Disclaimer: I own nothing

Disclaimer: I own nothing. This doesn't represent my personal views.

AN: Another oneshot! I hope you like it! A present for the end of school!

-&-

On the Way to Transfiguration

"Glad you could show up for your detention, Miss Prewett."

Alice smiled, as best she could, and sat down in the chair McGonagall gestured to.

"Ginger newt, Miss Prewett?"

Alice took one of the cookies, even though she had a slight allergic reaction to them. It was the least she could do for the teacher whose detention she missed entirely.

"I hope I'm not being too forward, Miss Prewett, but do you have a flair for the dramatics? For it seems you have a need for your spectacular, late, entrances."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Professor. It's just, you see, I have Divination first, and it's a long commute from the Divination tower to your classroom."

"Ah. Well, I can see that as an excuse for the days when you've been slightly tardy. But, some of your recent absences have been completely unacceptable. And, missing your detention with me completely? I've never seen the like!"

"Professor"-

"Would you be so kind as to give me a reason for your horrendous tardiness, please?"

"Well, it's sort of a long story, Professor."

"I have time."

"So I should start from the very beginning?"

"That would be a yes."

"Then, it all started with…."

00000

Thursday, September 28, 1976

"Shit, shit, shitty-shit-shit!" Alice chanted under her breath, as she dropped to pick up her books.

As usual after Divination, Alice was on the rush to Transfiguration. Four minutes was simply not enough time to get from the top of Trelawney's tower down to the Transfiguration class, on the second floor.

Unsurprisingly, in her haste, the sixth year had become quite clumsy. Tripping at the top of a staircase, Alice's papers flew down to the landing. If she hadn't been quite panicked at the time, Alice would have observed how gracefully the papers lingered in the air. But, again, that wasn't really the time to be paying attention to the aerodynamics of paper.

Alice grazed over the trick stair, and stumbled down the remaining stairs, landing quite uncomfortably on her foot.

As she hurriedly heaped her papers together, wincing at what she knew would be future crinkles in her Potions essay, two feet approached her, dressed sensibly in Mary-Janes and white, cotton socks.

Alice spared a moment to glance up at this newcomer, and suppressed a gasp, realizing it was the Head Girl, Lily Evans. Yes, Alice Prewett was the sixth year Head Girl hopeful, and a goody-good, neat freak to boot. But, this wasn't the time to discuss that.

"Need any help?" Lily asked, but without Alice even admitting so, she sank onto her knees, and began to assemble the strewn-about papers in a pile, a pile much neater than the one Alice had gathered haphazardly.

Forgetting momentarily of her current predicament of reaching the Transfiguration classroom in time, Alice stared at the pile of papers Lily had collected. I really need to up the ante… she sighed. The role of Head Girl was important to some people.

Alice shook her head. If she was going to get to McGonagall's class in time, she really had to go.

"Thanks so much!" Alice beamed, grasping the mass of parchment Lily held out to her, and starting to jog down the hall.

Starting is the key word there.

Just as she took her first few steps, the bell started to chime, and Alice paled right away.

After a second or two, Alice hurtled into action, quickening into a sprint, clutching her books to her chest.

"McGonagall's going to KILL me!" Alice moaned to herself, no longer caring if she was heard. Most of the students were in class, anyway.

After about forty seconds of very loud inward groaning, Alice felt a tap on her shoulder.

"You have McGonagall next?" Alice heard Lily ask, as she spun around.

"Yeah," Alice confessed.

"You shouldn't have been so late, even if you did fall," Lily stated, suspiciously.

Alice concealed a roll of the eyes, and said, "Yeah, well that happens when you go from Divination to Transfiguration."

Lily's eyes widened almost immediately. "Oh… I'm sorry! That must be a tough commute…"

"Yeah, well, I got to go, if I don't want McGonagall to yell even more, if you don't mind."

"Right! Do you want a pass? I can write you one, and McGonagall fawns over me, so I think you'd be safe with it."

Alice gawked at the Head Girl. How come she hadn't thought of that? She was such an idiot! She most likely wasn't going to get the Head Girl badge next year…

Lily chuckled softly at Alice. "Well, I'll just take that as a yes."

Alice reddened, but, even so, she continued on, chanting, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Lily scrawled out a note to the strict Transfiguration teacher, smiled at Alice, and started to make her way back to the Gryffindor common room.

Alice shouted 'thank you' one more time to Lily's back, and started dashing to the Transfiguration classroom. Except, her dash was a bit more of a painful hobble, since her ankle still hurt from awkwardly falling on it.

Once she has approached the door, she slipped in, readying herself for a rant on getting to class on time.

"Well, now we can all learn peacefully," McGonagall said, quite sarcastically for a sixty year old woman. "Now that Miss Prewett has finally graced us with her presence."

Alice determinedly made her way up to the front of the classroom, and handed to McGonagall the message Lily had scribbled out only a few seconds prior.

As the teacher read the note, her demeanor almost immediately changed. "Oh, I'm sorry Miss Prewett. If you would so kindly take your seat, I may continue with the lesson. We were just going over human transfiguration."

Pleased by her new treatment, Alice plopped into her chair, next to Dorcas Meadows, who shook her head amusedly at the impromptu show that had just occurred. Having a friend whom McGonagall loves would be a very nice asset, Alice decided.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Friday, September 29, 1976

Staggering in excruciating pain, Alice slowly made her way to Transfiguration. It was now that she was wondering why she hadn't gone to the nurse after classes. Damn her eagerness to get to the library early, in order to get extra time with that brilliant book on shape-shifting concoctions for Potions.

Either way, Alice was still in agonizing torture, because of her stupid ankle.

Finally, the pain got to be too much, and Alice collapsed next to a staircase, massaging her ankle, and cursing the staircase she fell from, landing on her ankle.

Ironically, she was seated right next to that particular staircase.

Alice glowered at the staircase, and got back up, cursing angrily at her ankle. If only she didn't have to get to McGonagall's class in time. Alice was quite sure that she would have given anything to have the oblivious Burbage's class after Divination.

Sluggishly Alice was approaching the Transfiguration. Until a fresh wave of pain burst through her leg, after she stepped on a quill, laying forgotten on the stone floor.

Pushing back a strangled cry, Alice glared at her foot, suppressing tears that had popped up once the smarting had gotten worse. Once again, she began to make her way to her next class.

As she was focusing most of her attention on the throbbing limb, Alice was unaware of the people around her.

Which was precisely why she bumped in a boy, and stumbled around him.

Alice continued her limping totter to the Transfiguration class, but looked back, to try and identify whom she had bumped into. He was more than a boy, she realized. Most likely a seventh year. He was tall, and had wavy brunette hair, and the looks that could challenge even the famous marauders.

His look of strange innocence (which is quite strange, for a seventh year, Alice had to admit) captivated Alice. It was as though he had sensed Alice's eyes lingering on him, as he glanced up, and his eyes locked onto Alice's gaze. For a fleeting second, all she could see was his eyes.

Then she bumped into yet another person.

"Glad you could join us on time, for once," McGonagall said simply, and Alice's head snapped back to the strict teacher.

McGonagall gestured to Alice's seat, and Alice quickly hopped to it, eager to avoid extra embarrassment.

Sprawling in her seat, Alice couldn't take her mind off the boy from the hallway. He had been wearing Gryffindor colors, so of course she had seen him sometime, being a Gryffindor herself. But, she couldn't shake off a feeling of déjà vu, that she knew him from somewhere.

Not until a few minutes into the lesson did Alice recall that seventh year as being Frank Longbottom. The Head Girl's best friend.

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Monday, October 2, 1976

Once again, Alice was hobbling to Transfiguration. But, today, the pain was a bit less severe. So, the walk to her next class somehow leisurely.

For once, the loony Divination teacher, who kept telling her that she and her lover would go through a horrible tragedy, but still live, or something like that… hadn't held Alice back.

So lost in her thoughts that Alice suddenly found herself in front of the Transfiguration classroom. And, if that didn't startle Alice enough, even more, for once McGonagall seemed relieved to see Alice.

But, before she could step into the classroom, and break all possible records of getting to that class on time, a fifth year that Alice knew as a Hufflepuff prefect came dashing up to her.

"What is it, Emmeline?" Alice asked, kindly, but still a bit irate, as she had been so close to getting to Transfiguration extra early, for once.

"Alice! You have to come quick!" the blonde fifth year cried desperately. "I can't stop it! They won't listen to me!"

"And you think they'll listen to me?" Alice asked dryly.

Emmeline shook her head exasperatedly. "You always deny it! But you are definitely one of the best prefects. People listen to you! You're like a mini-Lily Evans!"

Alice chuckled. "Constantly going to extremes, are we? Well, lets see what's going on, shall we?"

"Why are you going in there?" Emmeline demanded, as Alice headed over to the Transfiguration classroom.

"You'll see. Professor?" Alice called, as she stuck her head into the classroom.

The formidable Transfiguration teacher raised her head, and sighed. "Yes, Miss Prewett? You do know you don't have to be afraid of coming into the classroom, don't you?"

