For That Boy

Chapter 1: The Need of Change

"What if I can actually get Sirius to notice me this year?" I asked Laura, my best friend as we searched for an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express. I was on my way back to my magical school for my fifth year. I always liked to start out the year being optimistic, but that usually didn't last too long.

"I bet if he even looked at you, you'd take off running and hide somewhere," stated Laura.

"No, I wouldn't!" I tried to sound shocked at her idea of what I would do, but I knew it was true.

I had always been a shy girl. I would get major crushes on guys and if the opportunity arose to date them or they showed interest in me, I would completely freeze up. I knew that even if Sirius did notice that I was a Hogwarts student or paid attention to me, I would probably freak out. I figured that liking him from a distance was better.

Laura on the other hand, had no trouble with boys at all. She was very lucky, but she probably wouldn't have been able to score with Sirius. She had a lot of confidence with her looks, grades, and everything. She was comfortable with who she was. Thankfully, she wasn't egotistical. She knew that she wasn't drop-dead gorgeous, but the way she carried herself had guys swarming all around her.

We finally found an empty compartment and dumped ourselves and all of our stuff in it. We both sat down on opposite sides of the compartment, facing eachother in our seats.

"You just need to give yourself a fresh start this year," Laura suggested. "Get a new clean slate. Forget how you are now, and just begin again. Be outgoing; mingle with the other students. You know what? As soon as we get off this train you can start working on the 'new you'."

"But I don't want a 'new' me," I whined. I knew it would be nearly impossible to change myself now that I had already established this personality for five years.

"You have to start sooner or later," chimed in Laura. "Look, you already know that Sirius is in his sixth year. You don't have forever. Before you know it, Sirius is going to be in his seventh year and then it'll be G'-bye love; so you might as well start now." She waved, pretending that Sirius was right there. " It'll go by so quickly that he'll be gone in a flash. You should try to dip your toe into the big pool of romance. There are plenty of fish in the sea; get going before your chances are non-existent."

I looked down at my lap and started fiddling with an empty Chocolate Frog box. I knew Laura was right once again.

Maybe I should change. I knew couldn't do it by myself. I would need help.

I looked up and said meekly to her, "Could you help me?" I suddenly realized I was desperate and I really wanted to fix myself up.

"With the 'new you'?" Laura asked and I silently nodded. She smiled and said, "Of course! Gosh! What kind of friend would I be if I let you do this all by yourself? No offense Caramel, but I really could not see you doing this project by yourself, without me. You know?"

"Yes, I know. I'm mature enough at this point to know what I'm capable of and what I'm not," I said with a slight grin on my face.

"So..." Laura dragged out, "I guess now, on the train is the best time to talk about what you need to do."

"Yup." I was already wondering if this was bad idea.

"I can't show you everything, but I'll do the best I can," she tossed her dirty blonde hair. "I can teach you how to attract the boys," she grinned evilly, "but you'll need help with many more things than that."

"Like what?" I said defensively, raising an eyebrow. I was a tad bit worried. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

"Well, maybe I could teach you how to carry yourself, to achieve self confidence, and get the attention of the boys," she said almost talking to herself. "But I'm not an expert at makeup, wardrobe and that kind of physical stuff."

"What are you getting at?" I asked suspiciously.

"Okay," she said seriously. "You'll need lots and lots of help and...I can't believe I'm saying this but-" she looked me in the eye and patted me on the knee, "this time honey, I'm not going to be enough." She sighed.

I was silently laughing to myself. She was really getting into the drama of all of this.

"It would be better to include some more girls, set up a cabinet for you like they have in America, you know?" Laura said. She was extremely excited. "How about Carey, Mindy, and Venus?"

"I guess that's ok...but I don't want anymore 'Cabinet members'," I winked at her. "I don't want the whole school knowing about this!"

"Oh, but one more thing," she burst. "I almost forgot about the most important person, Lily Evans. She is Sirius' best friend's girlfriend and always hangs out with that group. She can give us inside information of what Sirius likes in his girls." She grinned mischievously.

Definitely!" I said. Now I was beginning to like this.

"So all we have to do is find Carey, Mindy, and Venus-"

"What about Lily?" I interrupted.

"We don't need her 'til a bit later," said Laura looking at me.

"She needs to tell us what Sirius goes for before I redo my image, because it might be totally different than what he likes," I stated.

"Oh, yeah. You're right. Sorry. Well we better find them soon then before the train-" but she was interrupted when the train lurched and came to a sudden stop.

"Too late. We can't look for them now. It would be hell with everyone trying to get off the train," I said.

"Yeah. We can start tomorrow and find the girls at lunch or something and clue them in on our plan," she said.

"Do you think they'll agree to help me?" I asked a little shyly.

"Oh yeah, definitely! Everybody knows you need help!" She started laughing and I playfully slapped her on the shoulder.

We opened the compartment door and made our way laughing down the isle to the exit of the train.