"Lily! Hurry up or we're going to be late for Muggle Studies!" my best friend, Alice Prewitt, yelled through the portrait of the Head's Dorms.

"I'm coming, Alice… just a few seconds!" I yelled back hastily putting my hair into a ponytail. I put my brush down, picked up my bag, checked the mirror one more time, brushing my auburn fringe out of my emerald eyes, then rushed out of my bedroom. I opened the portrait and crawled out. There stood Alice, long brown hair curled today, perfectly framing her oval face and electric blue eyes.

"Hey, Alice. Sorry for being so late."

"It's fine, Lily. Let's go."

We made our way through the halls to the Muggle Studies classroom. This was the only class that came extremely easy to me this year. Being a Muggleborn, I already knew everything. All of my other classes were NEWT level, like Advanced Potions and Advanced Transfiguration, though I didn't know how I scored that one. I am terrible at Transfiguration. I was perfect student in every class except that one. For some reason, things just didn't work out for me. I said the incantations right… I think. And the wand movements weren't too difficult… at least I didn't think they were.

Muggle Studies ended all too abruptly. We received a foot-long essay explaining how exactly a stove works. This would be easy. Now, it was time for Transfiguration… It was only the third week of classes and McGonagall already had us transfiguring animals into inanimate, household objects.

Unfortunately, Alice was not in this class with me, so we parted ways near the Great Hall, where she met up with Frank, her boyfriend of 3 years, for their free period. I waved to Frank as he nodded back, slipping his arm around Alice's waist.

"We'll see you at lunch, Lily!" Alice shouted.

"Save me a seat, guys!" I shouted back. Then I turned and walked to Transfiguration class. It was like the walk a condemned murderer would take to the gallows. Yeah, it was that bad. Who knows what fate had in store for me today… how would I screw up this time?

As I contemplated various ways of screwing up, I found my desk in the classroom. I sat next to Narcissa Black. For a Slytherin, she wasn't half-bad. She didn't partake in any of the teasing or torture of Muggleborns that had increased exponentially this year. In fact, she didn't seem to approve of any of it at all.

"Good morning, Narcissa."

"Hello, Lily."

"Do you know what we're doing today?"

Narcissa looked at her nails. "No idea. I just hope it has nothing to do with anything creepy crawly."

I smiled a bit, and she let out a sort of chuckle. That was the extent of our conversation. We weren't friends… just acquaintances. But polite and decent ones at that.

I heard some loud ruckus behind me. Sirius had come in chasing Remus whilst swinging a sausage-link like a club. Remus was trying as hard as he could to ignore Sirius, quickening his pace and clutching his books to his chest. To his dismay, Sirius would just speed up as well, poking Remus in the cheek with the sausage. James and Peter walked in behind them, roaring with laughter. Another reason I hated this class: James and his Marauder friends had this class together. What could be worse?

Given, James hadn't been all bad this year. When I boarded the Hogwarts Express this year, heading to the compartment where the Head Students were meeting, I was extremely shocked to find who my counterpart would be. How did James become Head Boy? How is that possible? James and his Marauders were the most notorious trouble-makers in the school. Possibly even in the history of this school. When I walked in, I had expected a genuine James smirk and an arm being put across my shoulders with a comment like "I thought about you all summer, Evans. It made me all hot and bothered. Let's say we make my dreams a reality, eh? But being around you already has me like that again…" Something bloody pathetic like that. Then I would lift his arm off my shoulders replying with something intelligent and witty like "Only in those dreams, Potter."

But that's not how it happened at all. I walked in, and he stood from his seated position. I thought to myself, Here goes… but he offered me his seat since it was the only one in the compartment.

"How was your summer, Evans?"

"Er… enjoyable. And yours?"

"Enjoyable as well."

"So, it looks like we'll be Head Students together this year."

"Yeah. Er, do you think we should quit with the surnames, since… you know, we'll be working together and all that? Set a respectable tone with the prefects and all?"

I was awestruck. James just said respectable without guffawing like a fool. And without a sarcastic remark after it.

"Uh, good idea, Pott- I mean James."

James gave me a grin. "Alright then, Lily."

James still acted like a goofball, but he didn't partake in as many pranks as he used to. He still did some stuff, but the teasing and arrogance had toned down a lot. I had definitely noticed. And it seemed he didn't even have to try that hard to tone it down. It didn't seem like a struggle for him to behave.

My musings were interrupted by Sirius yelling.