"No, I do know. I just wanted to inform you that I may be a little late to class. There's a slight uproar downstairs, you see."

McGonagall looked a bit surprised. "Oh. Finally a reason for being late to my class. Well, hurry along, will you? Today we're starting a study on Animagi, and it isn't something you'll want to have to learn on your own."

"Will do, Professor!" and with that, Alice gestured to Emmeline, who led Alice rushing down the corridor.

After a minute's run through the castle's dank passageways, Emmeline pointed out to Alice the site of the turmoil, just off of the entrance hall. Alice walked carefully up to the big group of people, crowded around something. Several seventh years were in the center, arguing. And a bit of dueling was going on, too. But the main attraction seemed to be two people in particular.

The Head Boy and Girl, in fact. James Potter and Lily Evans. Alice shook her head. McGonagall would be ashamed.

Alice shoved her way through the herd of students, and found herself in the front, almost nose to nose with the action. Glimpsing at the person beside her, Alice blushed, realizing it was the guy she bumped into the day before, Frank Longbottom. He's really cute, Alice thought, until she shook it off, and settled down to business.

Originally, she intended to stay low, and figure out what was going on, but it seemed best to just cut in, as James Potter was about to curse Remus Lupin with a very nasty curse.

"STOP!" Alice roared, blocking Remus from James' aim.

The older students just stared at her, and Alice took this as her cue to continue. "What did you think you were doing? Potter, you're Head Boy. Do those words mean anything to you?"

James just kept gaping at the sixth year in front of him.

Sirius Black gave a low whistle, and questioned, "Did any of you know there was a mini-Lily Evans in Hogwarts? I certainly didn't."

Peter snorted. "Yeah, well this means that James'll be pining over another girl."

James glared at Peter, and made a very rude hand gesture in his direction.

"Alright," Alice interrupted. "Enough immaturity. What's going on here?"

Lily cut in. "I was just talking to Remus, and then Potter saw us, and started yelling at us! Just another reason that James Potter is an idiot. Right Remus?"

Remus stayed silent, and ducked a bit behind Alice.

Alice turned to James. "And you had to yell at them because…?"

"Remus was my supposed friend. And if he was my friend he wouldn't date Lily Evans behind my back!" James accused, glaring at Remus.

"We aren't dating!" Lily exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Peter agreed, smirking. "They were just hanging out while their boyfriends wreck havoc!"

Lily leaped at Peter, in attempt to strangle him. "I am not dating James Potter, and I never will!"

"And I'm not dating Sirius!" Remus called out, stepping from behind Alice's back.

"Aw… but Remy-poo! I thought you loved me! All that chocolate I bought for you, gone to waste!" Sirius called out, grinning.

"Argh! Stop it! Why do I hang out with idiots?" Remus moaned, stomping off.

Alice sighed, and removed Lily's hands from Peter's throat, who then scampered off next to Frank, seemingly enraptured in the on goings.

"You!" Lily yelled. "You always do this! What is wrong with you?"

"Me?" James asked, astonished. "You're the one with the problem!"

"Potter, not being totally and utterly in love with you is not a problem."

"Eurgh! You never understand anything!"

"Why should I?"

Sirius yawned. "Well, not that this is boring, or anything, but I think I'd rather be off cutting my toenails…"

Sirius walked off, a large chunk of the crowd (mostly girls) following him.

James and Lily had settled into a phase of silence, simply glaring at each other. Here, Alice deemed it right to cut in.

"You two should be embarrassed!" Alice cried suddenly, ending the glares of terror, as the two Heads turned to face her. "You two are always fighting! And you know what? It's going to end now."

Everyone stared at Alice, who felt her neck starting to heat up. But she still continued on.

"From now on, you two are going to have a truce!"

More stares.

"Potter, no more getting jealous over Lily. Lily, cool your temper for once. You guys could be friends, you know."

The mother load of unbelieving stares was upon Alice right at that moment.

"And if I ever hear of you two fighting again, I'm bringing this straight to Dumbledore. I have a feeling he'd like this idea of a truce."

Alice spun on her heel, and stalked off, not caring that everyone was shocked speechless by what she was saying, and gawking at her, as though she was a talking cow.

As she made her way back to the Transfiguration classroom, she pondered about the way Frank had been staring at her throughout the whole event.

But Alice moved it to the back of her head. She knew McGonagall was probably right that she wouldn't want to teach herself about Animagi.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Tuesday, October 3, 1976

Alice stumbled over the last few stairs in the staircase down the Transfiguration corridor, as her vision blacked out a bit. With a yawn, Alice was leaning on the wall outside of the Transfiguration classroom.

She had spent the night prior tossing and turning in her bed, debating whether the look of fascination on Frank's face after she had discontinued that pandemonium between James and Lily meant anything.

Alice hadn't yet tried her hand at dating. In the teenage world, where your girlfriend or boyfriend was everything, Alice had no one. She had always told herself that she just didn't feel like it, but Alice knew that she was just hiding behind her books.

Butterflies in her stomach, drumming heart, sweaty palms, the whole shebang. That's what happened to Alice whenever she saw a cute boy. And even more when it was Frank. She couldn't help but berate herself for acting like a first year.

If Frank loved her… well that'd be swell, but it'd never happen. Who'd ever like rule-obsessed, intelligent know-it-all, prefect bookie for a girlfriend? That is, other than James Potter. But that was the one mutation in the billions of men in the world. And, besides, Lily Evans was at least good-looking. Alice wasn't so sure that she was up to that standard.

This was nonsense. Alice needed to get some sense knocked into her head. And that would start with going to Transfiguration.

"Where are you going? Not to Transfiguration?" asked a voice from behind her.

Crap. There goes resolution. Prepare for butterflies…

Alice turned her head around, praying that somehow her hair would flip attractively. Well, that is, until she realized what she was thinking. No, I will NOT go head over heels… no way.

And, there, behind her, just as she thought, was Frank Longbottom. And the marauders. Well, three of them, anyway, as James didn't seem to be there.

"Hello," Alice said, apprehensively. "Do you need something?"

Frank had his arms open, spread out, and Alice eyed him strangely. After a few seconds of this, Frank asked, "Don't I get a hug?"

Alice's eyes widened in embarrassment, and the berating of herself began again. How could I not see that? He'll just think I'm a stupid sixth year now! Alice bent over, and gave him a quick hug, and then turned to go to Transfiguration.

"See?" asked Peter. "I told you she doesn't hug creepy strangers, Longbottom."

Alice hung her head, and grasped for the handle of the door to McGonagall's classroom.

"Wait! Where do you think you're going, missy?" Sirius asked.

"To Transfiguration," Alice said meekly. Oh, yeah. Frank will DEFINITELY go for the meek girls… "And, you know, adding missy to the end of your sentences makes you sound like a stalking rapist."

Sirius stared at her, and then broke into a wide grin. "You were right, Moony. I would like her."

"Hey! It was me who suggested we use her!" Frank protested.

"Yeah, but why would you convince me? You're a pansy who hangs out with girls," Sirius smirked.

"Hey, Marlene and Lily aren't like the bimbos you deem okay to date," Frank countered. "And they could pass for guys!"

"Let's hope they aren't guys," Peter sniggered. "James would be severely upset."

"Ah… It's alright," laughed Remus. "James could always have Alice. She's practically the same person."

As she was carefully observing Frank's face, Alice noticed his smile wavered at bit after that last comment, but Alice shrugged it off. Maybe Frank would be upset that Marlene was a guy, because he liked her…

"So, what do you guys want to talk to me for?" Alice asked. "I have to go to Transfiguration, as I don't have a free period now like you all."

"Oh!" Remus said, and the others perked up too. "We better be going then."

"Okay, then I'm going to class," said Alice, wondering why they would stop her, and then talk in front of her (not to her), without any reason.

"Whoa… who said you're not coming?" Sirius asked, hooking his arm in Alice's.

"Yes, we thought we might want to talk to you!" Frank beamed, hooking his arm through Alice's other arm.

"Why not here?" Alice asked, as the boys began to guide her away from the door to the Transfiguration classroom.

Remus looked around. "Well… we don't exactly trust some people to keep quiet. Among them Sirius Black, but here he is…"

Sirius smiled and waved at Alice, who giggled, but stopped, to say, "If you cause me to be late to Transfiguration, McGonagall's going to kill me. And in turn, I will kick you all in a place that you hold dear to yourselves."

All four boys winced, and Sirius added on an exclamation of, "Owie!"

"Well, McGonagall, they can handle," said a voice, belonging to a short brown haired girl popping up next to Sirius.

Alice stared at the new arrival, and seeing this, the girl held out a hand, "Hello. I'm Marlene McKinnon. Seventh year, Gryffindor, best friend to the Head Girl. And Longbottom here. But who cares about him?"

Alice smirked, and agreed. Was that a look of disappointment on Frank's face? Ignore it Alice… Ignore it… It will only end in heartbreak…

"Anyway," said Peter. "The much bigger problem on our hands is James and Lily."

