Disclaimer: For the final time in this story *yes, it's the final chapter at last!* I DON'T AND NEVER WILL OWN HARRY POTTER. Just to put it simply. I also don't own the song, not that I'm gonna mention it yet to spoil the surprise...
Dedication: To all my wonderful reviewers, I thank you. This chapter is for Kamrita for a Christmas present! Merry Christmas! Yes, that's right, its two weeks until Christmas 2012! Yay!
Author's Note: The final chapter at last! I am sad and happy. Please carry on reviewing and favouriting etc! I love the emails, it makes me seem popular ;) Even if it is way after I uploaded/updated, it is never too late for a review! And sorry I took so long. Well, continue for the final amazing chapter! Oh, but sorry because Lily and James are sooooo OOC!
Extra long one, this time - almost 3,000 words - for a Christmas present/to say sorry for the long gap between updates. Goodbye from me for the final time in You'll Regret It.
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Chapter 10: The Final Pranks
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"Our lucky winner today gets four... amazing dates!" Sirius Black called out. "First, representing the sly, slimy Slytherins, it's... Lucius Malfoy!"
The Slytherins shot Sirius evil glares, and none had more venom than Lucius. Sirius continued nonetheless.
"To all those huddly-cuddly Hufflepuffs, it'll be... Jack Bones!"
A boy with black hair smiled, while the rest of the 'Puffs patted him on the back.
"And for the really, really clever Ravenclaws, their boy is... Christopher McLaggen!"
A geeky boy with brown hair and glasses gave a smile, since the four boys had been told beforehand that they would be chosen. The three of them, minus Lucius, were looking forward to their date.
"And for the great, gorgeous Gryffindors, they will be represented by the one and only, Quidditch hero, most popular boy in the school... JAMES POTTER!"
Cheers were heard at this last name, mainly from Gryffindors. Loads of the girls in the school were pouting, some with fingers crossed. They would give anything to go on a date with James, even if it meant going out with the other three too. All except one girl.
"I can't believe they like him being chosen!" She complained. "I mean, it's Potter!"
"What was that, Evans?" James asked smoothly. "Oh, but first we must listen for who the lucky girl is."
As he said this, Lily paled dramatically. She had just realised what their prank was.
"And our lucky winner today, who gets to go on dates with all those boys, is..."
Please. Don't let it be her. She wished harder and harder, fingers crossed.
"My gosh, its Lily Evans."
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As if Sirius' mocking voice hadn't been enough. Everyone had turned to look at her, lots of jealous looks being thrown her way, as she almost died.
She would rather do anything, anything, than go on a date with... him.
"All right, Evans?" James asked cheerfully. "Actually, I should probably call you Lily, to stop awkwardness on our date. Wear something nice."
With that, he smirked and walked off to join Sirius, congratulating him, and Lily looked away, feeling sick. Could her life get any worse?
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Date 1: Slytherin
(Lily PoV)
Reluctantly, I pulled on a plain black dress and black heels, to relfect my mood. I ran a brush through my hair, applied some lip gloss, and walked outside the common room, and to the Room of Requirement, where all four of my dates would be taking place. Lucius Malfoy was standing stiffly outside the door.
"Lucius."
"Evans."
"Do call me Lily, or else it will make our date more awkward." He flinched at my words.
"Listen, mudblood, I don't take orders from the likes of you. Let's just get this over with." He spat.
Taken aback, I entered the room. It was grey and dismal. An extremely long table was in the middle of the room. So long that when we sat down, I could just barely see Malfoy. Not that that was a problem, of course.
A house elf appeared with food, and placed each dish down in front of us. I had slimy, fatty fish, and plain, hard bread, with dirty water to drink. But Malfoy had buttered, soft bread, a fresh, cooked fish, and a bottle of what I assumed was butterbeer. He also had a bowl of hot, tasty smelling soup.
"Thank you Winnie." I said to the house elf.
"You're most welcome, Miss Evans. Will that be all, Mr Malfoy?"
He nodded curtly, and so began the longest, dullest, most disgusting meal of my life. It was filled with horrible smelling fish, a boy who ate with his mouth open and made the most revolting noises, and silence - apart from those snorts Malfoy made every once in a while. After what seemed like hours but was in fact only twenty-five minutes, it was over.
