A Change of Heart

Chapter 4

While they waited for the sorting hat to sort the first years, Lily looked up at the staff table. It would indeed be a hard year. She was sure that the rising tension of the Dark Lord was taking its toll on everyone. Since she had first learned about Hogwarts, she had learned that not everything in the magical world was pleasant. There were things; there were people who were evil beyond anything Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, or Macnair had to offer. She knew that, as did everyone else in the room whose family members had suddenly disappeared or had been found dead.

However, that was what made people like the marauders a welcome crowd. They were the ones who provided the tension-relief in the magical school. Lily smiled as she saw James put a lizard on Daya Jonkins' head, who at the sight of the animal, screamed rather loudly; thus interrupting the sorting. Professor Dumbledore had an amused look on his face. Professor McGonagall, however, threw James a warning glance and kept reading the last three names off the list.

It wasn't a surprise that James Potter got away with his jokes. Lily assumed that the teachers found his pranks an amusement and welcome laughter at the knowledge of all the trouble going on outside the safe haven that was Hogwarts. She couldn't say that even though most of his pranks were insulting, they weren't funny. She would've laughed at some of them if she hadn't been aware of the cruelty and shame of some of the jokes. She had been teased and mocked at in the same manner by her sister back in her muggle school. She knew only too well what it was like to be humiliated in front of others. She didn't appreciate it done on other people, even if she wasn't fond of them. Sort of the way she wasn't fond of Snape, Avery, Zabini, or Bulstrode. She never cared much for the Slytherins. She tried to get along with them, at one point she had stood up to James and Sirius on behalf of Sniv- Snape. She couldn't say she liked Snape very much after that; not when he had called her a 'mudblood'. She had stayed clear from his path after that. She occasionally shot a couple of glares in his direction.

She wasn't much for staying quiet when other people tried to talk her down. That's why not a lot of people dared bother her, they respected her.

She had been so distracted in her own thoughts, she hadn't noticed Professor Dumbledore greeting them, "Let the feast begin!"

At his words, food appeared magically on the previously empty plates before them. She looked at the food amazed. She could always be sure to enjoy her meal.

Lily ate heartily, occasionally taking a sip form her goblet. She noted, halfway through her meal, a funny taste in her drink. As she finished her meal, she felt something lump in her throat. Slowly, she felt her throat contract and then a small 'hic' came from her mouth. One minute later, another 'hic' made her way from her throat. Then another and another, until it was every couple of seconds that the sound came from her mouth. She waved at Hannah and Sarah helplessly as her hiccups attack kept going resiliently crippling her ability to speak. Sarah giggled at Lily's hand movements. Hannah just looked hesitant to make any expression appear on her face. Lily looked panicked.

Slowly people began to notice Lily's hiccups and while some were laughing, others just looked curiously at the attack that wouldn't end.

"Ma- hic!- ke- hic!- it- hic!- STOP! HIC!" Lily said to her friends desperately.

She then heard a couple of people laugh a few seats down. It was James and Peter Pettigrew. Remus Lupin was watching her, trying to keep from smiling. Sirius looked somewhat concerned and she could have sworn she heard him mutter the words, "She's gonna know..."

"You Hic! Did- hic!- this! Hic!" She hollered pointing at James.

Her voice carried an exasperated sound. Professor McGonagall had already making her way down from the teacher's table. She headed towards Lily, who was looking at James murderously while continuing her hiccup attack. Lily had already pulled out her wand with the purpose of hexing him but had been unable to put two words together. Sarah and Hannah were doing their best to keep her from actually hexing him, while some people were just trying to get out of her way.

Right before Professor McGonagall reached Lily; she managed to string together some words, "CON-hic-FUN-hic-DO!"

Whether what Lily had intended was for James to start growing fur or not, James instantly had a lush amount of hair growing all over his body, making his previously bushy and messy hair look almost like a bald spot.

Professor McGonagall was horrified at the sight of James and Lily. One of them hiccupping like crazy, the other with a luscious fur of brown hair covering every part of his skin. They were taken to the infirmary by the furious Professor, who was lecturing them on the proper way of dealing with classmates. Their classmates looked on as they left, almost everyone in the room was laughing.

