Written for Season 4 of the QLFC, Round 2.
Title: What Could Be
Team: Wigtown Wanderers
Team Subject: Transfiguration
Position: Chaser 2
Prompt: Write about someone trying to master (an aspect or the entirety of) the subject.
Optional Prompts:
2. (dialogue) "This was the most fun I've ever had."
5. (quote) 'I want to see and understand the world outside.' - Eren Jaeger, Attack On Titan.
10. (dialogue) "You won't need any sun cream; it's not even that sunny!"
Word Count: 2,450
Beta: Crazy Rope Dragon (Thank you!)
The Hogwarts library was blissfully empty thanks to a bizarre Spring heat wave. Lily sat in the warmth pouring in from one of the windows. She was reading over a battered old piece of parchment, slightly upset at her inability to grasp the deeper content of the text. She knew there was more to understanding this aspect of Transfiguration than was written on the page. With Transfiguration there was always a lot of coordination involved, something which the books she'd found seemed to overlook.
Lily was not in the library that day because she was struggling in class, on the contrary, Transfiguration might have been her best subject after Charms. She was there because she had experienced a shift in her mastery of Charms not so long ago. When her friend Alice has asked her to explain herself, Lily had said that it was like becoming fluent in a language. She could understand it, communicate with the subject. Now that she had gained this new confidence with her Charm work, she was competing with herself to repeat the feat.
She sighed quietly with frustration. She had always studied and practiced Charms alone and it had been enough, but she was starting to wonder if she would ever be as capable at Transfiguration. Would she be able to surpass the limitations of the written word to reach the world beyond? Could she do it alone? The only person who might have anything to say about Transfiguration that she didn't already know was Potter, and that was out of the question.
Lily huffed with amusement at her own silliness. She was being daft. Was it really so important to master Transfiguration? She came top of the class in most projects. Shouldn't she just enjoy the good weather with her friends?
She rolled up the parchment and returned it to its correct place on the shelf. She headed for her dormitory in Gryffindor Tower to change into something better suited to the heat outside.
Alice was sprawled over her four-poster bed, flipping disinterestedly through an old issue of Which Witch magazine. When Lily wandered in, the light in the dorm was dimmed considerably as only one set of curtains was partially opened.
"All done with your war on Potter then?" Alice asked and Lily laughed.
"He doesn't own Transfiguration, my studying it has nothing to do with him." Lily took off her jumper and moved to change into a fresh shirt.
"And your sudden interest coinciding with him getting the highest make in our last assignment?" Alice asked, she continued to thumb through the glossy pages.
"Irrelevant, naturally." Lily refused to rise to the bait.
"Purely an academic pursuit then?"
"Which I have sort of abandoned. If I'm going to really master Transfiguration I have to let it happen naturally, like it did with Charms."
"Sure thing, number two." Alice outwardly ignored Lily's strange disinterest. Privately she was surprised, the redhead rarely dismissed a challenge after taking it on.
"I am not." Lily took a breath and relaxed her posture, "I am just as good as Potter, I just happen to be stronger on some aspects and he on others."
"He could help you then, couldn't he?" Alice raised an eyebrow.
"I told you, I'm happy at my current level. It's one of my best subjects as it is." Lily buttoned herself into the new shirt.
"Sure, James is probably only ahead of you because he's a pureblood anyway. I'd like to see him be as good as you are now, starting from scratch." Alice shrugged. Lily's internal conflict was visible.
"Can we please discuss something else? I don't like the idea of how happy Potter would be if he ever found out we were talking about him." Lily began to plait her hair. "Shouldn't you be enjoying the weather?"
"It's too crowded. You should ask Potter to tutor you."
"Alice!" Lily attempted to seem offended by the idea. "I don't care how useful it might be. He's unbearable."
"I don't know who you think you're fooling." Alice returned to her magazine. "Go now, and ask him."
"I can't go now, I have to.." Lily cast her eyes around the room, desperately looking for an excuse.
"Wash your hair?" Alice supplied. "Or do you have a better lame excuse?" Lily moved to her bedside locker. She opened the top drawer and began rifling through it.
