James, Sirius, Remus and Peter stood in a circle beside the Great Oak (Hogwarts' oldest tree), gazing at the lovely specimen that was Lily Evans. Carefree and feeling mischievous, they took turns looking through Sirius' old pair of Omnioculars from a professional Quidditch match, the previous year's World Cup, in fact. As Sirius was the only Marauder wealthy enough to attend, he enjoyed holding it over his friends' heads. Fortunately, now the Omnioculars were being used for a greater purpose than identifying Quidditch moves.
Lily was seated with her friends by the Lake, facing away from her enraptured admirers, her auburn hair being teased into windswept waves and glistening in the afternoon sunlight.
"Brilliant," remarked Remus thoughtfully.
"Kind of a smarmy one, though," interjected Sirius. He grabbed the Omnioculars from Remus and twirled the neck strap around his hand, clockwise, then counterclockwise.
"Oh, shut it," said James, taking back the cord from his friend's wrist and putting the Omnioculars to his eyes, whistling slowly. "She's gorgeous."
"And sadly unattainable," finished Peter glumly. He didn't even bother to take another glance at their mutual crush, but slumped to the grass with his back to the oak, sadly.
"No, just you wait," replied James, determined. "She's going to turn on to me, eventually."
The afternoon dragged on, as Saturday afternoons often do when nothing in particular is going on. It was just the way the Marauders liked it, a day with the potential for endless pranking possibilities. However, most of them were absorbed in mindless tasks.
Remus, for one, sat doing homework, but closed his book every minute to talk to the others and scarcely turned one page in two hours. Peter argued with him about the existence of a 'banana peel' charm until James told them he would throw Moony's textbooks in the Lake if they kept talking about schoolwork. They obliged. None wanted to even think about the N.E.W.T exams they would be forced to take in only half a year.
As autumn leaves fell, floating down from the highest branches when the wind caught them just on the edge of release, Sirius levitated them back to their original positions and the others laughed when dozens came down at a time, falling flat on his face and preventing him from saving any. James smirked.
"Nice miss, Padfoot," he teased, turning away from the Lake to watch Sirius's mishap.
"You're the one with your eyes glued to Evans, I wouldn't talk," replied Sirius. Remus laughed out loud and Peter snickered into his fist.
For Sirius was right, James had spent nearly the entire afternoon gazing through the Omnioculars at Lily. He seemed to be quite fond of her, more than any of the other, whose infatuation with the Muggle-born was little more than a childish crush. But James spent so much time showing off in front of her and watching her do practically everything that it was obvious what he truly felt. More the pity that Lily didn't seem to return his feelings.
"You know what," James said, breaking the momentary silence. "I'm going to go talk to Miss Evans." Confidantly he looked through the Omnioculars one more time, then strode over to where Lily was seated. The girls talking to each other around her fell silent and looked at each other, whispering worried thoughts. the other Marauders had followed James reluctantly, and appeared behind him, making him seem bigger stronger, and cooler.
"Hello," James said, announcing his presence to Lily. She started, closing her books and dropping her quill onto the grass. She had been working on a Transfiguration paper, and was so engrossed she was completely surprised by their arrival.
"You should've been a Ravenclaw, Lily-flower," he told her, "With all that studying you do."
Lily frowned and looked up at the voice. Seeing it was James, she immediately leapt up and started waving her finger at him, poking his chest, hard. She practically despised Potter, for all his tricks and immature behavior.
"Don't you dare call me that, James Potter!" she yelled fiercely. "You may be able to get away with childish tricks and the like but you'd better get off your high horse because you're no better than the rest of us, hear me?!"
Remus thought she had made herself quite understood. James, surprised by the outburst, held up his hands, attempting to placate her. Peter personally felt that they had it coming to them.
"Whoa there. Calm down. At least I haven't called you names like the ones Snivellus here did," James said, pointing at Snape, who had appeared behind Lily, ready to defend her. "Remember?"
Sirius hid a chuckle. Lily glowered.
"At least he just said it! You mix in name calling with everyday things and I don't know what to think! Just, leave me alone, all of you!" she cried, grabbing her school books and running towards the castle. Then halfway, there, she started to walk stiffly and with dignity instead. Alarmed, her friends glared at the Marauders and followed her inside, away from the Great Oak.
"It's all right, Prongs," said Peter, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder consolingly. "She'll warm up to you eventually."
But James wasn't so sure. Handing the then-forgotten Omnioculars back to Sirius, he stepped away from the tree and walked not to the castle, but to the Lake. He needed some time to think. Alone.