***

A young nurse in her mid-20's attended to them. They had known Madam Pomfrey since they had come to Hogwarts. She looked at both children with stern looks. She knew what must've happened. Professor McGonagall explained what little she knew and left them to the care of the nurse.

"Care to elaborate? I need to know what exactly you have Mr. Potter," she said James. He looked angrily at Lily and scowled.

He appeared to be unable to speak. Lily imagined it must've been his anger. If she hadn't been to busy trying to keep her hiccups down, she would've burst out laughing. She couldn't exactly imagine how she had done that to him. She heard Madam Pomfrey ask her what had happened but as she opened her lips to try to speak, only hiccups erupted from her mouth. She closed it quickly and sat down on the closest bed. James followed suit and sat on the bed furthest from Lily.

"At least I know what's wrong with you," Madam Pomfrey expressed rather annoyed.

She went into another room for a little bit and came out with a small vial that held a red liquid. Handing it Lily she said, "Drink this".

Lily did as she was told and swallowed the red potion. It tasted metallic, but she managed to drink it down. She breathed in an out, smiling at the relief of the having the spasm gone. She then looked at Madam Pomfrey, who was looking at her expectantly.

"Well..." she supplied impatiently.

"It was strictly self-defense! He put something in my drink and I started hiccupping like crazy! So I kind of..." she had started speaking fast, but had slowed down towards the end, "I'm not sure what I did. I tried to put a Confundus Charm because I was really angry and all of the sudden he started sprouting a coat of fur..."

Madam Pomfrey nodded accepting her words and looked James over hastily. Turning towards Lily she said, "Well, then I guess you must've somehow put a fur spell on him... You may go now. I will inform your head of house of what happened."

She looked at James from the corner of her eyes. She could barely see his face, but she imagined he must've looked angry.

She made her way hurriedly to the Gryffindor common room which was almost empty except for a few students who were talking in front of the fire and near the windows. Some of her other friends approached her to ask her what had happened. She explained, now laughing at the fur coat she had put on James. She had gotten kudos from everyone who was there. She had managed to get back at James Potter in a really good way.

"So much for you two ever having a relationship," Sirius Black said from behind her. He smiled at her amused, "I knew he would get caught. I'm glad I wasn't in on it."

"You're lucky I didn't know you were in on it," she said with mock-threat.

"I thought you were too sweet to do anything against anyone. You sure come across like that when you defend everyone against our jokes," he said looking charming as usual.

They both hadn't noticed the way the other girls were looking at them. Some girls looked at Sirius with dreamy looks on their faces, while others looked at Lily with jealousy. The group that had been talking to Lily has dissipated and now they talking in front of the fire. They sat down and continued talking (although in Lily's case it was flirting).

Sirius was enjoying talking with Lily, like he had the year before when they had become friends. Slowly he had felt himself growing fonder and fonder of her. In a sudden moment of what he claimed was lunacy, he caught himself flirting back with the object of his best friend's affection. He was glad James wasn't there to see how close Lily and he had become.

Chapter Five

By the time James had gotten back from the infirmary the next day, he had missed half a day's worth of classes. He had to hand it to Lily, she sure had outranked him. Not that she had meant to, but she had. He had intended his prank to be a funny entertainment for the first day back. After all, it was the only way he ever got her to look at him at all. Sure he had been furious at his state the night before, but now, he was throwing caution to the wind and letting the image of her engulf his thoughts. He had never known anyone quite as strong in will as Lily. She really didn't fear retaliation from anyone as obvious by the way she openly expressed her thoughts. She had almost gotten him caught before. He must've guessed she had pitied him or rather them. After all, most of his jokes and mischief were not accomplished alone. It was either Sirius and him, or all the marauders. Except for yesterday. Sirius had downright refused to help James in his plot against Lily. He had given it some thought, but he imagined Sirius just wanted to avoid problems on his first day back. Sirius had after all, since he had arrived to Hogwarts, seen it as his only real home, next to James' house. The fact was that Sirius hated his home, and since last year had walked out of his house, with the purpose of never returning. He couldn't blame him. His family was one who supported, who trusted people like the Dark Lord. Sirius would have nothing to do with that.