"It's not an excuse. I can't go outside and find Potter. I would need sun cream, I burn just thinking about the sun," Alice waved a hand dismissively.
"You won't need any sun cream; it's not even that sunny!" Lily stopped rummaging and turned to look at her dorm mate. She pulled her wand from her pocket and waved it. All the drapes in the room flung open, flooding the stuffy room with blinding sunlight. Alice cried out and covered her eyes, rolling off the bed dramatically.
"Oh fine, you win. Potter and the sun are the two most terrifying natural substances in the known galaxy and it was cruel of me to suggest that you should face either," Alice announced from the floor. Lily squinted in the brightened room and smiled down at her friend.
"I'm not afraid of him, I'm just not that competitive." Lily bent to help the girl up.
"I'll believe that when I see it, come on. You love to put Potter in his place." Lily gave a mock gasp.
"I am not that petty!"
In under an hour Lily found herself stepping out of the castle, still conflicted about her decision. Alice may have been making fun of her but she was right. Lily couldn't just resign herself to the possibility of success. Success took determination. After all, she had thought about asking Potter before Alice had even suggested it.
The Hogwarts grounds were illuminated by the white light of the midday sun. The majority of the school's students had found themselves outside, enjoying the shift in the usually gloomy Scottish weather over the weekend.
"I could come up with a better plan… I heard that there is a potion that can change what language you speak," Sirius suggested, tugging up handfuls of grass. The four Marauders sat together by the lakeside.
"Permanently?" Remus asked, frowning.
"I don't see why it should matter whether it's permanent or not. I mean, the point is to cause trouble. The duration of the trouble is none of our-" Sirius was interrupted by an unmistakable shout.
"Potter?" James's head whipped around so fast that his neck cracked audibly.
"Never mind," Sirius announced. He flopped back down onto the grass as he saw Lily Evans stalking over, her flaming hair unmistakable. This pair were the only spectator sport which could compete with Quidditch in terms of entertainment value, and perhaps injury count.
"Can we talk?" Lily asked, keeping a considerable distance from the group.
"This is the single happiest moment of my life, did you know that?" James asked, and a smile spread across his face as he ruffled his hair. James was in the process of leaping to his feet when Lily seemed to think better of her actions.
"Oh Merlin, forget it." She adjusted the strap of her brown leather bag and turned to walk away. James pursued her immediately and Sirius had to resist the urge to follow them. The three remaining boys watched as James moved animated beside an increasingly tense Lily Evans.
James followed Lily all the way through the grounds into the entrance hall and was inwardly congratulating himself on making it this far without getting hexed. Lily had maintained a stern silence in the face of his pestering. She refused to give him the satisfaction. The moment she saw his face she knew the whole effort was to be in vain. No one as big-headed as Potter could possibly offer anything to the meeting of minds she was hoping for. They entered the castle together;
"Whatever it is you wanted to talk to me about I promise I can help. I'm a helpful fella, remember? Remember that time you told me that the only person who could help me was myself? Because there's no one as helpful right?" They continued toward Gryffindor Tower.
"Who said anything about me needing your help?" Lily broke her silence at last.
"Oh, so you just wanted to talk? About your feelings of undying love perhaps? Well, you can save your breath. The chemistry between us goes without saying." James was trying to lean closer to her but she didn't pause.
"How about you grow up?" she demanded. James only grinned at her.
"I don't hear you denying it." He winked and her nostrils flared.
"You arrogant toerag, you're disgusting." She doubled her pace.
"I'm sorry," he sighed. He was now slouching along beside her.
"It's fine," she grumbled, glancing at him.
"No, I blew it," he ran a hand through his dark hair and looked sullen. Lily stopped walking. James looked like someone had cast a freezing charm on him. She took a deep breath, swallowing her almighty pride.
"Transfiguration," she muttered.
"Transfiguration?" James repeated.
"I'm trying to improve."
"You're top of the class."
"Not in large animal to animal or human to animal," she grumbled and a grin split across his face.
"No, just in everything else." Suddenly her chin lifted;
"That's right. I booked out a classroom for practice, will you come with me?"