Alice gazed puzzled at the crowd around her. Why would these seventh years be interested in her?

"Because, dear Miss Prewett, we think you'd be very helpful for our plans," Sirius in a sugar-sweet voice.

Cursing inwardly, Alice realized she had thought out loud.

"Me? You need me?" Alice near squeaked, as the group approached a door.

"Here we are!" exclaimed Marlene, Remus shushing her, hissing, "You don't want others to overhear us, do you?"

"Oh, right," Marlene said, grinning sheepishly.

Alice ignored this, and peered intently at the door to wherever they were going.

"You're taking me to a broom closet?" Alice asked dubiously. "I'm not kissing any of you, even if you are really princes, and not frogs."

Marlene snickered at the boys, who all laughed. But Sirius stared blankly at Alice. "Frog? …I'm not a frog… Moony, what's she talking about?"

Remus waved away Sirius' question with a bat of the hand, saying "It's a muggle thing, Sirius, you wouldn't get it"

Sirius' mouth formed a small 'o'.

Peter opened the door to the broom closet, and motioned for the cluster to go in. They did so, but Alice had to be pulled in, as she was protesting that she suffered from claustrophobia.

After everyone else was inside, Peter forced his way in, too, and shut the door after him. The closet was now pitch-black, and crowded, everyone sitting on top of one another.

"Did I tell you I'm afraid of the dark, too?" Alice whimpered. She, in fact, was not afraid of the dark, or claustrophobia, but she had a clean record, and did not want to get that detention McGonagall promised if she was late without excuse again.

"Stop whining," Remus sighed, and pulled out his wand. A quick 'lumos' and there was light.

Light enough for Alice to find she was sitting on Frank Longbottom's lap. Nervously, she scooted to the side, landing on Marlene's lap, causing her to emit a loud groan.

"Now, what do you need me for, again?" Alice asked, searching for the handle to the door.

"You're not going to find the handle to the door," Sirius said.

"What?" Alice cried, swirling around, Marlene getting a mouthful of her hair.

"We need to talk to you, and you're going to listen," Marlene said simply, well, as simply as one can say something through a mouthful of hair.

"See, James and Lily are our friends," Remus said. "We care for them, and their feelings. We want to help them be happy."

"What to go, Moony," Sirius muttered. "You made us sound all sappy…"

"And," Frank continued, ignoring Sirius, "the thing that we think- no we know- will make them both happy is if"-

"The two of them get together," Peter finished.

"And you want me to help you with that?" Alice asked.

The five seventh years around her nodded.

Alice paused for a moment. "You must be crazy."

The seventh years looked astonished, as Alice continued. "Are you proposing I be a matchmaker? Me? There are so many things wrong with that train of thought…"

"What?" Frank insisted. "What could possibly be wrong with that?"

"Well, first, I'm a sixth year. What would I know about you guys? Why would you choose me, instead of a fellow seventh year?"

"You live in the same tower as us. You're bound to pick up something," Marlene snorted.

Alice overlooked this, and persisted. "I'm no matchmaker material! What do I know about romance? Hell, I've never even dated before! All I know about romance comes from tacky romance novels!"

"Exactly," Remus said. "That's why we want you."

"What?" Alice asked, taken aback.

"You are almost exactly like Lily," Remus pointed out. "You're a prefect, on her way to Head Girl. You abide the rules. You're a muggleborn. You have a passion for reading. And, like her, you haven't dated before."

Alice furrowed her eyebrows. "But, that thing with Smith…"

"Oh," smirked Peter. "Yeah, they liked each other. But James but an end to Smith's lust for Lily. You know, the whole life-threatening deal? Afterwards, Smith spread the rumors about Lily dating those guys behind his back."

"If Smith ever procreates, I'll be scared," Marlene shuddered.

"Yeah… James was deadly for quite awhile after that," Sirius said relaxedly. "Even I was afraid of going up into the dormitories."

"So, as we were saying," Remus continued, "we think that having you would be a real insight to what Lily's thinking."

"Why do you need me? You have her best friends! And James' best friends seem to understand what's going on in his head!"

"Lily's a bit different," Frank shrugged. "Besides. They'd be able to tell if we were doing anything. With you, it's like having an undercover agent, in a way."

"How do you know I'm so like Lily anyway? How do you know I'm smart? You have none of your classes with me!"

"Did you get your invitation to Slughorn's party this Saturday?" Remus asked tiredly.

"Yes," Alice replied. "I hope he gets the honeyed ham this year!"

"You actually go?" Sirius asked surprisedly.

"Yeah! The food is great…" Alice answered. "Great… now I really want some of those brownies…"

"Alice, you've been invited to the Slug Club, and you're a muggleborn. That means something, you know."

"So, I'm smart. Whoop-de-doo. That doesn't mean I'm exactly like Lily," said Alice, still unconvinced.

"Oh, believe me. It's true," Sirius said. "We know these things."

"He keeps tabs on every girl here that's at least fourteen," Peter pointed out.

Alice snorted, but looking around, the expressions on everyone's faces affirmed what Peter and Sirius said.

"Fine. I'll do it," Alice sighed, giving in. "But, now you must let me go to Transfiguration, I'll be late!"

"Eh… that's kind of impossible," Frank smirked.

"What?"

"Well," Remus sighed, "in our class, certain students were messing around. And one of them"-

"Sirius!" Peter coughed.

"One of them," Remus carried on, "managed to Transfigure McGonagall's legs into tentacles, and so McGonagall fell, and hurt her back. So she'll be spending the day in the hospital wing."

"And be back tomorrow morning to give Sirius a thousand detentions," Marlene snorted.

"Well, thanks for telling me that! If I knew earlier, I wouldn't have been as stressed out! You idiots!" Alice cried, kicking Remus in his shins, causing him to cry out.

"Hey," Sirius said. "Alice, is the food at Slughorn's parties actually good?"

"Yeah… why do you need to know?" Alice inquired suspiciously.

"I thought if it was good, I might go to the party this weekend…"

"You need and invite for that," Alice stated, as if to a three year old.

"Ah… but I'm a Black. So of course I have an invite!" Sirius exclaimed happily.

"My weekend's going to be hell," Alice murmured to herself as she walked out of the broom closet, soliciting stares from the passing students.

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Wednesday, October 4, 1976

"Hello, Alice!" cried a cheery voice from behind her, as Alice approached the Transfiguration classroom.

Alice groaned inwardly. She was now regretting her promise to help get together Lily and James. They were trailing her everywhere. And she only had a minute or two until the bell rang, signaling when Alice should be in class by.

"What is it, Frank?" Alice exasperatedly asked the excited looking boy.

Frank's smile faltered for a bit, but he kept on beaming. "Well, we need your advice."

"We?"

Frank gestured to the line of marauders behind him (again, excluding James).

"Where's Marlene?" Alice asked. "Shouldn't she be here if we're talking about getting Lily and James together?"

"Well, someone has to keep James and Lily away, when we come to talk about this stuff," Peter shrugged.

Alice raised an eyebrow.

Getting the hint Remus continued, "Marlene's on the Quidditch team with James, and being friends with Lily, she's found ways to keep them away from us when we're discussing this sort of stuff."

"So what did you need to ask me anyway?" said Alice, who was making her way to the Transfiguration class doorway.

Frank reached up to scratch the back of his neck, saying, "Er… well, we don't exactly…know…"

"Where to start," Remus finished impatiently.

Alice stared at the boys, waiting for one of them to leap out crying "April fools day", even if it was terribly out of season.

None of the boys did.

"Are you that pathetic when it comes to romance?" Alice asked, trying to choke back giggles.

Frank nodded sheepishly, but Peter broke out, "Yup! Especially dear Longbottom here. He can't even talk properly to the girl he fancies!"

"Who?" Alice asked, trying to make it sound casual, even though she was desperate to know.

"Yo"- Sirius started, but Frank slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Yo? Yo what?" Alice asked, praying that she sounded offhandedly flirtatious. Was that too much to ask?

"Yolanda," Remus answered, looking mischievous. Frank groaned.

Alice felt her heart drop, but kept on smiling that non-plussed smile, and said, "Yolanda? I don't know any Yolanda in Hogwarts."

"Oh, that's because she doesn't go to Hogwarts," Remus replied, smirking.

"Then does she go to Beauxbatons? What, is she a veela or something?"

"No, and yes," Peter responded, snickering at Frank. "She doesn't go to Beauxbatons, but she is a veela."

"She's also a supermodel, and the head of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans," Sirius added.

Glad that she was finally catching on to the prank, Alice said, "She sounds so cool! Frank's a lucky man, if he can get her!"

Frank just looked bitter.

"Anyway, off of the subject of Frank's girlfriend," Remus said. "We need to ask you where to start with the matchmaking process."

Alice mused over the subject for a bit, before answering. "Well, I'm not so experienced in this myself, but what's the status between Lily and James? Although, I suppose we know that Lily hates James… so what's up with James?"

