A/N:

First off - Greetings! I'm LeahLumos!

This is my first FanFiction and it took forever to finish, so try to resist the urge to spit fire at your computer and all that surrounds you, even though I hope this isn't that bad . . . (hides)

Anyway, fear of being burned aside, thank you for opening this fic (or even bothering to read this A/N for that matter) and leave a review if you wish; it's really up to you, even though it would make me immensely happy and depriving me of that happiness is just cruel.

Are you sensing guilt here?

If so, good! :]

Disclaimer: I do not own the Marauders or anything Harry Potter related that you see. Everything belongs to her majesty, J.K. Rowling.

ONWARDS TO THE PROLOGUE-TYPE-THING! :D

The Prefect Effect

Our story takes shape in a tragically boring History of Magic lesson. While it was a tragedy that anything living in the room was either asleep or close to it, this happened to be a completely normal Monday occurrence for the Seventh Year N.E.W.T students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The lethargy of the class could have been for any number of reasons. However, as we all know, there could only be one reason that no one in the class suffered from insomnia, and that would be Professor Binns, the professor that just so happens to be a ghost.

Professor Binns droned on about Goblin Rebellions for the billionth time and not even one student paid attention. Strangely enough, not even Remus Lupin or Lily Evans had taken any notes; they were passing them instead. Because Remus was a prefect and Lily Head Girl, this behavior was rather peculiar. As it was, this strange and peculiar behavior is why there is a tale to tell. And now, we'll go back to this morning, where this story really began.

Lily Evans entered the Great Hall lost in thought. She could not get James Potter out of her head. It was as simple as that. Every time she tried to think about anything else he would sneak his way back to the forefront of her mind and refuse to leave. He was as persistent in her thoughts as he was in real life. She supposed this was one of the reasons she started liking him, but right now it was not exactly a desirable quality.

As she sat her rucksack down on the bench next to Remus and grabbed a bagel to nibble on, she went over her progress. Over the past few months she dropped repeated hints that she liked James and that he should ask her out, yet at every attempt at flirting he would either laugh, write it off as nothing, or change the subject. It was really starting to infuriate her.

Lily frowned and set down her bagel, opting to read a book instead. She was suddenly not very hungry anymore. As if on cue, she suddenly noticed the presence of three familiar boys sitting down around her. Lily looked up to find the rest of the Marauders all helping themselves to breakfast. She looked at James, sighed, and went back to reading.

"Why so Sirius, Lily Petal? You know I'm the only one here who can pull off that whole brooding look." Sirius Black said through a mouthful of food.

Lily barely glanced up from her book. "Sirius, those jokes stopped being funny in first year and I can 'brood' as much as I please. Also, would you quit making weird flower references with my name?"

"And Padfoot, chew before you talk, that's disgusting." said Remus, making a face.

Sirius just threw a muffin at him and made a point to eat more obnoxiously than before.

James frowned. "Well 'good morning' to you too."

"Sorry James," Lily touched his arm and gave him a weak smile. "I'm in a bad mood, I don't mean to take it out on you guys." She quickly went back to her book to avoid eye contact. "Even if it is your fault." she mumbled under her breath. Remus raised his eyebrows at them.

Disregarding Lily's statement, Sirius continued. "I don't think Petal counts as a weird flower reference; you're underestimating my vocabulary. And those jokes are immortal, but if it upsets you that much, allow me to change my question. Why so glum, Lillian?"

Lily sighed again. "I've changed my mind. Stick with the flower nicknames. They're more creative and don't make you sound like anymore of the git that you currently are. And I'm not 'glum' as you put it," She sent a furtive glance at James. "Just disappointed."

Peter's brow furrowed. "Isn't that the same thing?"

"It could be, but in my case? No."

James laughed. "What does that even mean?"

She paused, debating how to phrase her words, then looked at James purposefully as she spoke. "Glum means sad. Dejected. Morose. I'm just disappointed. I have the opportunity to be happy if someone could take a hint!" Lily took a deep breath. "But they haven't, so I'm not completely glum. I'm just mildly glum. Therefore, Lillian is not glum. Just disappointed."

