Part 10

Ah! This is where things actually begin to change, and you may discover which well-known fanfic author has influenced me. I'm hoping that since my semester is nearly over, and the assessment-induced hysteria is dwindling down, that I will be able to post more frequently.

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People change. Circumstances change them.

~ Melina Marchetta.

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The first days of term had quickly become the first weeks, and then Christmas was imminently upon Hogwarts. All the Marauders were going home, and so too were Lily and Arabella. But before they were to go, Professor Melange declared the Polyjuice Potion was ready for use. James was very much looking forward to this, though he had missed all the preliminary lessons. Lily and he were becoming slightly suspicious, because Prefect meetings *always* occurred during Potions. James reckoned the Head Boy, Hector Parkinson, had rigged the timetable so that he continually 'happened' to miss Professor Binn's riveting History of Magic.

James didn't view missing Potions as a bad thing, but Lily was worried at how much she was missing out on. Professor Melange also seemed to have twigged onto the fact that the two Gryffindor prefects were often missing. The upshot of this was that James and Lily were to take one of their free hours from mid-Wednesday break and have a catch-up potions class instead.

James was livid at the idea of extra potions, and Lily was seething at the thought of spending even more time with James Potter. At this rate, she might actually have the opportunity to start really knowing him, and that was something no sane person would desire.

It so happened that the very first lesson Lily and James had would be involving Polyjuice Potion. Lily realised with disgust she was going to have to become James, and he her.

"It's only temporary." Professor Melange said impatiently.

"It had better be," James said grimly, suddenly not so keen on taking the potion.

"You are, of course, aware of after affects and the adverse reaction of certain stimuli?" The Professor asked, in a bored drone.

The two nodded, even though neither had the remotest clue about what Professor Melange had spoken of. They just wanted the class over and done with as soon as possible, so that they could spend their free time as it should be spent - away from each other.

"Very well. Pass each other a hair of your own to complete the potion."

"What do we do once we've changed?" Lily asked with curiosity.

"I'm sure you'll think of something. Now hurry up, I want to be in the Staff room."

James and Lily took the potion, and a couple of moments later, they were on the floor in each other's bodies.

"Very good." Professor Melange replied, and left the two to their own devices.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lily looked up and saw herself. It was a very unnerving experience. "Stop staring at me." She said testily.

"Is my hair *really* that messy?" James asked in disbelief, reaching out to finger a tendril of what was his hair.

"Hands off mister!" Lily looked appalled. "This feels .....so..... Strange. I didn't know my face could show such expressions."

"Yeah, well. Likewise. So whaddawe do now?"

"What do we do now, you mean." Lily said pedantically. "Being turned into me is no excuse for a lack of grammatical precision."

"That didn't sound right."

"Oh shutup Potter!! If I didn't feel like I'd be hitting myself, I'd hit you now."

"You want to hit me??" James asked with surprise. "But you're so... meek and...... docile."

"Docile, huh? I'll give you docile." Lily snarled, and ran towards James, nearly knocking him over, and preparing her fists for action in the meantime.

"Woah! Lay off!" James pleaded.

"Is ickle Jamesie-poo scared? But you're in Gryffindor!"

"So are you, so what does that have to say?"

"Just what are you implying, Potter?" Lily asked icily.

James realised he was treading on very thin ice. Lily's (or rather his own face) looked ripe for murder. Why hadn't he realised she could have a temper? Of course, everyone had a temper, it just never clicked that hers would be bad. After all, he didn't think he'd ever seen it before. He hadn't seen much of her before, so perhaps that should have been expected.

"Never mind."

"But you're..... Pathetic!" Lily said suddenly. "How ever did you become so popular? People really mustn't know you. You're a ridiculous gudgeon!" She thought it best to mention that that insult, the best she could think up, came directly from her favourite Muggle romance story, and had been spoken by a six year old in that book. Hardly the stuff of legends, or even very inspiring.

James looked more astonished than anything. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're so amazingly, stubbornly proud, and that's just dreadful. On top of that, you skirt away from anything that might get you into trouble with some people. But paradoxically, you seek trouble from others. Your pranks and the like - they're hardly acts of an intelligent person now, are they?"

James' (or rather Lily's) face looked like that of a goldfish. All bubbly and puffed up. "But.... but.... pranks..."

"Mere foolishness. You think some people hail you for it, don't you? Well just as many deplore it. How many points have you boys lost for us! How many hours of detentions have you served, which could have been better utilised with studying? Sure, pranks are fun in the right circumstances, but you guys take it to extremes."