"He's giving up on Lily, at least that's what he said," Peter shrugged.

"That's bad. We need him to keep pining over Lily, and then we can get her to fall for him, and then we're good…" Alice muttered to herself.

"How are we supposed to keep him pining over Lily?" Remus asked, dubiously.

"Just keep him thinking about Lily. If he really likes her, that should work just fine," Alice advised.

"And we can use subliminal messaging for that!" Peter said excitedly.

The others raised multiple eyebrows at the energetic seventh year.

"See, you mention Lily a lot in front of James, and then he can't help but think of Lily!" Peter explained.

"That just might work…" Remus murmured.

"Maybe we can do the same for Lily," Alice suggested. "And that'll be our plan A. We can come up with a plan B, just for safety, if you guys want."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Sirius exclaimed. "We can use Amortentia for our plan B!"

Alice rolled her eyes, and shoved Sirius away from her, turning to walk into the classroom. She made it in just as the bell rang, earning a look of contempt fro McGonagall.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Thursday, October 5, 1976

Alice was a very flexible person. Which is why when Sirius and Peter accosted her on the way to Transfiguration, she did nothing. Instead, she let them drag her along to the library, a place where she had thought Sirius had never been, and would never go.

"Where are the other three?" Alice asked amusedly, as they arrived at the final destination.

"Um…" Sirius mumbled, trying to remember. "Well… er… Marlene… I don't know…"

Peter sighed. "Marlene is in the library scouting out Lily and James positions. Because, you know that we're going to be doing some field work today."

"And Remus? Frank?" Alice prompted.

"Remus is tutoring… and Frank, I think he's… never mind. I don't know where he is," Peter said, shrugging.

Either way, Alice entered the library, behind her, Peter pulling in Sirius, who looked extremely apprehensive of the library. Glancing around, Alice found Marlene's brown hair hiding behind a bookshelf.

"Marlene, what"- Alice began, but Marlene pushed her finger onto her nose, urgently.

"Marlene, what are you doing?" Alice whispered, to Marlene, who was kneeling on a ground, intently peering in between two thick books.

Marlene beckoned to Alice for her to come down too, and pointed in between the books. Alice peeked into the opening enough to see the back of James' head.

"I'm keeping an eye on Sirius and Peter's efforts," Marlene said in a low voice. "You can't trust them."

"Aye to that," Alice muttered, bending down on her knees. Pulling apart another two thick volumes of Hogwarts; A History, Alice gazed across the bookcase, at James, who was intently reading a fat tome, the title of which she couldn't quite make out.

"What do you think it is?" she whispered curiously to Marlene. "Twelve Failsafe Ways to Charm Witches? Cause that would make our job a lot easier…"

Marlene chortled, but replied, "As great as that would be, I think it's a book on Potions."

"What, is he trying to get on Slughorn's soft side, so he can be invited to the party?"

"Nah… he's already guaranteed an invite. He's a Potter, and the best Chaser known to man. Slughorn knows that he's going places."

Alice racked her memory, trying to recall if she had ever seen James at a Slug club meeting. "But I've never seen him go to any of Slughorn's parties!"

"Do you honestly think he would go? Nah… that's Lily. She attends those events like it's church on Sundays… For James, just as it is with Sirius, he doesn't want to be hanging out with Slytherins, and definitely not their head of house. And there are so many Blacks at Slug club, it's crazy. Not the most fun family reunion."

Alice nodded. "Do you get invited?"

"Me?" Marlene laughed. "Yeah right! I'm a good Keeper, but I'm not assured to be on a Quidditch team, if that is what interests me. And my academics? Straight down the toilet. Slughorn says I spend too much class time painting my nails… And, it's true."

"That stinks."

"Eh, I deal… What's Sirius doing?"

Alice turned her head away from Marlene, and looked through the manuscripts. Sirius was holding a tatty book that seemed to be on Ancient Runes. He sat down on the bench across from James, who looked up briefly, only to see who was there, his head plunging straight back down again.

"Hello James!" Sirius said, and then opened the book, obviously pretending to read. And pretending to read wasn't the hardest thing.

After about thirty seconds of this completely forged act, Lily came storming in.

"BLACK!" she yelled, earning a 'shhh!' and glare from Madame Pince. "Black, what are you doing with my book?"

"Oh, this was your book?" Sirius said in a sugar-sweet voice.

"Don't mess with me, Black! I know you stole my book! I was reading that, and bent down for a second, to get my pencil, and when I got back up, it was gone!"

"So why does that mean I stole it?"

"That's the only copy in the library! And it's not like you actually take Ancient Runes!" Lily cried in frustration.

"Well, I didn't steal it. It was lying on the table when I came. James wasn't using it, so I started to read it," Sirius explained, as if to a stubborn toddler.

"So, are you insinuating that James took my book?"

"What, you trust him more than me? Unfair! You have favorites! And, did you just call him James? Not Potter?"

Lily blushed, but continued on with her rant. "Look, he doesn't take Ancient Runes, and he wouldn't just steal my book on Ancient Runes, especially if he's studying for Potions!"

"How do you know he's studying for Potions?"

"Er… I saw him earlier…"

Even more blushing.

"Anyway, can I have my book back? It's not important to you, anyway!"

"Why shouldn't it be of interest to me?"

"Well, you don't take Ancient Runes, as I've already stated!"

"So? I may have developed a passion for Ancient Runes in my spare time!"

"You don't like the library, anyway! Last time you were in here, you had a panic attack, and ended up with the History of Magic section in flames!"

"Never liked that class anyway…"

"Just give me my book back!"

"No!"

"BLACK!"

"I said no!"

"GIVE HER THE BOOK BACK, BLACK!"

Everyone's heads swiveled around. There, James was standing, eyes blazing, chest heaving.

"Padfoot! I was reading! I need peace and quiet! Just shut up and give back the book already! The book was rightfully hers, anyway! It's pretty obvious that you stole it from her! And, now, thanks to you, I'm going to have to check out this book, and go read in the dormitories, which will sadly enough be quieter than it is in the library!"

"Ahem."

Another round of swiveling heads, and there was Madame Pince. "That's a good idea Mr. Potter. Miss Evans, you should go too. Go ahead and take your books with you. Mr. Black, detention. And GET OUT."

Madame Pince turned and walked away, muttering "Here's to hoping he never comes back…", with Lily following her, begging for forgiveness, and the ability to stay in the library. James packed up his bag, and glared at Sirius, who waved back meekly.

Once they were gone, Peter climbed out from underneath the table, and asked, "Should we move on to the voodoo dolls now?"

The two walked out of the library together, and Marlene got up, giving a hand to Alice. "We should be going, along with them."

As they left the library, and met up with Sirius and Peter, Marlene asked, "So, I was wondering about Slughorn's party… Is it formal?"

"Er… yeah. Sort of, anyway. Just wear a nice set of robes. But why does this matter?"

Marlene waved away the questions. "So what's the party for, anyway?"

"Slughorn's birthday is this Saturday, so he's having a party on his birthday. Simple as that. Oh, and you're allowed to bring a friend. A guest, whatever you want to call it."

A thoughtful look spread over her face. "Yeah, sorry for having to pester you about it. Lily's been a bit busy lately, and Frank's not been noticed by Slughorn… so…"

"Speaking of Frank, where is he?"

Marlene glanced over Alice for a second, before answering. "He's in detention."

"What for?" Alice asked, feeling the breath being knocked out of her. Her eyebrows furrowed, as she thought a mile a minute. Why would Frank be in detention?

Marlene looked a bit confused herself. "Well, Franks usually really calm and serene and all, but he was really violent last night, apparently, throwing stuff around the guys' dormitories. I'm not exactly sure… You'd have to ask one of the guys, really."

"Actually," Sirius said turning his head around, "Peter and I don't know. Neither does Remus. Only James was in the room with Frank when it happened."

"And believe me," Peter added. "Sirius was pestering James like hell about it afterwards, but James wouldn't budge a bit."

"Then I suppose it's a mystery, and will always stay a mystery," Marlene shrugged. "Ah! I just remembered. The subliminal messaging. Terrible."

"Yeah… every time we mentioned Lily in front of James, he would stay sort of quiet, and broody."

"And whenever Frank or I mentioned James in front of Lily, she would sort of glare at me, and then change the subject."

"So, in other words, it was a total failure," Peter said bluntly.

"We're here!" Sirius exclaimed, waving to the door leading to the Transfiguration classroom.

Alice moaned. She completely forgot the time, and was now fifteen minutes late. Sirius seemed to sense this nervousness, and guided Alice in.

The professor discontinued the lesson as she heard the door open. Seeing Alice, she got an unreadable look on her face. All Alice could say was that the teacher was clearly displeased.

"Miss Prewett, you do realize how long ago the bell rang? Unless you have a note…?"

"No, I don't have a note," Alice replied submissively.

"Yes, my dear Minerva, there is no note!" Sirius exclaimed, stepping up. "You see, I kidnapped her, and she could not make it to class in time!"