Sirius smirked. "I knew you'd like that nickname."

"Oh stuff it Sirius, that was so not the point."

"Then what was the point?" James cut in before Sirius could retort.

Peter seemed to be pondering the situation for a bit before laughing and saying, "I think her main point was to use the word 'glum' as much as possible before she imploded." This just caused Lily to rub a hand over her face and groan.

"You are all hopeless. Every single one of you. Well, except for Remus. He hasn't made me want to pull my hair out yet."

"I prefer to sit back and observe my friends making total fools of themselves rather than partaking in it myself." Remus said while grinning.

"I knew there was a reason I always liked you."

James pouted and grabbed an apple, turning it over in his hand. "Well on that note, I should head down to the pitch. I scheduled an early practice."

Lily smiled. This was another chance. "It's okay James, I've always secretly liked you . . . Just in a different way."

James smiled back at her and stood up. "Thanks Lils, but I really do have to go to practice. Later mates."

Lily watched him walk away, feeling the hopeful smile slowly fade into an irritated grimace. Once he was gone, she smacked her head with her book repeatedly, punctuating each beat with muttered obscenities. "He. Is such. An oblivious. Toerag! EUGH!"

Sirius watched her with a sympathetic but amused look in his grey eyes. He transfigured her book into a pillow, which she then screamed into, and went back to his food without a word. Peter and Remus followed his example, only they weren't all that amused; Peter was avoiding confrontation, Remus was thinking the situation over. Lily noticed the silence and lifted her head.

"I'd really appreciate it if you all didn't look at me like that."

"We're not looking at you like anything." Peter squeaked somewhat innocently.

"Yes, you are. I could feel the pity radiating into my back." Lily sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day. "Look, just because he's being an imbecilic prat, that doesn't mean I'm going to burst into tears or something." They all raised a doubtful eyebrow simultaneously.

"I'm fine. Thoroughly annoyed, but fine."

"Clearly. You were just reverting back to old insults. That's nothing to be concerned about." Remus said dryly.

"I'm serious." Sirius opened his mouth to contradict this statement, but she just continued speaking after rolling her eyes at him and standing up.

"I'm going to the library. I've run out of ideas and I'm done making a fool of myself. If you need me, I'll be wallowing in shame in the Potions section. They have thicker books."

"Wait, so you really do like him?" Sirius called to her retreating back.

Lily continued to walk as she told him her answer. "I wasn't exactly subtle about it, Sirius!"

When she had spent two and a half hours holed up in the library, Lily headed toward the History of Magic classroom a little early with a decidedly pinker forehead and a slight headache. After setting her stuff down, she slumped in her seat and waited for class to begin.

Ten minutes later, Remus slid into his seat next to Lily. They were silent until the beginning of class. It seemed like he was waiting for her to speak and then realized that that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Once Professor Binns started on his monotonous lectures, Remus turned towards Lily. She noticed that he looked quite determined to get something out of her. Paranoid and now blushing profusely, Lily busied herself by rummaging in her bag for a quill, an object that she already had out. She effectively wasted three whole minutes before she saw the piece of parchment sitting atop of her own. She didn't read it and pretended that she hadn't seen him or his note. Instead, she looked out the window with feigned interest, hands still in her bag. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Remus grab the parchment and write something else. He then set it on her hands, forcing her to respond. She was trapped. With yet another sigh, she read his note.

We need to talk.

I saw you look at this. Don't ignore me Lily.

She cringed at the flawless cursive and sheepishly looked to her left through her curtain of red curls. Remus was crossing his arms over his chest and waiting expectantly. She picked up the quill she was 'looking for' and jotted down a response.

Your handwriting is beautiful, you know that?

Remus smirked.

You're changing the subject.

I am not! You didn't set a subject. You just said we needed to talk. I believe that is what we are doing, Remus. Besides, your handwriting is beautiful, the only thing I like about mine is the way my g's are shaped.

