peter cheered. James kept looking at the girls at the edge of the lake-he noticed that Lily was there and persistently avoiding his eye.
"Put that away, will you?" Sirius said, annoyed, "Before Wormtail wets himself from excitement."
Peter went red, but James just shrugged and put the snitch back in his pocket.
"I'm bored," Sirius said, "I wish it were a full moon."
"You might," Remus said darkly, "We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored you could test me…Here." He held out his book for Sirius.
Sirius snorted, "I don't need to look at that rubbish, I know it all."
"This'll liven you up, Padfoot," said James quietly. "Look who it is…"
"Excellent," Sirius replied in a menacingly soft voice, "Snivellus."
Snape, seeing Sirius and James coming towards him, got on his feet and shoved his OWL paper roughly into his bag. Remus was staring down at his book apparently concentrating hard on his Transfiguration and Peter was looking from Sirius and James to Snape, eagerly anticipating a duel.
"All right Snivellus?" James asked loudly. He turned around, and sure enough Lily was now looking straight at him, yes!
Snape then dropped his bag and took out his wand. Before he could mutter an attack, however, James had disarmed him and frozen him with the Impedimenta jinx.
"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" James asked, after making sure that he had jinxed Snape well.
"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," said Sirius viciously. "There'll be grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."
Several people watching, most of them girls, laughed. Snape tried to get up, but the jinx was still intact; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes.
"You-wait," he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing. "You-wait…"
"Wait for what?" Sirius asked coolly. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"
"Go to hell…conjunctivo you mother fucking bastard you…crucio you sodding idiot…confundo you…"
"Watch what you say, Snivellus, there are ladies present!" Sirius warned
"Wash out your mouth," James said coldly "Scourgify!"
Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him-
"Leave him ALONE!"
James and Sirius looked around and saw Lily Evans. A thought occurred to James: Why was she sticking up for Snivellus? Could he have helped her out in some way-warned her off something? This made James even madder at Snape.
"All right, Evans?" he asked, trying to sound pleasant and wondering what her response would be.
"Leave him alone," Lily repeated angrily. "What's he done to you?"
"Well," said James, "it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean…" After James said this, many people laughed. Too bad if it makes her even angrier with me, thought James, I have a reputation to uphold…and anyways I have until we graduate to fulfill the wager.
"You think you're funny," Lily retorted coldly, "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toe-rag, Potter. Leave him alone."
"I will if you go out with me, Evans," James replied quickly. "Go on…Go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again." James knew that this wouldn't work from the moment that the words left his lips, but it was too late then to take them back-Lily wouldn't be likely to be blackmailed into going out on a date with him.
"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid." Lily yelled angrily back.
"Bad luck, Prongs," Sirius said briskly before looking back at Snape, whom, he realized a split second too late, was moving again. "OY!" he said, but it was too late.
Snape had used some curse on James that caused him to bleed. However, only seconds later, James had retaliated-Snape was now hanging upside down in the air, his robes over his head revealing a pair of old graying underwear. The whole group burst out laughing and some people cheered.
Lily looked furious, but James could tell that she had almost smiled. "Let him down!" she bellowed.
"Certainly," James said quickly and he let Snape down, however, Sirius cursed Snape soon after wards. Lily was getting really annoyed.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she shouted as loudly as she could.
"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," James warned, and he would do it.
"Take the curse off him, then!"
James sighed and took the curse off Snape-he still wasn't sure why he did it, it didn't help him one bit to win over Lily.
"There you go," he told Snape, "you're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus-"
"I don't need help form filthy little Mudbloods like her!" Snape muttered nastily.
"Fine!" Lily said curtly, "I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus."
"Apologize to Evans!" James roared at Snape, threateningly pointing his wand at him.
"I don't want you to make him apologize to me!" Lily shouted, rounding on James. "You're as bad as he is…"
"What?" James said surprised. "I'd NEVER call you a-you-know-what!"
"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can-I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK." She then turned around and left, she heard James call her name, but she didn't care. She didn't really know why she wouldn't even be civil to him-well, actually she did know, but nobody was going to figure out that secret.
"Err…Remus?" James called to his friend.
"Yeah?" Remus called back, mildly interestedly, finally looking up from his transfiguration notes.
"Maybe you could wait a bit before doing me that favor? Until things cool down a bit?"
"That's probably a good idea," Remus replied, matter-of-factly. "I think it would be a little hard to build you up after this incident."
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
Throughout their sixth year at Hogwarts things continued similarly as far as Lily and James were concerned. James would ask Lily out and Lily would turn him down without a reason as to why she was doing so. However, once their seventh year started, James decided to try and get Lily in a different way. He decided to exercise patience and woo her before asking her out. Unfortunately for him, Lily's attitude towards him hadn't changed much. Each day, James began to worry more and more about losing his precious Nimbus…
Remus had been avoiding both James and Lily over that year. His friends noticed a change in his behavior, but they didn't care too much-they were too caught up in their own lives. They still went on their monthly nighttime adventures with Moony, but that was for their own sake more than his. Remus was becoming to wonder whether his friends ever thought of anyone besides themselves…
Melanie's plan to ruin Florence's life was subdued slightly during their sixth year because Florence had come down with a disease that had put her in the Hospital Wing throughout most of the year. Melanie was seen visiting Florence frequently, stopping in just long enough to seem like a good friend. By the end of the year, however, Florence had recovered and would begin classes again in the next term. Melanie felt very excited, after all, she had spent most of the past year devising plans…
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A/N: Sorry for all you "To Be Without Fault" fans, but I wasn't able to get that one out tonight. I can safely promise another chapter tomorrow night though. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I changed a few things around, but it's mostly the same. I also tried to make things a bit less sporadic and confusing with the jump from 5th year to 7th year-no more huge gaps where it was like…wait…didn't that happen two years ago? They're talking about it like it just happened. Haha. So anyways, thanks to all my reviewers. I really appreciate you. I'd love it if you could tell me your thoughts on this chapter as well! Thanks!