A few of the girls pouted jealously. Alice could tell what they were thinking, "Why would he hang out with that ugly brainiac, when he could have me?"

McGonagall sighed, and gave in. "Well, I let it go this time. But, Black, don't let it happen again. That goes for you too, Miss Prewett."

There were some scowls from the girls, evidently imagining vividly what Sirius might be doing with Alice.

"Oh-kee-dok-e, Minnie! Hmm… Minnie Mouse! See you tomorrow, my radiant Minnie Mouse!"

As Alice self-consciously slipped into her seat, she saw a tinge of redness slipping up the neck of the stringent educator, whose face was as rigid as steel.

Aw… McGonagall really does like her students…

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Friday, October 6, 1976

Strangely, today, no marauders had interrupted Alice on her voyage to the Transfiguration room. Flabbergasted by this, Alice made her way staggeringly to her class.

Just as she was about to clasp her hand on the door handle, a few fifth year girls walked past giggling, and Alice was able to catch a few words out of the abyss of titters.

"Brilliant! I've always wanted James Potter to fall madly in love with me!"

"I know! What would we do without the marauders! I mean, Amortentia!"

Alice sighed, and turned back to the door, intending to open it on time for once. The marauders were idiots… Poisoning poor guys… including themselves.

A distant laugh came from the herd of fifth year girls, and Alice overheard the phrase, "After this, Frank is MY hunky Keeper!"

Alice dropped her hand, dumbstruck. Frank? Not Frank Longbottom… Gryffindor Quidditch player extraordinaire?

It had to be, there was only one other Frank in the school, and he was a nerdy fourth year, who had probably never touched a Quaffle in his life. Alice moaned. She had to tell Frank!

But, that didn't mean she liked him, per say… No! Why would I even think I like him? Yeah right…

Alice shook the traitorous thoughts out of her head, and followed the fifth years to see what was going on. After a minute of walking (and the bell ringing, causing some major wincing on Alice's part), Alice saw from behind a corner in the corridor, a simple stand set up on the side of the hallway.

A sign was attached to the stand, reading, in giant, pink bubble letters, Love for Sale. Looking closely at the products, Alice realized that Amortentia was being sold.

And who was the culprit? None other than Sirius, Remus, Peter, and… as a big shock to Alice… Frank.

"Frank! What are you doing?" Alice cried out, forgetting the hiding part of her strategy, and marching right up to the stand, knocking the group of girls out of the way.

Frank looked up from his sale, startled. "Me? What about them?"

Alice blanched. "Them…? …Oh, right! Them!"

Turning her glare to include the five of them, Alice felt her neck growing hot. Oops…

Sirius smiled nervously. "We were selling Amortentia…?"

Alice raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I figured that out. Now, where's James? I know he should be here somewhere, if this involves the marauders."

"Why do you need him?" asked Marlene, who came around the corner, behind Alice, carrying a large box of vials that contained the same pearly substance.

"I was going to tell him off, as the Head Boy shouldn't be selling Amortentia… but if both you and Frank are a part of this, I'm guessing that James isn't here?"

"What? I was going to give him my Amortentia!" cried one of the girls behind Alice. Alice glared at the girls, and they scampered off.

"Yeah…" answered Peter. "I thought you would have guessed that already. We're selling Amortentia."

Alice made a look as if to say so?

"Remind you of anything?" Sirius asked eagerly.

"Think back to all of Sirius' idiotic moments," Remus said.

"Well, that's no help at all," Alice drawled sarcastically. "He's had like fifty of those every day since birth."

"I can help!" Sirius chanted, and started messing with his fingers, making several rude gestures while doing so, and getting some rude gestures back from people passing by.

"What's he doing?" Marlene asked Frank, in a low voice.

"I don't know. I'd have to be a loony to understand his mind…" Frank muttered back.

"Here it is! It's a clue!" Sirius exclaimed, holding out the pathetic structure he had formed with his hands.

"A messed circle?" Alice said disbelievingly.

Sirius shook his head.

"Two messed up circles?"

Another shake of the head.

"A heart?"

An impatient shake of the head.

"Male genitalia?"

"Er… no. But I should use that on McGonagall some time…"

"An eight?"

"No! Are you blind? It's a B, for crying out loud!" Sirius said, pouting.

Alice stared at Sirius. There was barely any resemblance to an eight, so how the hell was it supposed to be a B?

But Alice decided not to say this, in case Sirius might throw a tantrum. "Fine, it's a B. but how does that explain anything?"

"Plan B," Peter coughed.

It took a moment for Alice to realize what Peter meant, but then the meaning hit her like a heavy gust of wind. "Plan B? That was just a joke!"

"But it might work," Remus shrugged.

"If you drug them with Amortentia!" Alice shouted hysterically. "Not by selling it in the hallway!"

Marlene perked up. "Look, Alice, I know it seems as likely as Malfoy getting those two together, but this is quite honestly the only thing we can come up with. Unfortunately, the marauders can only be creative with pranks."

"What?" Sirius asked. "I don't do romance!"

Alice sighed. "Fine, I'll let it pass. But, if I don't get Head Girl, I'm killing you all."

"In our sleep? Because I know someone who would love that…" Peter snickered, nudging Frank.

"No. Very brutally with a blunt spoon."

That quieted Peter, who simply said, "Oh."

"So, where did you get the Amortentia, anyway?"

"Knicked it off Slughorn," Marlene said, shrugging. "He's pretty stupid keeping that whole vat of it out in the open, where anyone could take it to poison people with."

"Um… guys, Lily's coming this way," Remus said, pointing to a splotch of red a good distance down the hall.

"Alice!" Frank whispered urgently. "Get under the table!"

Alice had no time to respond, before she was shoved by Frank under the stand, her back shoved uncomfortably against the side.

"What was that"-

Frank cut her off, bending down to address Alice. "You do want to be Head Girl, right?"

Alice nodded.

"Well you definitely aren't going to get that if you're seen selling Amortentia."

Sooner than Alice could thank him, Frank was upright again, preparing for the wrath of Lily.

"What are you doing Frank?" Alice could hear Lily's furious voice shouting.

"Why does everyone suspect him?" Sirius asked. "Why shouldn't the rest of us get credit for our work?"

Alice saw Remus stomping on Sirius' foot, and Peter stomping on the other one simultaneously, and had to suppress her snorting.

"I can not believe you, Frank! Stooping this low to join the marauders!"

"Hey! What about me?" Marlene asked. "You aren't ashamed of me?"

Lily said nothing, but the shuffling of her feet told Alice just how awkward things were.

Alice trailed her fingers along the top of the table, as Lily's rant picked up and grew louder. Her finger slipped, and slid into a small crevice just as Lily began the part about how Amortentia violated Code 64 of the official Hogwarts Rule Book. Or something like that.

"And you stole from a teacher! I'm supposed to hand out so many detentions for that! I can't believe you!" Lily bellowed for about the sixth time.

A few footsteps approached in the distance, and Alice's finger slipped entirely through the crevice. Alice eyed the table's underside, and peered at the crevice, then realizing that she could see through the crevice.

And the first thing she noticed when she looked through the shabby peephole was that James Potter was standing right behind Lily.

If the Amortentia idea actually works, I'm going to treat Sirius to a butterbeer for his pure idiocy. Cause it worked.

"Lily… are you buying Amortentia? Cause I'll have to write you up," James said, from behind Lily. And, strangely, he sounded serious.

Lily turned around, sputtering. "Are you suggesting that I buy Amortentia? Why would I need it?"

"Surely there's some guy that you like."

"But that doesn't mean I would buy Amortentia!"

"Well, seeing as he'd be turned off by your know-it-all attitude, I figured you need the Amortentia," James replied coldly.

Lily stared, and Alice could see her eyes were glazed. James turned away.

"What's wrong with you?" Remus demanded. "You used to fawn over her!"

"So, what? I should still be fawning over her? You remember what I was like then!"

"You don't have to be so horrible, though!"

"It's not like she didn't do the same thing to me!"

"Do something!" Marlene murmured urgently to Frank.

"So, James…" Frank said, obviously stalling. "How did your essay go? The one on Amortentia?"

James looked weirdly at Frank, and answered. "Fine. I got an E. Slughorn said I didn't talk enough about what you smell in the Amortentia during each step in the process of making it, though."

That was when it hit Alice. Perfect! And Sirius is the insane mastermind to carry it out.

Alice pulled down Sirius by his pant leg, and brought him close (not noting, of course, the strange look plastering Frank's face), to whisper into his ear.

"Oh… yeah… I also got an E. But my essay was pure crap… Just put in all the tacky stuff you can think of, and good grades are always assured," Frank continued, adding an anxious laugh.

"All the grades were Es or Os," Lily said suddenly. "Slughorn told me so."

"So that means that everyone either was fantastic, or Slughorn was too nice," Peter concluded.

"Too nice? That's how I get good grades in that class!" Remus said.

"You get bad grades?" Marlene asked astonishedly.