So were his thoughts as he headed towards the Gryffindor Common room. He couldn't imagine going to classes, not when he had already missed half of the day. Class wasn't his priority for the day, or ever. He did well in general; his marks were almost the best in his year. In any case, he didn't have his schedule, as he hadn't received it during breakfast like his fellow classmates. He made a note to ask Remus about the classes later. He trusted in Sirius not to pay attention either, or Peter. They were always absent during class, their bodies there, their minds simply gone. Of course, Sirius would do well like always, but Peter would have to struggle to keep up.

He arrived to the common room and launched himself on one of the chairs by the fire. He was trying to think of a way to get through to Evans. He had already told Sirius to keep an eye out for her, but he had come back empty handed. He failed to give James any information on Lily Evans. As a matter of fact, he had failed to tell him anything about her. He began to wonder if he should be concerned, but brushed the thought aside quickly. His best friend, he said to himself, would never try to make a move on a girl he had most adamantly expressed he liked.

***

When Lily stepped out of the potions' classroom, she felt suddenly relieved at the thought of being out of the dreadful room. She disliked the subject, the dungeon, the teacher, and everything else having to do with it. She did fairly well in the class, but it wasn't particularly because she enjoyed it. She turned to look at Sarah and Hannah, both looking as though they had just been through the worst hour and a half of their lives. It was bad enough that it was obligatory to pass the class during their years previous to their OWLs, but now that they were in NEWT level classes, potions was excruciating.

"It's masochistic, is what it is! I can't believe I'm taking the class, why did I sign up for it in the first place?" Hannah complained as she put her books down at the library table.

"You are in the class so that when you graduate you can become a healer," Lily said mechanically, "Or so you told me to tell you when you complained about it again."

"Right, it was the 'don't-let-me-quit' speech you gave us during fifth year when you made your class schedule, remember?" Sarah offered.

Hannah sighed heavily and nodded in agreement. The girls sat down at the table looking at the class schedule again.

"So now that, that torture is over we have a free amount of thirty minutes until we have to go to transfiguration, lunch, and then I believe we have to part ways. I have Ancient Runes and then to wrap it up, I have Arithmancy. What do you two have?" Lily inquired curiously glancing at the paper in Hannah's hands, who was sitting next to her.

"I have Care of Magical Creatures and then Muggle Studies," Hannah said looking at the paper.

"I have Divination and then I have Muggle Studies with you Hannah," Sarah said offhandedly. Her attention had been drawn away from the subject as she looked at the far end of the library where there were a few kids huddled up secretly.

Lily and Hannah turned to see what she was focusing in but it seemed that the apparent second years saw the girls looking at them and started to warn the others. Lily looked at them suspiciously and frowned. It was too early in the year to have to be watching out for conspiracies.

"Lily..." Hannah started warily, "I know what you're thinking. Don't. It's probably nothing."

But it was too late; Lily had already risen from her seat, heading towards the younger kids. She heard Sarah's exasperated sigh from behind her and Hannah's annoyed mutter as they got up reluctantly after her.

"So what might you all be doing this early and in such secretive voices?" Lily voiced as she approached them. She looked extremely suspicious. They in turn looked just rather nervous under her stern gaze.

"W-we were just discussing this thing in Witch Weekly..." a small boy said meekly.

"You don't have to say anything John, we weren't doing anything wrong. You don't need to intimidate us when we were just sitting here discussing a magazine," a slightly proud girl said standing up to Lily.

Lily smirked and eyed the magazine in the middle of the table. Sarah and Hannah exchanged a look from behind Lily and they smiled slightly. They knew only too well what Lily was capable of when she was curious. She was very cunning.

"What's the name of the article?" She asked quickly.

"News on the World Cup," the girl responded just as quickly.

"Oh, I read that," Lily said as-a-matter-of-factly, "Tell me, where will it take place?"

"Sweden," the girl said nervously.

"Who's playing?"

"Bulgaria and--and"

"Peru," another voice contributed.

"When?"

"November..."

"What's Venezuela's pet?"

"The Peruvian Dragon..." the girl said apprehensively.

"And Bulgaria's?"

