A Fairy Tale

Prologue

"Shorty!" James Potter teased.

"Pot-head!" Lily Evans retaliated.

"Carrot!"

"Four-Eyes!"

"Lily--James--shut up!" Remus Lupin yelled. He was trying to do his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework, but the noise made by the Head Boy and Girl of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was unbearable.

"And if you don't shut up, the least you guys can do is come up with better insults," Andie Takahashi commented.

"That isn't a bad idea," Sirius Black said, grinning. "The ones they're using are getting old."

"Ignore them," said Ronnie Cooper. She put a hand on Lily's shoulder. "Calm down."

This was a typical evening in the Gryffindors' Common Room. James and Lily would get into an argument that started with God-knows-what, involving a lot of insulting, cussing, and sometimes hexing, and ending with their fellow seventh years telling them off. Why this kept happening, no one knew. Almost everybody can see that James Potter and Lily Evans were meant to be together. That is, everybody but James and Lily. Their friends certainly could, though. And that is exactly the reason why this happened...

"I'm going to bed," said James crossly, disappearing up the boys' staircase.

"What, Potter?" Lily yelled after him. "Ran out of comebacks?"

"Lily, give it up already," Ronnie said, rubbing her temples. "I'm getting a headache."

Lily glared at her friend and snapped, "I'll see you guys in the morning." She stormed up to her dormitory.

Ronnie, Andie, Remus, and Sirius all huddled together.

"Get over here, Wormtail!" Sirius yelled to Peter Pettigrew.

"Oh," Peter said, putting his book aside. He joined the circle. "What?"

"We've got to get James and Lily together somehow," Andie said.

"But they hate each other," Peter argued.

"Any fool can see that they're perfect for each other," Ronnie said, rolling her eyes. "They're just too blind to see."

"Right," said Remus. "So how do we make them see? I'm getting pretty sick of all this bickering."

There was a sudden silence, as everybody paused to think. A light bulb switched on inside Sirius's head and a smile played about his lips.

"Why are you smiling, Sirius?" Andie asked. "You've got an idea or something?"

"Oh--er--no," Sirius said. "I've got nothing."

"Then why were you smiling?"

"I was just--er--picturing you in a bikini!"

Andie punched him.

"Ow!" Sirius cried, rubbing his left shoulder. "I was just joking, Andie. Jesus... You know, you have a great right arm."

"She's a chaser," Remus reminded him.

"Oh yeah."

"Well, I can't think of anything," Andie said. "I'm going to bed. G'night all."

"I'll be going too," said Ronnie, sighing. "I don't have anything either. Good night." She gave Remus a peck on the cheek and left.

"'Night, Ronnie," Remus said. He turned back to the boys. "Let's head up too." He started to leave, but Sirius held him back. "What?"

"I've got an idea."

"What?"

"I've got an idea on to get James and Lily together," Sirius said.

Remus sat back down, his eyebrows furrowed. "Then why did you say no when Andie asked?"

"Because I know the girls won't approve of it."

"L-let's not do it then," Peter said nervously.

"It's a good idea, though. Really," he added hurriedly.

"A good idea?" Remus snorted. "Coming from you? I think not."

"Trust me." Sirius put on his best puppy-dog face: his eyes widen innocently and his lower lip dropped.

Remus sighed. "I know I'm going to regret this later, and somebody's probably going to get hurt badly because of this ingenious idea of yours..." He stopped and inhaled, as if he was about to make a brave decision. "And even though I know this is a stupid choice...I'm going to agree to help you."

"Great!" Sirius said enthusiastically.

"So what's the plan?" Remus asked.

"Well..."

And the story begins...