"Now?"
"Right now." His smile became impossibly wider. "And no funny business."
Once they stood together in the classroom James found it impossible to relax or concentrate on anything. He was so determined to impress Lily.
"I once turned Sirius into a lamp because he kept on going on about how he lit up the room. Did I ever tell you that?" Why was he telling this story? He actually really liked Transfiguration but that made no difference. He was bumbling and blabbering and she was losing interest faster than he was losing hope.
"I don't need help with human to object. I told you that."
"Oh I know, I've seen your wand work, if anyone had a chance of matching my skill it would be you," Lily was sitting behind a desk staring at an ink stain on the ground.
"Match you? I'm asking for some simple advice on the one thing I have yet to wholly surpass you on and you are struggling to provide it. I'm really wondering how you justify that big head of yours," the barb slipped from her mouth effortlessly and James was woebegone that she wasn't even invested in insulting him anymore. He tried to concentrate.
"Human to animal, did you say?" Lily actually looked at him then and he felt a little relieved.
"Yes and I'm not referring to your ability to turn into an insufferable pig at the drop of a hat." James cleared his throat and Lily cursed herself. "I'm sorry, uhm, James, go on."
"Right." James looked dumbfounded as he tried to speak, "well, uh, are you s-sort of.." he stuttered, trailing off. Using his first name might have been overkill.
"Calm down." Lily flicked her wand and James flinched. She had summoned two glasses of water. She gestured for him to take one.
"Right," he repeated, he took a sip, "are you a visual person?" James managed to ask. Lily was taken aback, either this was the lead into another crap pickup line or they might actually be getting somewhere.
"I'm actually more tactile. You know, touch?" Lily immediately regretted her choice of words, but she was relieved when James didn't say anything.
"Do you think that might make Transfiguration harder? The way you're always told to visualise the outcome?"
"Maybe."
"Well, I guess the best advice I could give you is to play to your strengths. If the clearest aspect to you is how something might uhm… feel," he wiggled an eyebrow at her and she gestured with her wand for him to continue, "sure, then that's what you need to focus on. You have to totally immerse yourself in the outcome. Forget what is, focus on uhm.. what could be. If the easiest thing for you to create in your mind is the sensation of whatever shape you are transfiguring something into, then work with that."
"You know, I think I just figured out why this is your best subject." Lily smiled at him.
"I have a strong imagination," he smiled, repeating MacGonagall's words. Lily wanted to say it was because he was totally and completely delusional. If letting go of reality is all it took to change the shape of something then James was bound to be a natural. He was actually being helpful however so she just nodded instead.
"Exactly," she replied, and James beamed. With minimal cajoling James actually found himself agreeing to stand on the firing end of Lily's wand. He'd spent the majority of his adolescence at her mercy anyway, so what difference did it make really?
Over the next hour James spent time as an ostrich, an armadillo and a cat. Lily cursed herself for cooing when he sauntered over to rub up against her leg but he was just so cute. For the most part Lily was intensely focused and almost professional but James was always laughing. He kept cracking jokes and trying to flirt with her as an ostrich. Lily hated to think that maybe he had the right to be a little big headed after all. He really could be charming.
"I think I might really be improving." The truth was that she had improved a lot, James really knew about this stuff.
"Speak for yourself, I think I still have some feathers," he mock grumbled, scratching what Lily hoped was a fake itch on his thigh.
"If you're being serious, you have to tell me. If I can't leave a subject the way I found it then I'm really not getting anywhere."
"I promise my skin is silky smooth, I can show you if you like," he unbuttoned his shirt collar and Lily turned away dramatically.
"Maybe next time," she joked and was instantly kicking herself. She was never going to hear the end of this, she waited for his undoubtedly ridiculous response.
"This is the most fun I've ever had," he told her and her eyes widened.
"Oh right, well thank you." His hazel eyes watched her earnestly, as she collected up her things, "I have to go. Thanks for your help."
"Anytime." He straightened his glasses. How do you walk away from James Potter without hexing him? Or at least calling him a toerag?
"Bye." She walked toward the door, just like that.