Hey guys! New storaay!

This idea has been nagging me for absolutely ages. So yes, I should be starting a sequel for my other story and I should be updating everything else and I generally should be not putting up work for myself, but... meh.

Tis the way it goes for me now. EHEH

Oh, and about the story - when I mean genderbent, I MEAN genderbent. I'm trying for everything to be different genders, and the complications of this. Well, obviously people will have different last names but for the purposes of this story, lets start the genderbending from Marauders downwards.

I think its best if you just read and see, really.

Reviews are really appreciated, since this is my first time really trying to spin things off ;) Enjoy!

Prologue

"The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me."

– Ayn Rand

SEPTEMBER, 1971

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

Jane applauded as a shy, smiling boy quickly walked to the long table of Badgers, feeling nervousness bubble inside her stomach. She didn't know why she felt so anxious; her father assured her that all the Potters got in Gryffindor – well, with the exception of some but still, she was undoubtedly a Gryffindor.

If freely approaching a Black, pranking six seventh year Slytherins with said Black and taking an unintentional dip in the lake while not screaming at all didn't count as courageous, then she was a hippogriff.

She had to be Gryffindor.

It was destiny – she could feel it in her very bones.

Next to her, Saiph – the sly, funny Black girl who helped her set off those dungbombs – nudged her side and gave her a grin. 'You look as if you just wet in your knickers and just escaped the wrath of a Hungarian Horntail.'

'Well, I just want to get this over with,' she defended in part-truth, but it sounded half-hearted as a young, severe-looking man with combed-back hair hidden under an emerald hat read out the name 'Adams, Jonah!'

With a snort, Saiph shook her head, her long dark locks bouncing; somehow she still managed to look casually graceful despite how much she didn't seem to care. 'You're a Potter, Potter,' she reassured, a sparkle in her eyes at the weird sentence as the hat roared 'RAVENCLAW!', both of them absentmindedly clapping their hands. 'At least all your family before you were Gryffindors.'

'Mostly Gryffindors.'

'Mostly Gryffindors, then,' Saiph corrected, rolling her eyes. 'Blacks have always been a long line of Slytherins.'

Jane suddenly felt something she never felt before, as if a knot had been tied between them – not literally, of course, but inside. It seemed that the Black had felt it too, since they both looked at each other with odd expressions.

A long, tense silence passed between the two, feeling slightly awkward at the friendship unknowingly being knitted like her grandmother's signature oversized socks, until the teacher – McGonagall, she remembered – called out Saiph's name.

Saiph's face went pale as Jane encouragingly squeezed her fingers. 'Save me a seat in Gryffindor,' the Potter whispered with a wink.

Sending her a scowl, Saiph made her way to the stool and moodily plonked herself on it, pulling the hat on her head. Her grey eyes travelled up and seemed to argue with the piece of scrappy clothing for a full five minutes, once dropping her jaw, as if offended.

The hall was completely pin-drop silent until the Sorting Hat came out with three syllables Jane was much thankful for: 'GRYFFINDOR!'

Jane broke out in a grin, at first nobody seeming to do anything – Jane could see Saiph's unusual nervous change of demeanour miles away, her eyes looking everywhere, expecting a break out of clapping.

And that's what Jane gave her new friend. She started clapping, even wolf-whistling, the Black for a few seconds when a brown-haired girl followed her lead, then a plump, short blonde girl joined in, until the whole school ended up applauding; the only ones who weren't were the Slytherins, who were glaring and seething with anger.

Saiph had the nerve to give an eccentric bow, gratefully grinning Jane's way.

'What was all that about?'

Jane turned sharply around to see a freckly boy with dark red hair and striking green eyes, a confused expression on his face. 'Oh, you're muggleborn?' Jane said quietly, choosing to ignore the drama at the front, and giving him an excited grin. 'I've never met a muggleborn before!'

'Of course you haven't,' a greasy-haired, unfortunately beak-nosed girl sneered, nostrils flaring. 'You're a Potter.'

'Well, you're a... a someone,' Jane defended in proud tone, tipping her head back slightly and crossing her eyebrows, despite the fact that this particular girl was rather tall and frightening. 'Who are you?'

'Selena Snape,' Selena said, cold dark eyes cutting holes in her own hazel ones as she took out her hand, a Pureblood way of greeting. Jane, being accustomed to this, took it reluctantly. 'And this is my friend, Liam Evans.'

'Hullo,' Liam, the redhead, said awkwardly, giving a hesitant smile Jane realised she didn't mind seeing.

'Evans, Liam!' the teacher called. Liam knitted his eyebrows at Selena before determinedly going through the crowd. It only took about ten seconds for the hat to decide 'GRYFFINDOR!', and with a sympathetic smile towards his companion he sat next to Saiph.

The Sorting continued, Jane inwardly cursing the Potter name; why couldn't she be an A? Or a B, like Saiph? It would be far more efficient if she was a Botter, wouldn't it?

She giggled quietly to herself. Botter.

The brown-haired girl who clapped for Saiph went a few silent minutes afterwards, her name being Rhino or Ear Loopy or something and going into the honourable house of Gryffindor, and so did a dirty blonde-haired boy with weirdly elf-like ears called Mark McDonald and another Italian-coloured one named Marcus McKinnon (who wasn't so hard on the eyes also, despite their current age of eleven).

No one else really struck out to her; she couldn't help glancing back at the red-haired freckly boy with interest. His eyebrows were crossed in annoyance, squeezed in between Saiph and She-Whose-Name-Was-Unknown-Or-An-Animal and looking seriously displeased.

