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 Eight: Wild Antics
"Remind me why we have to go to your place for Christmas again?" Sirius grumbled at seven o'clock on the first morning of their holiday as he and James were piling on the Hogwarts Express to return to James' house.
"Its part of my plan to court Evans," James explained for what felt like the millionth time.
"Wait," Sirius stopped in his tracks confused, "how does going home for Christmas help you court her? Isn't she staying at school over the holidays?"
"Yeah…" James replied blandly.
"Then why are we getting up so goddamn early to go away from her?"
"Because she asked me to go home over the holidays and I want to show her that I really do 'care' by respecting her wishes," James explained.
"She asked you to go home over Christmas?" Sirius snorted. "She must really hate you, mate."
"Thanks, Padfoot. That's very reassuring."
"Hey, you're the one making me get up at this godforsaken hour! I have a right to be a tad bit grumpy right now."
James sighed in return as he heaved his trunk onto the Hogwarts Express. He hated going home for Christmas as much as Sirius hated waking up at 7:00 in the morning. However, he didn't see any choice in the matter-he would have to endure his parent's annual Christmas party where he would have to act proper and enjoy many of his parent's obnoxious friends, including Mrs. Codwell.
"So I suppose your parents will be having their annual Christmas party again, huh?" Sirius asked as soon as they had gotten themselves settled into a compartment.
"Yep, same as every year-I'm not in the mood to try and act kindly towards a thousand 'Mrs. Codwell's' right now."
"Touché, mate," Sirius replied. "But I guess we'll have to suck it up."
"Yeah, and there's always tons of girls there."
"That's always a plus." Sirius agreed, feeling a little happier now, "Except…"
"Except what?" James prodded.
"Is Melanie going to be there?" he finished. James nodded and Sirius scowled in return.
"Did you guys have a feud or something?" James asked.
"Ye-…err…sort….err…it's not important."
"What d'you mean?" James asked, prodding him for more information.
"Err, it doesn't really matter," Sirius replied defiantly, making it clear that he wanted James to drop the subject.
Just then there was a knock at the door. "Come in," James called, casually. The compartment door opened and none other than Lily Evans appeared.
"Evans?" James asked incredulously. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"
"Trying to find a compartment, Potter," Lily replied, as though stating the obvious.
"Yeah, but I thought you were staying at school for the Holidays!"
"Erm…no, I got an owl from my mum saying that my sister, Petunia, had some big news that she wanted to share with the family."
"Well you could've told me, so that I could've stayed."
"Listen, I'm sorry I told you I wanted you gone-I overreacted. But, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find a compartment."
"Good luck with that one, mate," Sirius said, as soon as Lily closed the compartment door. "She's a piece of work."
"I dunno what I'm going to do-she's not like most of the girls that I've gone after. She doesn't fall for the things that all of them do."
"Well, Prongs, you said you wanted a challenge," Sirius reminded him
"That, I did," James agreed
"You want my advice?" Sirius offered.
"Sure," James obliged, shrugging. He didn't think that Sirius could offer him anything useful, but he decided that there was no harm in listening to the bloke.
"Go talk to her," Sirius suggested, "tell her that you're sorry about how much of a jerk you've been acting lately and that you miss her."
James thought it over and said, finally, "That's not bad." He then got up and crossed the compartment and started opening the door.
"Not now, you prick," Sirius said, putting an arm out in front of him to stop him from leaving. "You need to give her time to cool off. Besides, we've got company," Sirius added, gesturing towards the two giggling sixth year Ravenclaws that had just clamored into the compartment. "I'll give you the blonde," Sirius muttered in James' ear, and James nodded in reply.
.*.*.*.
After some naughty deeds in the train's bathroom, James proceeded towards Lily's compartment and knocked on the door. "Come in," he heard Lily's voice sound after a couple of seconds-she sounded tired.
"Hi, I didn't wake you, did I?" James asked, pretending to act concerned.
"No, not at all," Lily replied, sitting up.
"Well, I just stopped by to see how you were doing." James explained.
"I'm…I'm alright." Lily's answer was followed by an uncomfortable silence.
"Well, I just stopped by to tell you that I'm sorry I acted like a jerk, that I was thinking of you and that I miss you. But, I'll let you go," James said, as he pretended to look depressed and started to close the compartment door and leave.
"Wait, don't go," Lily said.
"Okay."
"What have you been doing so far on the ride?"
"Reading," James replied, not wanting to tell her what he was really doing.
"What book?" Lily asked, interested.
"A Philosopher's Journal," James answered, saying the first book that came to mind.
"Phineas Whitaker," Lily nodded knowingly.
"Yeah, it's pretty relevant considering my situation," James explained.