Irrelevant comments on my handwriting aside, I wanted to talk about your situation.

I don't have a situation. I told you all earlier; I'm done making a fool of myself.

For someone who 'doesn't have a situation' you seemed to know exactly what I was referring to. Listen. We have a plan to make James stop being so dense.

At this point, I don't see how that is even remotely possible.

Lily, you have to give him a little more credit than that.

Remus, when I didn't want him to ask me out, he asked me every day, every single moment he could. Now, when I actually do want him to ask me, he thinks I'm joking! I basically told him to ask me this morning. Why should I give him more credit?

I think he's just afraid of another rejection.

That's rather pointless when I bluntly hinted that I liked him in front of all of Gryffindor. I've run out of flirting ideas. What else do you want me to do? Snog him the next time I see him?

Actually, that's what Sirius wanted you to do. I thought he made a fairly decent point.

Lily's eyes widened and she dropped her quill. She was wondering whether to send Remus to the Hospital Wing or not. She could not contain her words in writing any longer.

"Remus! Are you mad? I can't do that! I'm Head Girl, top of the class! It goes against all of my morals." Her voice was steadily getting hysterical and it was harder to keep it at a whisper. "Besides, what if he doesn't feel the same way anymore?" She gasped. "What if he never did and it was all a joke?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Lily. One, that's ridiculous; two, that's not -"

Lily was shaking her head profusely now. "No. I won't do it. It's too risky! It's completely mental! It -"

"Just might go the way you want it to? Lily, I understand your concerns, but that's not our pl -"

"Not to mention the fact that I'd be utterly humiliated if it didn't work out between us!"

"But Lily that's not - !"

Lily stopped her ranting to glare at him. "It's not what Remus? Spit it out already."

"If you stopped panicking for two seconds, you would know that that's not the plan we came up with!" Remus snapped.

There was a small awkward silence where Lily cleared her throat. "Oh. Right, I knew that . . . so what was the plan exactly?"

"Simple. Get him to ask you out." Remus began smirking deviously.

Lily quirked an eyebrow. "That doesn't exactly sound like a Marauder's plot to me, considering that's what I've been trying to do for months!"

His smirk widened. "That's not all of it. It gets much better."

She gulped. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just show up for dinner on time. Leave the rest up to us."

In the Great Hall at dinner, Lily could be found bouncing up and down in her seat. Whether it was from nerves or excitement or a mixture of the two, she didn't know. She had been perfectly calm at lunch. She supposed it was the nearness of the upcoming event that was making her antsy. James had asked her if anything was wrong four times already and dinner had only just been served. She could tell he was also suspicious of his friends. The Marauder's obviously had a hard time hiding things from each other. Sirius kept avoiding his eyes. Peter was twitching noticeably. Remus was buried in a book, hiding his face. Conversations were unnaturally short and James was clearly getting fed up with it.

"Alright you lot, what have you been planning?" He stared at each of them in turn, stopping at Sirius who would still not meet his eyes. "Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, Lily," His gaze shifted toward her. "I know you're up to something."

This accusation was met by a fervent head shaking from Peter, nose-to-book contact from Remus, and nonchalant whistling by Sirius. Lily was having a staring contest with her cutlery, feeling her face turn crimson. His eyes narrowed, spotting her as the weakest link. He leaned towards her. She froze.

"Just tell me Lils."

"There's nothing to tell." She was staring at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Liar."

"How so?"

"The shakiness of your dulcet tones deceives you. Couldn't keep a secret from me if you tried." He smirked.

She relaxed at his teasing voice. She could handle banter. "Good thing I'm not keeping any then."

"That wonderful blush begs to differ."

"Flattery will get you nowhere James." She started to smile.

"Seems to be working pretty well at the moment."

"I disagree."

"How so?" he mocked.

"You haven't figured anything out yet, and you're not going to anytime soon." she responded, grinning openly now.

"Tell me Evans!"

She laughed. "Evans now, is it? Well Potter, sorry to disappoint, but they haven't told me what they plan to do."