I leaped to my feet and rushed out, hoping that the next three nights would be less of a failure.
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Date 2: Hufflepuff
Again, I dressed slowly, this time in a sunny yellow dress. I thought that if I looked happy, I would feel so. And besides, today I was going out with a Hufflepuff, who tend to be nice.
I approached the Room of Requirement. Jack stood outside it.
"Hello." I nodded to him. He blushed, and gave me a nervous smile. He was dressed in a black muggle suit - I think he was a muggleborn, like me.
"Hi!" He squeaked, and we walked inside the room.
I gasped. Everything was red and pink, with hearts strung up across the walls. There was a fireplace and cosy chairs facing each other, with a coffee table between them. He gestured to the seats, and we sat down. The meal was nicer today, it was roast chicken with mased potatoes, gravy, carrots and peas.
"I- I-" the boy stuttered.
"Come out with it." I smiled at him.
"I love you!" He blurted out. "I mean, you're really smart and pretty and popular and I love you."
Maybe he thought my silence was because I agreed with him. In any case, he continued to babble, but I barely heard a word. At the end of the night, I left as he reached in for a kiss.
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Date 3: Ravenclaw
For the third time, I dressed sadly. It was Ravenclaw night, and the boy I was meant to go out with was always stuck up and forever making stupid jokes. Although he wasn't as annoying as Potter, of course. Come to think of it, I hadn't really seen Potter recently. I had, however, got millions of love letters from that silly Hufflepuff boy.
I sighed. Could tonight actually be worse? Probably not, considering the last letter:
Whenever I think of your hair, I think of hearts, and love. And whenever I think of hearts and love, I think of the two of us. Your emerald eyes are so pretty, and I love you. I can't think of anything but our first kiss lately, so watch out for it!
I shook out my blue dress, and climbed off of my bed and down the stairs, and all the way to the Room of Requirement. The geeky boy was waiting outside for me.
"Hey sexy. Let's go inside, you're gonna love what I've done to the place." Without waiting for my answer he strode inside.
I followed him in. He had decorated everything in blue and pink, 'to represent us' as he put it.
"Why blue and pink?" I wanted to know.
"Duh! Boys are blue and soppy girls are pink."
"Don't be sexist!" I exclaimed.
"Why not? Its true that girls are so weak. Hot but weak. Well, some of them. Now, you should have seen this girl I went out with last year..."
Christopher went on and on about girls for ages, so that I was practically swimming in dizziness.
"Christopher!" I interrupted him. "Hadn't we better eat?"
"Oh yes. I made it all myself, you know. So much better than poxy house elves." He was off again. I just picked at my uncooked pie, burnt potatoes, and mushy peas, until I had an excuse to go away. Oh well, only one more day.
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Date 4: Gryffindor
I sighed as I peered at the mirror and wore the only dress I had left. It was pink, clashing terribly with my hair. I used my wand to change it to white, and put white ribbons in my hair. Then I set off to the Room of Requirement.
When I got there, I gasped. James- I mean, Potter looked so... different! He had a sleek grey suit on, with a white shirt and blue-and-yellow tie, and smart shoes. He had brushed his hair, but it still had a tiny bit sticking up like usual. I was surprised at how much I wanted to run my hands through his hair to fix it. I shook my head, dismissing such thoughts.
"Potter." I said coolly.
"Lily!" I raised my eyebrow at his flustered face, then settled on his gorgeous hazel eyes. Wait, not gorgeous! I mean horrible.
We went inside, and sat down. The room was red and gold, and as I looked at the roof I gasped. It was on fire! The flames danced around, giving us heat but not too much. Potter directed me to the seats, and passed me a plate. It was cheesey bacon, my favourite! And it was delicious.
"So, Potter."
"Yeah?"
"Erm..."
"Well, this is awkward."
"You can say that again."
"Well, this is awkward."
"I didn't mean it!"
"Haha, sorry."
"This is... strange."
"How so?"
"Well, first, we're having a normal conversation."
"That's because normally you refuse to talk to me."
"And today I'm stuck with you. And second, you haven't asked me out or annoyed me."
"That's because we're already on a date. And I have changed."
"Yeah, right!" My tone was teasing.
"Honestly!" He protested, pretending to sound sad as I refused to believe him, resulting in a chase around the room.