James continued to open and close his mouth like a fish, too stunned to say anything. It seemed all the more surreal that not only was it Lily Evans that was saying this, but that she was saying it while looking like himself.

It appeared that he was chastising himself, a very strange and unlikely occurrence. He was a Potter, chastisement was something you did to *other* people.

"Would you mind...." He said after a moment's calmness, "If we were to cease this conversation? Surely there are better things we could be doing while under this particular guise."

"There you go again! Pranks, do you mean, by any chance?" James thought it seemed so odd that Lily was able to make his voice sound so sneering towards himself. He wasn't like that to other people, was he? No! Of course he wasn't. They all loved him. He was a Quidditch Chaser, the Gryffindor Prefect. People had to think well of him so that he could have achieved that.

But then again, Lily was a Prefect too, and he didn't see too many Lily Evans fan clubs around Hogwarts. And she wasn't like this to other people, was she? What was happening?

"Well, yeah, I did actually. I was thinking you could get yourself into some mischief, and pin it on me."

Lily bit her lip in thought. "I've never done pranks before." She admitted. "And I've never really thought very much of them, at any rate. Always seemed far too prone to being punished for them afterwards. But you don't mind getting in trouble for my sake? How do you *get* into such trouble?"

"Trade secrets, of course, but if you like I'm sure I could divulge a little." Try and get on her good side, Potter... She's seemingly a hag at times, but fine at others ... You want to be on her good side...

Lily smiled wanly. "Well actually, do you think I could do something to Snape? Belle and I are desperately wanting to get him back for the poem."

"Snape? And a poem?" Brilliant! Another reason to get him! James eyes twinkled with an unholy glee. Lily didn't know her eyes could do that.

It was rather charming actually, she thought. Why couldn't someone other than herself be around to see it then? What was the good in that?

"Yes. He has a thing for Arabella, and he wrote her this dreadful poem, and we have to get him back for it. The rhyming scheme was off, and the imagery and word choice.... Well! Best not mentioned, really. I just don't know how we're going to get him back. Nothing seems suitable enough.."

"Well," James thought for a moment. "This potion only lasts an hour, and we've wasted fifteen minutes. Better get to it." For some reason bringing up Snape had caused them to forget their past. That resulted in them both now working together rather amicably with a common goal. Lily and James found to their great amazement that this was achievable, that they made a rather impressive thinking team, without each other bickering over something. Not that they'd ever really bickered before, they were more likely to shun each other.

"Okay. So it's free time. Think for a moment, if you were a Slytherin, where would you be during free time?"

"Well he's obviously not going to be in the shower." Lily said smartly. "I think he's allergic to them."

James snickered. She thinks similarly to me... How strange...

"What about outside? Near the lake, or near the broomshed?"

"What we need....." Lily said pensively, "Is a map. One that told us where everyone is."

"Lily, you're a genius. I could kiss you." That would be so handy for us Marauders!

"Ugh! Please don't!! Or do, if you absolutely must, but I warn you, children won't be an option on your agenda in years to come."

Okay, you ruined that moment completely, buster.. "You like me that much, huh?"

"I can't even *think* seriously about whether I like or dislike you, when I'm looking into my own face. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't work for me. Now let's get back on topic and try to find Snape!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Um.... James....." Lily sounded very unsure of herself.

"Yeah?"

"We've run out of time. We've been scouring the place, but our hour is almost up. We'll have to do it some other time. I don't know where Snape is."

"Bugger."

"Yeah."

"So tell me about this poem."

"It's really bad."

"Thanks for the glowing critique. What did it say?"

"Um, we've got it around somewhere. Belle considered running away to the circus, but I think I persuaded her to stay. For purely selfish motives. What would I do without her?"

James looked peculiarly at Lily. It'd never occurred to him that she'd feel defenceless without a friend. For a moment, he wondered why, and a pensive curiosity flickered across his face. What else didn't he know about her?

"Don't. Look. At. Me. Like. That." Lily said guardedly. She made James' face semi-glare at him. "I'm going, if you're going to be like that." And with that she turned around, and James' body stalked off.

"Lils, wait up!" James began, wanting for some reason to apologise; he didn't even know what for.

But Lily turned around, with a venomous expression. "I don't want you addressing me in such a ... familial.... manner. We're not friends. We'll never be friends. You yourself made sure of that. Goodbye." Once more Lily turned and stalked away.

James was left looking after her, with an expression of even greater puzzlement and confusion than before. What did she mean?

~*~*~*~*~*~