Remus shrugged, and James said, "Well, he's terrifyingly bad at Potions, but a genius in every other subject, so it balances out."

"It seems that geniuses aren't always complete geniuses," Peter said.

"And that explains why Lily got Ps in Divination, when she was still taking it," Frank sniggered.

"Hey!" Lily protested. "I have an excuse! Divination is completely woolly Unlike Potions, which is the easiest"-

"Free samples!" Sirius cried, popping up from underneath the stand, and shoving two open pots filled to the brim with Amortentia under Lily and James' noses so fast that they started to cough at the strong scents they were presumably smelling.

"What do you smell?" Sirius asked eagerly, still holding the Amortentia close to their noses. "Because you can tell a lot about a person through what they smell in Amortentia! See, I smell Mrs. Potter's brownies, and chocolate, and sugar, and"-

"We get it," Remus said wearily.

"And Remus smells books! Though, I didn't know books could smell! And then Peter smells peonies, which sounds really funny! Peonies, peonies, peonies!"

Peter was in the corner, slapping his forehead.

"And then Marlene smells oranges and vanilla, which is stupid! Because vanilla isn't anywhere as awesome as chocolate! And I love chocolate!"

"We got that earlier, Sirius," Marlene muttered.

"Then Frank smells the Transfiguration corridor! Which creeps me out, cause the Transfiguration corridor is kind of musty, and smells pretty weird, and I don't know how anyone could like that smell, let alone like the Transfiguration corridor!"

What? Frank smells the Transfiguration corridor? I'll have to ask him about that… Alice thought under the stand.

Just then, as Sirius' speech slowed down, Lily and James were able to knock the Amortentia out of Sirius' hands. Lily, with an upset look on her face, gently replaced the bottle on the stand, and quietly walked off, so Alice almost missed her leaving.

James, on the other hand, held on to his container, looking a bit disappointed. But that look dissipated, and faded into anger, as the others began to face him.

"You are all completely immature! What do you all thing you're trying to pull, anyway? Whatever it is, it won't work! And I'll make sure of that! Don't assume this won't reach Dumbledore! I think you've all forgotten that I'm Head Boy!"

Remus tried to make a noise of protest, but James carried on in his tirade.

"Again, I'm Head Boy! I have responsibilities! And don't think for a second that I won't carry them out! Yes! I'm your friend, but I won't let you get away with something like this! I'm being trusted by Dumbledore to enforce the rules, and do it fairly! And you don't seem to understand at all! So think what you're doing over for just once in your life!"

James stalked off, but not before splashing the contents of the bottle he had in his hand over Sirius' face.

Alice crawled out from underneath the table, and joined the others, who were standing astounded around the table of Amortentia.

"Sirius," Marlene said after a while. "Did you do something to the potion? Cause I think it might be messed up."

There were a few nods from some of the others, but Remus shook his head. "I supervised the potions, since, of course, I didn't exactly trust Sirius…"

"So, was it just me," Sirius started slowly, "or did it look like Lily and James switched bodies?"

There was a loud murmur of agreement on that comment, followed by an awkward silence. A minute or two passed, with the teens just standing there, not able to think of anything to say, or even able to comprehend what had just happened a few minutes prior.

Finally, Frank burst out, saying "You know, every awkward silence, a gay baby is born…"

The group burst out laughing. Frank blushed, but smiling.

"You know," Remus said between laughs, "that's something I'd expect Sirius to say, not you!"

"Which makes it even more hilarious," Peter snorted.

Alice couldn't help snickering at that.

"And speaking of Sirius," Marlene butted in, "you smell really good, Sirius."

Sirius sniffed at his shirt. "You're right! I smell of sugar!"

"It must be from the Amortentia," Alice rationalized.

At this, Sirius squealed (a very manly squeal, as he would later explain). "Yes! This is the perfect thing to attract the ladies with!"

Sirius ran off, after a group of seventh year Hufflepuffs, and Peter said, "Great idea, Sirius! I can market that, and get the millions! Damn, I'm gonna be rich soon!"

"And Sirius can grow old, and the ladies can forget him," Marlene added.

"That is, unless he learns some really good human transfiguration skills," Frank amended, sniggering.

Transfiguration. Alice was so dead. She leaped up from her stance, resting against the Amortentia stand, and started to weave around the others, to get back to Transfiguration.

"Where're you going?" Marlene called after her.

"Transfiguration! I'm late!"

"Really late," Frank corrected.

"Shut up, Longbottom! I don't need to be reminded!"

Alice ran down the corridor, jumping over the staircases, leaping over the younger students, and shoving past the older ones.

Finally, she reached the Transfiguration room, exhausted. And not quite ready to enter. She was about to die, and, quite frankly, a minute or two extra was not going to change her predicament.

Ultimately, she knew she would have to open the door sometime, and at last, she had done the dirty deed.

Professor McGonagall, the most stringent of all the teachers, was, of course, in the middle of a lecture when Alice opened the door.

"Ah… Miss Prewett, I was wondering when you would show up," the professor said, in an all to knowing way, that chilled Alice to the bone. "You see, I was just talking to your classmates about how we are already a whole month into the school year, and you all should be used to getting to class on time, and behaving well by now."

"You were?" Alice asked uneasily, slipping towards her seat.

"Wait, don't sit down yet. I want to use you as an example. I know I am not the most easy-going teacher, but I do allow you all to make a few mistakes. You, Miss Prewett, have been late almost every day for over a week. And I think that is more than enough second chances I have been giving you. More than that, today, you have the audacity to show up more than halfway into class. I think something should be done."

"You do?"

"Yes. Tomorrow night. Eight o'clock. Detention."

A few of the students laughed, and Benjy Fenwick wolf-whistled. Alice sank low down into her seat.

Great. Detention. How the bloody hell am I supposed to be Head Girl now?

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Saturday, October 7, 1976

Detention.

Not the nicest word to mention around a rule-abiding prefect, with hopes to become the next Head Girl.

And even more unfortunate when the afore-mentioned prefect has detention.

That, a few bewildered underclassmen were learning, as Alice stormed towards the Transfiguration room.

"Why did I have to get detention?" she cried at a petrified second year. "Curse you, Sirius Black!"

Alice took off again, kicking at a suit of armor, and causing a trail of disaster to follow after her, in a very uncharacteristic manner for her.

"And the rest of you!" Alice added, remembering Frank, Peter, Remus, and Marlene.

A third year had the cheek to say, "Stop it, will you? Breaking the rules isn't enough for you, you have to intimidate the first years, too? Aren't you supposed to be a prefect, anyway?"

Alice felt ashamed at the lecture she was getting from a third year, of all people, and walked off a bit more calmly. But only a bit.

While stomping off to the Transfiguration, in a foul mood, Alice stubbed her toe, as she was trying to make her steps more menacing.

"Damn! What is fucking wrong with this week?" Alice cried, adding on a few more obscenities, causing the day to resemble opposite day even more.

"Not feeling so perky today, huh?" came a level voice from behind Alice.

Before she even turned, Alice knew it was Marlene, with a bulky bag hanging at her side.

"Just shut it, will you? I'm the one who was forced into getting detention by you and your pals' antics."

"So?"

"So, I actually want to get somewhere in this world! And detentions hinder that ability, as you should know!"

Marlene laughed. "Not necessarily. Only look at James, and there's proof enough."

"Potter?"

"Yep. He's gotten virtually thousands of detentions in seven years here at Hogwarts, and is one of the famous marauders. Yet, he's still Head Boy, and has the most promising future out of the whole year."

"How did that happen?" Alice asked, shocked, because, even though she did know that, it was still amazing to hear it, and here was someone who was probably able to explain to her why.

"Well, I think dear old Dumby judges his future Heads by their character. Sure, James is mischievous, but he's completely trustworthy and reliable. And he might have wanted to get Lily and James together… It's happened before, you know."

"Dumbledore really is a genius…"

"Albeit an insane one. But, Alice, you have a personality that Dumbledore would love."

"Thanks, Marlene. But, I really got to get to my detention, so…if you don't mind…"

Alice began to head the other way, but a hand on her shoulder held her back.

"What's the detention for?"

"I was late to class, several times," Alice answered, wincing at her stupidity.

Marlene smirked. "You'll simply have to check into lengthening the period in between classes next year, when you're Head Girl."

Alice's draw dropped, and she gaped at Marlene in a fashion very reminiscent of a fish, as Marlene took Alice's arm and dragged her away, and into a nearby bathroom.

When Alice had finally regained her composure, Marlene had begun to take clothes out of a bag that was hanging at her side.

"What are you doing? I need to go to detention!"

Marlene lifted and eyebrow. "You don't seriously want to go to detention, do you?"

Alice shook her head, her face feeling a bit hot.

"See, I think that Slughorn's party is the perfect place to improve on the situation between Lily and James. And Frank and the others agree."

"How is it so perfect?"