"Thou art a villain, Moony! Never again shall you refuse a perfectly cooked sausage-link in my presence!"

He tried to force-feed the sausage link to Remus. Remus clamped his mouth shut and turned it this way and that avoiding Sirius' probing.

"Sirius, shoving sausage down my throat will not bring me on good terms with sausage. I told you, I don't like breakfast sausage."

"That's a sin, Moony. Everyone enjoys breakfast sausage. Am I right, Prongsie?"

"Inexplicably, my good Padfoot."

"You see, Remus? You're the odd one out. Peter likes sausage, too."

"Peter likes everything."

"That's not the point. You are not a true Marauder unless you like sausage."

"Sirius, that is insulting!" Remus feigned hurt and put his hand to his heart. "You've brought this a little too far. Eat that sausage yourself."

"Be glad to." And with that, Sirius ate the whole sausage. He didn't even chew, I don't think.

McGonagall walked in with her brisk pace to the front of the classroom. She stood by an aquarium covered with a dark red cloth. I could only guess what was under there.

"Good morning, class. Today we will be trans—"

"GOOD MORNING, MINNIE MCGOOGIES!"

"…Good morning, Mr. Black. Good to see you are enjoying your morning. Now, today we will be transforming stick bugs into spoons…"

I groaned inwardly. I felt Narcissa tense next to me. Nothing creepy crawly… Poor Narcissa.

Poor me.

McGonagall had used her wand to take the cover off the aquarium, where inside were dozens and dozens of 6-8 inch long stick bugs crawling all over each other. Bloody brilliant. If this wasn't the butter to my biscuit.

She had also charmed a piece of chalk to write down what she was saying as she explained the incantation and wand movements. The incantation, Creatura Mutatio, I had down in no time. That was the easy part. The hard part was the movements, when and how do perform each part. The two words had to match up with certain movements. Those are the parts I could never get.

"Now practice the incantation and movements with your quills first. Make sure that while you say "Creatura" you are swishing your wand to the left with an abrupt hook at the end, and when you say the "Mut" part of "Mutatio" you are bringing your wand up and as you finish the phrase you are bringing your wand down quickly. I want to make sure you have this down, because any flaws can lead to disastrous results."

Doesn't any flaw in transfiguration lead to "disastrous results"?

I picked up my quill and attempted to repeat the movements as I had seen McGonagall do them.

"Ms. Evans, be sure the movements are abrupt and jerky, not smooth and curved."

"Yes, Professor."

I sneaked a glance at the Marauders as McGonagall approached them to critique.

"Perfect form, Mr. Potter! Black, outstanding."

"I do it to please you, Love." Sirius remarked, giving McGonagall a smile that would make any other girl faint. Cross my heart, I had seen it happen.

McGonagall blushed a tiny bit. I mean, who wouldn't? This was Sirius Black, Hogwarts womanizer and chick magnet.

"Mr. Black, another remark like that will earn you a detention for a month."

"If the detention was served with you, Minnie, I gladly accept." Sirius waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

James snorted and instantly buried his face in his arms, shaking.

"Mr. Black… nevermind." McGonagall then went over to Remus and Peter's table to critique them.

After she was done checking everyone's skill, she made her way back up to the front of the class. She clapped her hands to make everyone quiet.

"Alright, it looks like most of you have the incantation and wand movements down. Now, each of your tables will get a stick bug. It is your job to turn it into a spoon, then back to its original form. Make sure both partners have it. Each partner will observe the other's work. Begin."

As soon as she said begin, she swished her wand, and suddenly a stick bug was at each table. Narcissa scooted her chair back from the table as far as it could go.

I heard murmurings of incantations around me, and observing, I could see everything from silver stick bugs to spoons sporting legs and creeping about the tables. I glanced at Potter and Black's table and saw Potter turn the stick bug into a spoon, then back, then to a spoon again, no sweat. Wanker.

"Bloody Hell." I murmured to myself, pushing my sleeves up so my hands were unobstructed. I then swished my wand and uttered "Creatura Mutatio." As soon as I finished, I heard a loud SNAP! I looked around me, noticing that all the other students had frozen what they'd been doing and looked in my direction. I looked back down at my stick bug. To my horror, it had begun to lengthen. And thicken. It was growing at a very fast rate. I stood up quickly, knocking my chair down in the process. I pointed my wand out in front of me. My hand was making my wand jerk around uncontrollably. Narcissa screamed and ran out of the classroom hands waving about. Other students had stood up as well and were back away as the stick bug continued to grow. It was well over seven feet, and the table it stood on collapsed, unable to support its weight any longer. The rest of its body knocked over the chalkboard, the aquarium with the other stick bugs in it, and other tables. I looked around frantically… looked anywhere except at the menacing pincers in front of me easily three feet in diameter.