"You're not going to start with that again."
"No, I'm through with my childish games when it comes to you," James said, as he saw two girls enter his and Sirius' compartment. "Can you hold on? Sirius is calling me." He ran back to his compartment, where he saw Casey and Michelle Alden who were twins and among the hottest girls at Hogwarts.
"Hi James," they greeted him simultaneously as he walked through the compartment door. Sirius wasn't there. Score! James thought to himself.
"Hello ladies, I will be right back and we can get to talking," James said and bolted out of his compartment and back to Lily's. "Hey, my mum sent me an owl and I kind of need to respond. Can I stop by later?"
"Sure. Say hello to your mum for me."
"Will do," James assured her. He then left her compartment and returned to his own yet again to find Casey and Michelle right where he had left them. He sat right in-between them and said "So where were we, ladies."
"A Philosopher's Journal?" Casey asked laughing, "You're such a bullshit artist, James."
"Case, do you even know what it is?" James asked.
"Duh, it's a book." Casey replied.
"Do you know what it's about?"
"Who cares?" Michelle asked, "Books are for fags."
"I weep for the future," James said in response, shaking his head.
"But James," Casey said, bringing him back to focus, "we didn't come here to talk about books." She reminded him, kissing him sensually on the cheek.
"Yeah," Michelle agreed, kissing his other cheek, "we came here to fuck."
"Of course you did," James consented, turning off the compartment lights and locking the door.
.*.*.*.
The following day, Melanie was shopping at Yale Row in Diagon Alley, which had some of the nicest stores in all of England. She was currently in a boutique that had just opened the previous week, looking for a new pair of dress cloak. The salesperson then approached with a few sets of fur cloaks.
"Here's something you might like." The salesperson informed her, holding up a beautiful fur cloak.
Melanie examined the label and scowled. "Do you carry any griffin fur?" she asked.
"No," the salesperson replied, "they're endangered."
"Of course, the protection acts, how silly of me," Melanie said, shaking her head. The salesperson then walked away and Melanie sneered at her retreating figure. She then noticed a small, unaccompanied child staring at her and mouthed the words `Fuck off' to him. He immediately blushed and turned away right as Mrs. Codwell walked towards her.
"I got your owl and came as quick as I could," Mrs. Codwell informed Melanie, sounding anxious.
"I hope I didn't keep you from something," Melanie said, sounding sincere.
"Not at all," Mrs. Codwell replied, shaking her head, "What's wrong?"
"It's Florence," Melanie answered, purposely creating suspense by leaving her hanging.
"What about her?" Mrs. Codwell asked worriedly.
"Well…promise you won't say anything to her…we've developed a friendship and well…"
"Melanie, you have my word, it isn't drugs, is it?"
"It's worse," Melanie said, gulping heavily. "I think that there is something going on between Florence and her Charms tutor."
"Ronald? That's crazy!"
"I know," Melanie agreed, "she's so young and he's-"
"-a Mudblood," Mrs. Codwell finished for. Melanie pretended to act shocked by Mrs. Codwell's use of the word-but this had confirmed the suspicions about Mrs. Codwell's views on muggle borns. Although, she worked very closely with muggles, Melanie had suspected for a long time that Mrs. Codwell believed that that those of muggle descent who meddled with magic were scum. The one exception to this was Lily Evans-for some reason, Mrs. Codwell had taken a liking to Lily. Though Melanie couldn't see why, as far as she could see, Lily was an obnoxious little prat.
"He's been sending her love letters for a while now. The ones she received last summer she hides in her antique dollhouse at home and the ones that she received this year she's been keeping in her dormitory," Melanie explained. "I questioned whether or not to tell you, but something like this could really damage her reputation amoung the people who matter at Hogwarts and I just don't want to see her get hurt. I hope I did the right thing in telling you this. I'd hate to see Florence ruin things with Court."
"I can't thank you enough," Mrs. Codwell replied sincerely.
"Will you be discreet about this?"
"Absolutely," Mrs. Codwell guaranteed her.
Melanie then brought the cloak she had chosen up to the counter and set it down. The saleswoman then rang the dress up. "That will be 57 galleons and 4 knuts."
"Oh schnikees," Melanie exclaimed, going through her purse, "I left my wallet at home."
Mrs. Codwell then proceeded to take out her purse. "Let me get that for you."
"Oh no, that's okay, really!" Melanie assured her.
"Really, it's the least I can do," Mrs. Codwell insisted, handing the cashier and bag of coins.
"Thank you, Mrs. Codwell."
.*.*.*.
A/N: I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that this is the last edited chapter, henceforward, everything will be new. The bad news is that since from here on forward, everything will be new, the updates will not be nearly as frequent.