"So they are planning something then! And they're leaving me out of it? I'm hurt mates." James put on a mock frown.

Lily poured herself some pumpkin juice and took a small sip. "Of course they are, they're doing me a favor."

She frowned; that wasn't exactly what she had planned to say. Then she noticed Sirius, Remus and Peter start to grin vindictively. She swore under her breath and proceeded to panic. Oh bugger. Bugger, bugger, bugger! How did they get their hands on Veritaserum? I have to avoid this . . .

James raised an eyebrow at the boys, shook his head, and then proceeded to question Lily.

"And what favor would that be?"

Lily closed her eyes and pressed her lips into a tight line. Don't say it, don't say it . . .

"Something to make you less oblivious." She exhaled, that was technically true.

"Oblivious about what?" His eyebrow rose a bit higher.

It took all of her restraint to edit her answer before it flew out of her mouth. "You're making this extremely difficult for me."

"How? I'm just trying to figure out what is going on here." James was looking more confused by the second.

She lost her control. "You keep asking questions and I am forced to answer them because your bloody friends laced my pumpkin juice with Veritaserum!"

Lily gasped and flung her hands over her mouth. She didn't like the look she was getting from James. It went from shock, to the mischievous little smirk she used hate, but now adores. She looked over at Remus, who had a very smug air about him, accusingly.

"This was your idea."

Remus broke into a grin. "Yes. Yes, it was. Wormtail, Padfoot, would you care to explain?"

Peter let out a titter of laughter. "Certainly Moony! You see Lily, Remus had the brilliant idea to nick some of the Veritaserum from dear old Professor Slughorn's stores and slip it into your drink to make you tell James how you feel about him - " He had barely finished saying this before Sirius interrupted.

"I, of course, did all the dirty work, but I couldn't convince these two to name it Operation: S.O.B. Thus, The Prefect Effect was born!"

Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius and turned his head to look at James. He had been sitting quietly the whole time, smiling down at the table and sneaking glances at Lily, whose face was redder than her hair. Remus held out his hand to gesture towards her.

His face overly innocent, Remus asked James, "Prongs, I believe you may have some things to ask of Miss Evans?"

James' smirk returned, more prominent and mischievous than ever. "Why yes I do Moony."

Lily had debated fleeing the scene the entire time the boys were explaining, but she decided that she may as well stay put. After all, it was now or never wasn't it? So despite her massive blush, Lily squared her shoulders and looked James in the eye with a small smirk of her own.

"Go ahead then, Potter. Do your worst." she challenged.

James took a dramatic pause. "Hm. So many questions to choose from."

"Er, James, you have two minutes. If that." Remus cut in.

"Right, so I'll get straight to it then. Lily, what is your honest opinion of me?"

Lily's blush went a shade darker. "You're an extremely handsome bloke that never ceases to amaze me."

James' eyes widened a bit at that, but he continued firing off questions. "Have you ever actually hated me?"

"I'd say yes, but no, you just annoyed me." She smiled.

He smiled back. "Here's a tough one. What do you think . . . of my hair?"

A giggle passed Lily's lips. "I think it looks really soft and I've found it to be quite endearing as of late."

"Thirty seconds, give or take." Remus updated.

James gave him an exasperated look. "Got it."

"How much do you like me?"

Just as Lily's face returned to its normal shade, he made it go even darker red than before. "A lot more than you think."

James seemed to be steeling himself for his next, and final, question, while Lily felt the effects of the potion wear off. She was rather surprised at this development. She might have dreaded his questions at first, but it didn't feel like she was being forced to answer them. Maybe she chose to tell the truth herself.

"Lily, what would you say if I asked you to go to Hogsmeade with me next trip?" he asked.

Lily's lips twitched and she was holding in laughter, James looked like he was panicking.

"I'd say it's about time."

A/N: I started writing this sometime in or before January and I had put it off for months. I promised myself that I would get it written before the end of Jily October and I still have an hour to spare. :]

I will now allow myself to publish the two other stories I have that I finished before this one.

Review?