Marlene sighed. "It's so Cinderella-ish! I mean, it's a formal party, and all, right? So, they both show up, and Lily's ravishing, so James' jaw drops, and they dance the night away, forgetting everything! Then Lily leaves, and drops her wand! But James sees it, and picks it up, following after her! And then he finds her cornered by some nasty Slytherins, and he saves her! And they live happily ever after! Yay!"

"Way to be feminist," Alice drawled.

Marlene blushed, but continued to talk. "What? I just think that's cute. I want a boyfriend like that!"

"You'll never find a guy that perfect," Alice snorted.

"Eh… I think James is. If I didn't know that they were both deeply in love with each other, and Lily is, she just doesn't know it quite yet, then I'd have sunk my claws deep into James by now."

"What about Frank? You haven't sunk your claws into him yet?" Alice asked, trying to bring it up innocently.

"Frank?" Marlene burst out laughing. "He's like my brother! Total incest right there! Nah… he doesn't even seem anything like the perfect guy I just described."

"But he hangs out with you all the time, he can stand you. That's got to count for something, right?"

Marlene acquired an all-knowing smile right then. "Hm… Frank… Anything going on between you?"

"What? No! Never!" Alice spluttered, but Marlene kept the smile.

"Anyway, back onto what I brought you here for, even though Frank is quite the interesting subject."

Alice cringed at the mention, and motioned for Marlene to continue.

"Right, so, Slughorn's party. James and Lily are both going. We've already got that under control. And the rest of us are going too."

"Wait, I thought that you weren't invited?"

"Oh, I'm going as Frank's date."

A strange emotion passed through Alice, chilling her stomach, and claming up her hands.

"And, now, we just need to get you there."

"But, I have a detention!"

"I thought we got past that minutes ago!" Marlene moaned.

"Fine! But it's not like I'm going to wear jeans and a t-shirt to the fanciest party of the year!"

"Ahem," Marlene coughed, gesturing to the clothing laid out in front of her.

Alice laughed embarrassedly, and took the clothes to a stall, and changed.

"There you go! You understood! And you look really pretty!" Marlene exclaimed as Alice exited the stall.

Alice smiled, and glanced in the mirror. Marlene had given her set of rose pink dress robes, which felt like her regular school robes, but looked miles nicer. Although, the pumps Marlene had obliged her to wear weren't the most comfortable things ever, and fairly high for a girl who wore flats on even the nicest occasions.

"Here, you can't go in that ponytail. I can do your hair," Marlene offered, and started to arrange Alice's hair into a French braid.

"Whoa…" Alice said. "I feel like I'm in a beauty salon."

Marlene looked at Alice, amazedly. "Seriously? We do this all the time in our dormitory! I would have guessed you guys did the same."

"Um… I might have been reading while that was going on…"

Marlene stared. "You just passed Lily in nerdiness. I'm sorry. But it's true."

"No problem."

"You're a great person, but that is just a sad existence… I shouldn't be saying this should I? It must sound so horrible…"

"No, really, it's fine! I get it all the time…"

Thankful that Marlene finished the braid, Alice walked towards the door, hoping to change the subject. "So…what were you planning on doing to Lily and James tonight, anyway?"

Marlene stared blankly at Alice for a bit. "Oh, you mean the party? About that… the thing is… we never planned on doing anything in particular."

Alice sighed. What was with seventh years and planning ahead?

"We supposed you would help us with that," Marlene said, with a nervous laugh.

"Are you guys brainless or something? Always needing my help…"

"Er, I guess you could say that."

Alice walked ahead, to Slughorn's office, where the party was to take place. Of course, she didn't really even need to know where Slughorn's office was to get to the party. Her nose could lead her, what, with the strong smell of Slughorn's fantastically prepared food.

As she stepped into Slughorn's office, Marlene right behind, Frank stepped right up to her, Peter and Remus with him.

"Alice… you look really good," Frank said, tinged a bit pink.

"Thanks. And so do you. Never seen you guys in a tie before."

"Not Sirius," Marlene laughed. "Surely you've seen him when he's sugar high? With his tie around his head?"

Alice giggled, and admitted she had. "Where is Sirius, anyway? I thought he'd be with you guys."

Remus shook his head. "As usual, he's at the buffet table, being the pig he is."

Right on cue, Sirius stepped up next to Marlene, dress robes ruffled, and biting into a cupcake. "Someone say my name?"

No one answered, and Sirius shrugged it off. "Oh, and Alice, why didn't you tell me the food here was so good? I must have missed out on so much good food!"

"Right, Padfoot, you so love food, that you would actually come to one of these parties," said yet another person stepping up beside Alice, in the form of James Potter. "Besides, you wouldn't have believed her, so it's not like you would have come. Which brings me to the question, why are you here? And more importantly, why was I dragged along?"

"Good question," Sirius said nervously, though, through the cupcake he was currently devouring, it came out as "gof kweshun".

"Ooh, this seems to be the hot spot, doesn't it?" said Lily, stopping in between Remus and Frank. "What's so interesting that it has seven people stopped around the doorway?"

"We were talking about food," Sirius said, after a giant (and loud) swallow.

"Food can be that interesting?" Lily questioned dubiously.

"Yeah!" Sirius exclaimed. "You know, it's really fun determining what flavors people would be!"

"Determining," Peter repeated. "Didn't know you knew such a big word, Padfoot."

"Shut up, Wormy. Anyway, for example, see, Moony here would taste like asparagus."

"Asparagus?"

"Yes, asparagus," Sirius explained impatiently. "Remus is all bookish and boring, and asparagus has a bland taste, so… see the connection?"

"Another big word!" Peter exclaimed.

Sirius ignored this, and Marlene tried it out, "So, James would be a steak, big and meaty."

"Exactly!" Sirius agreed. "And I would be sugar, cause I so love sugar!"

"More like because he eats so much sugar, he is pretty much made of sugar," Frank muttered to Alice, who laughed.

"What's Lily?" Alice asked Frank, but it wasn't him who answered.

"I think Lily would be a watermelon," James said, quietly, but everyone was focusing on him. "Enthusiastic and energetic, but sweet."

Lily was speechless, and quickly excused herself, to get a drink of punch. Everyone else continued talking, as if they hadn't heard James, but as soon as he left to go to the bathroom, Marlene turned to Alice, squealing.

"Alice! You did it! Know we know that James still likes Lily! There's still hope!"

"I did it? What did I do?"

"You asked what Lily was, and so James answered!" Remus replied, a bit exasperatedly.

"Actually, I think Sirius did it, bringing up the topic and all," Alice said, shrugging.

"Well, either way, this is the breakthrough of the century!" Marlene exclaimed.

"Right, you keep on being dramatic," Alice said. "I'll be at the buffet, eating those hor'deourves that Sirius said were to dies for."

Alice left the excited group, and made her way through the crowded room, towards the buffet, only pausing to wish Professor Slughorn a happy birthday.

But, right as she passed the punch bowl on the end of the table, Alice slipped in her pumps, and fell on the floor. Of course, the noise reached the other side of the room, and Marlene squeezed through, the rest of the guys following.

"Are you alright?" Marlene asked, holding out a hand to Alice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Alice said, and took Marlene's hand.

And then she tried to stand up. Note the word tried.

As she put pressure on her ankle, she collapsed again. Her ankle was throbbing. The soreness from landing on it the other week must have reactivated the pain.

"Can you walk, Miss Prewett?" boomed Professor Slughorn, as he approached from behind.

"I don't think so," Alice sighed, as she pulled of the pumps that caused the excruciating pain in her foot, placing them next to her, on the floor.

"I think it would be best if you went to see Madame Pomfrey. I have a few potions here that might help, but Madame Pomfrey knows best. If anyone would be so kind as to escort Miss"-

"I will."

Alice flipped her head around, and saw it was Frank who had offered.

"Thank you, Mr. Longbottom," Slughorn said, and started to walk off.

"Glad to know they love me," Alice muttered sarcastically, taking the hand Frank offered her, and helping to pull herself up.

"Here, lean on me," Frank said, wrapping an arm around Alice's waist, and pulling her up slightly. "We don't want you putting weight on you ankle."

Alice looked up into Frank's eyes, a bit startled. "Are you sure? I'm no feather. Hell, I'm pretty plump."

Frank chuckled. "Nah, I don't think you're plump. You're a good weight."

Alice eyed him suspiciously. "Sure… that's what you say. Are you seriously this strong?"

Frank just smiled, and headed out the door to the corridor.

"Maybe I should start Quidditch…" Alice murmured to herself.

It wasn't long before Alice was seated on a bed in the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey leaning over her ankle and tutting. "I can't believe you didn't bring this to me sooner. You could have done some serious damage."

Alice sighed, and tried not to roll her eyes.

"This potion should heal your fairly quickly, but I don't trust you to get up right after. Not after walking on that misshapen ankle for a week."

Madame Pomfrey clucked her tongue, and headed back into her office, stopping once or twice to check in on some of the other patients.

"So… Alice," Frank said, stepping up from the bed he had been lounging on. "Want me to leave now?"