"You know, the other dates were terrible." I confessed to him as we stopped.
"Yeah, what about this one?"
"I guess its okay."
"YESSSSS!" He did a victory dance, then realised I was still watching. I giggled.
"As friends. A good date as friends." I reminded him.
He smiled. "Friends."
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"I'm sure you've heard of the prank war that has been going on between one Mr Potter and Miss Evans." Sirius yelled out. "So our final prank, before we end it, was the dates. Now would Miss Evans please come up here so she can choose who she wants to date again!"
I walked up onto the makeshift stage, and Sirius smirked. "Who is it then, Miss Evans?"
I took the microphone that had been made to work in Hogwarts (as well as another three).
"Let me just say, I certainly have some... retaliation that you can all sit down and watch soon." I said smoothly. "But first, my answer is... James Potter."
Everyone cheered, and I blushed. "Even if I don't like him." I added. "And now onto the next section of this evening..."
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(Normal PoV)
"James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin will all come to the stage." Her voice called out, and James couldn't control his legs. The four of them walked down to the stage. Lily winked at him, and waved her wand. All four of them suddenly appeared in costume.
"I'm sure you all remember James here and his previous singing experience. He and his friends will now perform live a song which even I don't know... My friends chose it. So it will be amazing for us all." She smiled and left the four on the stage. They couldn't control their feet, voices, or any other part of their body.
"I knew she put something in our food but you didn't listen!" James whispered to Sirius. Then the music started.
Remus strutted up the stage. He wore an electric blue, extremely tight 70's disco outfits. It was ripped at the chest, and had a lot of ruffles... everywhere.
"If you change your mind, I'm the first in line
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around
If you've got no place to go, if you're feeling down,
If you're all alone when the pretty birds have flown
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie
If you put me to the test, if you let me try,"
sang Remus, with bright red cheeks, a contrast to his blue costume with silver stars and black boots.
Then all four joined in for the chorus:
"Take a chance on me
(That's all I ask of you honey)
Take a chance on me!
We can go dancing, we can go walking, as long as we're together
Listen to some music, maybe just talking, get to know you better
'Cos you know I've got
So much that I wanna do, when I dream I'm alone with you
It's magic
You want me to leave it there, afraid of a love affair
But I think you know
That I can't let go!"
Then Peter stepped up to the front for his turn. He was wearing the same, but in bright green.
"If you change your mind, I'm the first in line
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around
If you've got no place to go, if you're feeling down.
If you're all alone when the pretty birds have flown
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie
If you put me to the test, if you let me try!"
sang Peter, and James could see Heather staring at him in shock. Perhaps from shock, perhaps from fancying him. He hoped that if she set her claws into Peter again, he would be smart enough to say no.
Then came Sirius, dressed in a fiery red identical costume.
"Take a chance on me
(Come on, give me a break will you?)
Take a chance on me
Oh you can take your time baby, I'm in no hurry, know I'm gonna get you
You don't wanna hurt me, baby don't worry, I ain't gonna let you
Let me tell you now
My love is strong enough to last when things are rough
It's magic
You say that I waste my time but I can't get you off my mind
No I can't let go
'Cos I love you so!"
he sang, with a smirk and toss of the head. Millions of girls practically died and went to heaven at this point (in their words).
Meanwhile, Lily was glaring at her friends. Why had they chosen this song? Why not another?
Finally came James. Lily had gone to extra trouble with his hot pink outfit, adding extra frills and ruffles.
"If you change your mind, I'm the first in line
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around
If you've got no place to go, if you're feeling down
If you're all alone when the pretty birds have flown
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best, baby can't you see
Gotta put me to the test, take a chance on me
(Take a chance, take a chance, take a chance on me)!"
he sang, flushed cheeks obvious. Finally, the rest of the Marauders joined in for the end.
"Ba ba ba ba baa, ba ba ba ba baa
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best, baby can't you see
Gotta put me to the test, take a chance on me
(Take a chance, take a chance, take a chance on me)
Ba ba ba ba baa, ba ba ba ba baa ba-ba
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me!"
They ended the song with their hands in the air, including jazz hands. And everyone watching burst out laughing.
"Give it up for the Marauders!" Lily called.
They all bowed, then walked off the stage.
"Lily!" James called.
"Yeah?"
"You'll regret it..."