Summary: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single young Wizard in possession of both great talent and a large fortune must be in want of a girlfriend. Fusion fic between Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is copyright by J.K. Rowling; I believe that Pride and Prejudice is no longer a copyright being as so much time has passed.

Introduction: This is one of my more bizzare conceptions. I thought it up one day while at work in the summer of 2003. I had little to do beyond sit there, so I started scribbling ideas in a notepad. A big fan of what I understand are termed 'MWPP' or 'Marauders' fics that include Lily and James pairings, I have read many a fic playing up the 'love-hate' angle between those two. As I am also a fan of Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice in particular, it was probably only a matter of time before I pondered the combination of these two stories.

Pondering became scribbling (as I mentioned before), and scribbling became actual formations of sentences and paragraphs. I had a beginning to this by late August, but put it aside in favour of schoolwork and two other stories. I make no promises that the updates for this will be frequent. I still favour the two other stories. But I thought I'd put it up here just to get it on file.

As this is going to be a telling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice taking place at Hogwarts (as I hope you gathered from the title), in order to make it work, this fusion makes one major assumption: It is written outside of canon. How? Various ways, but three in particular:

Firstly, there is not so great a rivalry between the houses. Friendly rivalry, yes. Blatent hatred, no. Slytherin being considered the 'evil' and 'no-good-wizard-would-want-to-be-in-this-House' House will not be conceptualized until after Voldemort is defeated by Baby Harry.

Secondly, a certain group of people will not enroll at Hogwarts until a later date. This group is none other than the Marauders (this is when you all should cheer with wild abandon). Why this is the case is revealed in the story. ... Actually, if you know Pride and Prejudice at all, you might be able to figure it out on your own.

Finally, though this isn't quite as much a point of change as it is an fyi, while P&P was a novel before it was a film, I am taking some of the physical descriptions of otherwise un-identified characters from the BBC/A&E film version of 1996. Mainly those of the 'Jane Bennet' and 'Charlotte Lucas' characters. Lily is a cross between the original description in HP (brief though it is) with the portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet. As I am more familiar with the film version than the actual novel (only read it twice... seen the film oodles of times), some things may be more true to the film instead of the book. But this is not a transcription of the novel/screenplay substituting 'Lily' for 'Lizzie', merely a strange fusion I pondered up one afternoon.

If you have neither read nor watched P&P, I suggest you do so before reading this fic. It will likely make a little more sense as to why the changes made have been made.

Acknowledgements:

Firstly Anja, who informed me of the term 'Fusion Fic' in the first place.

Also Bree, who, in addition to Anja, did not look at me as though I had lost my mind when I spoke of the idea, choosing to see what I'd make of it before passing the 'that will never work' or 'that just shouldn't be done' judgement.

Finally, The Derbyshire Writer's Guild, which will not allow a posting of this due to the rules about works by authors other than Austen but had filled many of my melancholic days with cheer by providing a MASSIVE archive of some of the best fanfiction I have ever read -- and most of it of the P&P bent. Huzzah!