"No. Why would I want you to leave? I need somebody to talk to, now that I'm stuck here for ten minutes."

"Oh, so I'm just somebody, huh?" Frank asked, a foul look crossing his face.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on! You should have realized what I mean by now! You hate me, remember?"

Alice blanked. "I … hate you?"

"Yeah, do you need proof or something?"

Alice nodded slowly, having no clue what Frank was implying.

"Do you know how many times you've snubbed me in the past week? Do you have any idea?"

Feeling a bit ashamed of herself, Alice shook her head.

"Let's start with the fact that you have been just about avoiding me all week. You've been annoyed at me when I've approached. You blamed me for the Amortentia in the first place. You snickered at the gay baby thing. You scooted off my lap in the closet, like I was some sort of disease. You refused to hug me. And, you made fun of me with the Yolanda thing! You know, that hurt. It hurt like hell. Know why?"

Again, Alice shook her head, feeling stupid and insensitive.

"Alice, you see, the thing is… Eurgh! Look, I- I love you Alice! There, I said it. I love you, Alice," Frank spluttered, hitting his head.

Alice gawked at Frank, dumb with shock.

Frank moaned, and covered his face with his hands. "You didn't like me, did you? And now I must sound like an idiot…"

Alice was still gaping, but recovered, seeing the state Frank was in. She reached across, and laid a hand on Frank's arm. "Frank, I"-

The door slammed open, and out popped an ecstatic looking Marlene.

"Hi guys!" she beamed.

Marlene looked around, and saw Frank and Alice, who immediately broke apart, seeing Marlene.

"Whoa… I sense a lot of tension… Sorry, did I interrupt something?" Marlene asked, but then grinned and waved a hand. "Eh, who cares?"

Alice raised and eyebrow, and settled back into the bed she was on. "Come to see me, Marlene?"

"Yeah, and I'm the bearer of awesome news!" she squeaked happily.

"What?" Frank asked, coming out of his trance-like state.

"Okay, so, Alice, after you and Frank left, James decided to get some punch!"

"Awesome news," Alice drawled.

"Wait! I'm not done yet! So, he walked over to the punch bowl, but you had left the pumps I lended you, and he tripped over them!"

"Gasp…"

"I know! Total gaspeth! So, there James was, cutting through air, about to land in the glass punch bowl, and make a huge mess, and get his gorgeous dress robes ruined! Which would be such a pity! Because they were fantabulous designer robes! Not just fantastic, not merely fabulous, but fantabulous!"

"How could you tell?" Alice pondered. "Personally, I feel all guy dress robes look exactly the same."

"No! They were fantabulous, I will tell you! I simply have an eye for this sort of thing!"

"Can we move this on?" Frank asked impatiently.

"Right! Well, guess what?"

"What?" Alice asked, bored.

"Lily caught him before he landed!"

Alice gasped. And not just a pretentious, sarcastic gasp. A real one. And looking to her right, Alice saw that Frank's reaction was along the same lines.

"What happened when she pulled him up again?"

"Well, the whole shebang. James thanks Lily, heartfelt confessions, more heartfelt confessions, Sirius interrupts with a corny joke, a few more heartfelt confessions, a pun from Peter, and a long, romantic, dipping-Lily-like-to-the-floor kiss!"

Alice snorted. "Nice description."

"Yeah… I should so become one of those professional type people who write the stuff on the inside flap of books covers, shouldn't I?"

"Sure, Marlene, right after you become 'one of those professional type people who come up with the things on the inside of bottle caps', like you've dreamt of since you were eight."

"Yeah, or I could find a job where I can do both! That shouldn't be hard!"

Alice giggled, and asked, "Are you sure you aren't becoming Sirius?"

"Nah… she just gets like that when she's been around sugar and Sirius for too long."

"Ah."

Marlene bounced up and down, and announced, "Guys! I'm off to join Sirius, Remus, and Peter in their happy dance and song! It's really catchy! Have fun with the tension, doing whatever you were doing earlier!"

Marlene hopped off, humming, and the smile was wiped right off Frank's face, after Marlene mentioned the previous happenings.

Frank stood up, looking all business, and asked, "Do you want me to get someone? Peter? Sirius? Remus? Other person you have a crush on?"

Alice stared unbelievingly for a second, shouting "No!"

Frank turned around, sort of gawping at her. "What?"

"Don't go! You don't understand!"

"You're just saying that. You know it." Frank turned his back, and began to head for the door.

Alice sighed, and got up, ignoring Madame Pomfrey's instructions, and pulled Frank back, keeping her hand on his shoulder. "Frank, please, just listen. I can explain."

Frank raised an eyebrow, and had a half sneer on his face.

"Look! I listened to your accusations! So you'll listen to mine! And if you walk off, be warned. I have a very fine-tuned bat-boogey hex."

Frank's scowl curved a bit upward.

"Okay, where do I start? Let's see… I've been avoiding all of you guys, not you solely, Frank, because I wanted to get to Transfiguration on time. I was annoyed at the fact that I thought you disliked me. I was shocked that you were a part of the Amortentia deal. I expected better of you. You have to admit, the gay baby thing was funny. I seriously am oblivious, and so didn't understand the whole hug thing. Yolanda, I was just joking along. Sorry if I insulted you, I didn't realize it. And I scooted off your lap, because it was nerve-wracking."

"Why?"

"Because, Frank, I had a crush on you. You're not alone, you know."

It was Frank's turn to stand, oblivious to everything, and stare at Alice, dumbstruck.

"And," Alice continued. "I'd be a fool if I let this chance go, so…"

Alice leaned forward, and pecked Frank on the lips. Frank stood dumbstruck for a bit, but then responded warmly, hugging Alice to his chest, where Alice smiled, feeling his heart thumping wildly, in strange harmony with her own.

"Wait, Frank," Alice said, pulling away from the embrace. "I have a question. Why'd you smell the Transfiguration corridor in the Amortentia?"

Frank blushed. "It was where I had always bumped into you. It reminded me of you…"

"Bloody hell… I swear, that's so sweet…" Alice said, pulling Frank back down to her level again.

Of course, after a few minutes, Madame Pomfrey noticed, and shooed the pair out, where, unexpectedly, Marlene, Remus, Sirius, and Peter tumbled to the ground, clutching their heads where the door had banged in to them.

"I thought you were doing the happy dance," Alice said, smirking.

"We were!" protested Sirius.

"Just, we were doing it up here," Remus added.

"C'mon, guys, we're geniuses," Peter boasted. "We managed to get two couples together, in one stroke!"

"Mind telling us what you mean?" Frank casually inquired.

"I suppose we can spare telling you," Peter shrugged. "See, we planned this all along, and you didn't know it. It was kind of funny, you know…"

"Even Frank deserves someone," Marlene said.

"Thanks, I feel loved," Frank drawled sarcastically.

"Yeah, well we needed some sort of hobby, cause we couldn't devote all of our time to Lily and James," Remus said.

"They were always out, patrolling. Docking points. Stopping snogging. Handing out detentions. The whole deal," Sirius clarified, with a look of distaste on his face.

"Detention!" Alice exclaimed. "I forgot!"

"What?" Frank asked, placing a comforting hand on her upper arm.

"I have detention with McGonagall tonight! Got to go!"

"You have detention?" Sirius asked, incredulously. "Apocalyptic, much?"

Alice laughed, and hurried off, to her impending doom.

00000

"…so, Sirius said that, and then I came straight here, and I hope you don't mind. It was just that Frank was so dreamy, you see, and I've never had much experience with guys, and… Well, actually, that's sort of it. So, sorry for being late," Alice recited at top speed.

As Alice finished, McGonagall retained her composture, and said, "Well, that was… quite a story. I don't think that we have the time to finish the detention, so you may go back to your dormitory. But, you will show up tomorrow, same time, and on time, I presume."

"I will, Professor! Thank you!" Alice said happily, and hurried out, no doubt to find Frank, and go continue that snog.

As soon as Alice was gone, McGonagall sank into her chair, legs and arms completely askew, and she sighed.

"I need a drink."

-&-

AN: I would like to start out by saying that I taste like a chocolate-coated banana. Unassuming and tough on the outside, sweet and soft on the inside. Or however you want to interpret that. And, I really love how Lily saves James from landing in the punch bowl. Not vice versa. I mean, girl-power all the way! Seriously, what's wrong with a dude-in-distress for once? (aka. I do damsel-in-distress stuff too much, and felt like switching it up for once…). I know the thing might be a bit tacky (hells yes, I was wincing at the kissing scene, cause I always mess those up, seeing as I have no experience, sadly…). Do not think Alice is that big of a nerd! A lot of her thought patterns were based on mine! So, calling her a nerd is insulting me! (Even though I am admittedly a nerd). So, this is a very long oneshot. Yes, it is a oneshot. There will be no updates on this story. I hope that is very clear. Also, I labeled this as Alice/Frank, but it could technically be James/Lily. Please tell me if you think I should change it. Review! And I love to know people's favorite lines!