I heard another SNAP and suddenly the stick bug stopped growing, well over ten feet in length. It began to stomp around the classroom, knocking out anything that stood in its path of destruction. Students began to scream and run about in all directions. I stood where I was, horrified at the monster I had created. McGonagall was frantically trying to calm students down and point her wand at the creature at the same time. Any magical attempts at ceasing the bug's rampage were in vain. The bug continued to destroy everything in its path. It seized some tables in its mouth, crunching down and effortlessly splitting them in two, like a person snapping a toothpick in half. That's when it started to go after students. It began chasing multiple students, but as they ran out the door, the bug realized it didn't fit. About a quarter of the class remained in the room, and the stick bug stayed by the door, blocking any chance of escape. I looked around for McGonagall, and found her lying on the floor, apparently unconscious, as I saw a piece of wood by her head.

Oh no.

I began to make my way towards the professor, when my sudden movement focused the gaze of the bug on me. If pincers could lick their lips, that's definitely what the bug did.

It started after me, knocking down the remainder of the desks and breaking other cages and aquariums of creatures. I screamed and began backing up, almost tripping over myself in the process. A solid object hit my back. A wall. Perfect. The bug was less than ten feet away from me now, slowly creeping up, relishing its trapped prey and the fact that it had no way to escape. Its head stretched toward me, pincers opening up. I could see inside the bug's mouth.

Then I heard a yell in the distance, and there was a blinding flash of yellow light. The light seemed to engulf the bug, paralyzing it and making it shake and vibrate and lift off of the floor a few feet. The face of the bug curved upward, leaving a slight dip in the center and the rest of the body thinned and flattened until towards the rump it thickened a bit more. I barely registered James running over to me. As he reached me, the now gigantic spoon settled on the floor, the impact of the landing knocked James over and he crashed into me, both of us landing on the ground with him on top of me. I closed my eyes on impact and groaned in pain. James was heavy.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. Dust and debris were settling, and students were getting up off the floor and coming out of other hiding places. Other students who had ran out, came back in and looked around. Then, I looked in front of me. James' eyes were focused on mine. They were a caramel brown with tiny gold and green flecks in them. A darker, more chocolate brown directly circumnavigated his pupils. As I had never been this close to James before, it had never given me the opportunity to really see his eyes. They were beautiful… absolutely gorgeous, and his glasses only magnified their effect on me. They had me in a trance… they reminded me of freshly baked cookies, the golden brown and warmth that filled them.

He stared back into my eyes. I saw worry, passion and love all dart across his eyes. Then realization filled them, and he quickly lifted himself off of me and stood up. I was left on my back, staring at where his eyes just were. I was vaguely aware of a hand in front of my face, offering to help me up. I grasped it and James pulled me up, hand lingering in mine a little longer. He drew it away and ran his hand through his hair.

"Alright there, Evans?"

"…Yeah."

"That was some bloody mess of a monster you created there," he said chuckling.

I clenched my fists in anger at this comment. This was not funny. The professor is unconscious, the classroom is destroyed, the student body was almost eaten by a hellish mutant of a devil…

"This is not funny, James." My voice was so grave, it scared me a little.

"Evans, just calm down. It's all over now… seriously, just calm down." James said, backing away cautiously. I hadn't even noticed I was advancing. I stopped and counted to ten to myself, effectively calming me down. I could outwardly see James relax. He then smirked at me, and walked back to Sirius, who had his wand out.

"Sirius, what are you—" I heard James say as Sirius conjured up a giant bowl of oatmeal.

"I figured, we have this spoon here, so I fancied myself a bowl of blueberry oatmeal. Who's with me?"

The other students burst out into laughter, James ruffling Sirius' hair and putting his arm around him, playfully shoving him around. Remus and Peter soon joined, and the Marauders left the classroom in fits of hysterics, as did other students. I was left alone, standing in the midst of the destruction I had caused, and near a now-waking Professor McGonagall. So they were leaving me to clean up this mess myself. Very mature, James. Very mature. Way to be a responsible Head Boy. This day was absolutely awful.