"Veelas"

"Have you ever seen them?"

"No"

"Have you ever been to a Quidditch match?"

"Yes"

"What were you really doing?"

"Planning a prank on Maki Stevenson," The words had left her mouth before she could stop them. A loud groan erupted from around the table.

Sarah and Hannah looked positively amused. It was Lily's tactics. She got them nervous, asked them a series of questions, and then surprised them with her last one. She took note of the four Hufflepuffs and started asking for their names.

"I'll know if you are lying," she warned them as she summoned a quill and parchment from the table where she had set her books down before.

She saw the disappointed faces as she opened the magazine and smiled at some funny illustrations drawn in a paper hidden inside. She examined the parchment and made out the scheme of the great hall. It seemed that they had been planning on taking Maki Stevenson's belongings from him when he would be eating. They had traced how long they could distract him before he noticed the lump of his bag missing from underneath him. Lily took pity on the kids and stopped writing.

"There's a closet just around the corner from the Great Hall. If you wanted to keep him from noticing the bag gone, didn't you think of wrapping a cloak and putting it where the bag was. That way he would think it was still there and by the time he noticed it gone, you would already be back in your seats," she said drawing the closet onto the map, "But if I do say so myself, this seems unnecessarily simple. It's a disappointing prank."

"You could come up with something better?" the proud girl said smugly.

"She's the one that put fur on James Potter yesterday..." Hannah said smiling mischievously.

"Oh, you did that? I didn't realize..." The girl said almost apologetically.

"Wow," came the voice of another girl who had stayed quiet up until that point.

"Thank you Hannah, I believe my authority level over these youngsters just came down a notch or two," Lily said becoming annoyed. She didn't like being known as a trouble-maker. Although, she had to admit she got a kick from the fact that she had been one of the few to get the infamous James Potter. "Off with you. I won't say anything to Professor Sprout, but don't tell anyone or I will make sure you all have detention for a month."

With that, the second years quickly made their way to the door. Lily looked at Hannah and Sarah and smiled against her better judgment.

"I'm glad to know you remember what it's like not to be a prefect or a Head Girl," Sarah said smiling.

"I just couldn't give a detention or tell a teacher about such a stupid prank. It was so lame," she said walking back to their table.

"I think it sounds bad because we know some of the best jokers Hogwarts has ever seen," Hannah said grinning at the thought.

"The hiccup sweets were really funny Lils," Sarah said starting to laugh.

"To you! I could barely breathe!" Lily said in mock anger. She knew it was funny. In any case she hadn't been the worst off in the situation.

"And you got to spend some time with your admirer," Hannah said tentatively.

Lily turned to look at her with enormous surprise. Sarah just laughed incredulously at the boldness that was rare in Hannah.

"Was I supposed to enjoy spending time with that git?! He put something in my drink. He put something which almost impeded my breathing. You say it like it was something pleasant to be with someone who willingly poisons your drink!" Lily ranted indignantly.

"You have to admit he's not hard on the eyes though..." Sarah said smiling broadly.

"He was covered in fur! How can that be something pleasant to look at?" She said exasperated at her friends' behavior. "You know what? It doesn't matter, I know the answer. You both think along the same wavelength as all the other girls in our school. I don't care what anybody says. James Potter is not as good looking and great as everyone makes him out to be."

"No, of course you'd say that. After all, we both know you don't fancy him, you fancy his best friend," Sarah said nonchalantly.

Lily opened her mouth in shock. It was Hannah's turn to suppress a laugh.

"That was certainly impetuous of someone who won't yet admit she has feelings for Troy Meyers," Lily attacked back.

"So not fair! Low blow Lils," Sarah said looking rather shocked.

"You know, I'm going to put an end to this before you two make us late for transfiguration," Hannah said stepping in between the two girls. She took a sigh grabbed her books and spoke, "Of course Sarah likes Troy. Anyone with eyes can see it so don't try to deny it. As for you Lily, 'there is a fine line between love and hate, and with one simple mistake, that boundary could be crossed'."

She walked out right after she had said the words, leaving Lily and Sarah confused as to what she meant.

As they gathered their things to follow her, Sarah asked abruptly, "Am I really obvious?"