'You look like a right pervert,' the plump blonde one from before whispered in her ear, both of them giving a small, immature giggle as Jane quickly turned away. Surprisingly, Selena, the blonde and her were the only ones left – in fact, Selena was already making her way towards the Slytherin table –

'Oh ... poop,' she muttered. 'I'm the last one!'

'Sorry,' the blonde said sheepishly. 'I'm a –'

'SLYTHERIN!'

'... not a Slytherin,' laughed the girl nervously, big blue eyes slightly watering, as if she felt intimidated.

'Pettigrew, Polly!'

'That's me.' Polly's face went a bright red, leaving her to awkwardly stand on her own as the Sorting Hat took even longer on Polly than it did with Saiph. Finally, though, the Hat yelled out 'GRYFFINDOR!' and she skipped towards the sacred table.

'Potter, Jane!'

Feeling the rush of everyone watching, she acknowledged McGonagall with a casual salute, smirking at his surprised, unenthused quirk of his bushy grey eyebrows. She didn't even feel the Sorting Hat reach her head when it yelled out the words she waited for years – 'GRYFFINDOR!'

Worrying for nothing, Jane could hear her mother tut, making her grin as she whispered her thanks to the Hat. Oddly enough, she could see it slightly smiling when the bloke in the emerald hat, McGonagall – yep, he was still scowling – took it off her head and set it on the staff table. Shaking her head, she practically ran to the Gryffindors, who all applauded generously.

She saw Saiph stand from her chair and whistle just like Jane did, grinning. Giving a relieved sigh, she nodded her gratitude and sat opposite her, the brunette and Liam, sliding towards Polly's side casually.

'We're lions!' Saiph exclaimed loudly, throwing her hands in the air and choosing to ignore the teachers' glares.

The brunette snorted, as if it was an inside joke, and shifted around in effort to look over the heads. Sensing an opportunity, Jane leaned over the table and whispered, 'Rhino, right?'

Saiph burst out laughing – disrupting Dumbledore in mid-speech in the process – as the girl in question struggled to keep a straight face. Liam crossed his eyebrows disapprovingly. 'Rhea, actually,' Rhino – no, Rhea – corrected, now smiling kindly. 'Rhea Lupin.'

Jane felt her face burn, choosing to focus on Dumbledore – a tall, thin lady with colourful robes, long braided grey hair, a badly crooked nose and a part-creepy, part-gratifying twinkle in her eyes. 'I'm sure you'll all agree that it is rather obvious that the Forbidden Forest is indeed forbidden for all Hogwarts students, and for those who do trespass shall receive brutal consequences.'

She swore her eyes flickered towards her, expecting her to already fess up for breaking rules. Shrugging innocently, Dumbledore continued, 'Before we dig in to the glorious feast the house elves have kindly prepared for us, I must introduce you to our newest member of our staff that will teach students Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Melissa Cake. I'm sure you will treat her respectfully.'

Glancing at Saiph from across the table, she tried to hold in her laughter as she applauded the teacher, a small, chubby woman whose smile looked slightly false. 'Sure that'd be a tasty class,' Polly mumbled from next to her, making her burst into snickers with a snort.

'Or will it be crummy?' Rhea added quietly, her amber eyes sparkling.

'Her homework will be a plateful,' Saiph added.

'Merlin's beard,' said Jane, grinning, looking at the three girls surrounding her. 'This is the start of a beautiful friendship.'

'Hear, hear!' Saiph celebrated as loudly as she could without being noticed.

Liam scowled at them all, clearly annoyed. 'Do you ever shut up?' he snapped, scrunching up his nose, leaning slightly across the table. 'All throughout this whole thing, you've been talking!'

That was when Jane was really hit how unique this boy was – his hair was neatly combed but messy at the same time, though not nearly as untidy as hers was; his eyes, as green as leaves on a bright summer's day – they somehow brightened when he got angry or annoyed, she realised; he was small for his age, yeah, but so was she.

She didn't know what came over her when she grinned goofily, fixing her hair (only to make it even messier) and saying at a tone that so was not hers, 'Well, sir, I am a motor-mouth.'

He squinted, frustrated at her answer. 'I'm trying to listen.'

'Yeah, we should listen, really,' Rhea admitted, but Dumbledore was already ending her sentence with an odd exclamation and a wide arm gesture.

Liam gawped as the food materialised on the table, taking a shocked intake of air. 'That's amazing.'

Crossing her eyebrows, she fought for his attention again, liking the feel of the unfamiliar flip flop in her stomach. 'I'm Jane Potter, by the way. We didn't get properly introduced because of your, ah, friend.'

'Oh, I saw,' Saiph said, a disgusted expression on her face as she slightly stood up to see Selena awkwardly sitting by herself on the corner of the Slytherin table. 'What a slimeball.'

'Oi!' Liam said, his eyes flashing.

Laughing, Jane turned to glance at Selena and nodding agreeably with Saiph. 'She is a bit. Never thought of it before.'

'Mwahah!' Polly guffawed, catching on. 'Slimeball.'

'Can you stop it?' Liam's eyes caught Jane's, miffed. 'Selena's my friend. She's not a slimeball, or whatever you like to call her. I'd hugely appreciate it if you would quit being mean and grow up.'

If hearts could replace the shape of her eyes, at that moment, they would. Whilst beating profusely, preferably.

Because Jane realised, with a huge plummet of her tummy, that Liam would be her redheaded prince. All those Muggle stories about knights in shining armour and beautiful maidens in towers waiting to be rescued flashed across her mind as he glared furiously at her, and she replied with a smile and a "smooth" run through her tangled long hair.

Yes. She would make Liam Evans be her redheaded, angry, passionate, handsome prince someday – even if that was the last thing she'd do.