(Disclaimer; I own nada that you recognise, and probably also nothing that you don't. In fact, I own nothing but my mind which is entirely my own *grin*)
Hi; just a quick author's note, this is my first posted fanfiction but I've written a lot of my own. Posting may be sporadic (I love that word!) as I go to a boarding school and the school computers block ff.net (I know; sacrilege!).
So. Posts at home, no posts at school. Got it? Don't flame me for this, if you must yell at someone yell at my school admin for not giving me more holidays.
If you want to mail me for some obscure reason, the email on my bio is my school email. My hotmail is shplat101@hotmail.com.
If you come across any odd formatting, it's because I originally wrote this with _this_ as italics…heh…
::This:: is thought; ::(This):: is a dream.
Hmm, she thinks. Shall I stop babbling and get on with the story already? Yeah, ok.
"So, um…can you…I mean, uh, would you…oh, shit…" muttered James Potter, with feeling. He was making his third and final attempt at asking out the girl of his dreams, and things were not going quite to plan. He gave up finally and rather resignedly, noting with appreciation Lily's efforts to hide her grin.
"I'd love to come to Hogsmeade with you tomorrow." James' head jerked up. She'd saved him having to ask! He could have kissed her…only she might object to that, he thought ruefully, seeing as they hadn't even been on their first date yet.
She was looking at him quizzically, obviously expecting a reaction. He gathered his scattered senses and replied, "Ok…um, great…see you tomorrow then!"
He nearly stumbled on the bottom step of the dormitory stairs, because the urge to look back at her had become overwhelming. Lily stifled a giggle; he ducked his head, blushing, and carried on walking.
Safe in his dormitory, he rested his head against the cool oak of the door and breathed a sigh of relief. That was over.
"You ok mate?" came the voice of Sirius Black from behind the closed curtains of his four-poster. James stuck his head inquisitively through the gap between them to find his three greatest friends; Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, gathered around the greatest invention in history (in their opinion) – The Marauder's Map.
"We're just finishing," Remus informed him, flushed with suppressed excitement. "Look – tap it and say the password."
James obeyed, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The words made him think of Lily for some reason, and he had to fight to keep a grin of triumph from spreading over his face.
Sirius threw the Map carelessly aside, much to Remus' horror, and turned businesslike to James. "Right, what's going on, Prongs? You've got that look on your face again," he accused. Not wanting to spoil the Map's glorious debut, James shook his head and motioned for Remus to carry on.
Nothing could have been more guaranteed to shift their attention solidly from the map to him – three pairs of eyes gleamed, three fascinated faces turned towards him, and their victory lay discarded on the floor. James gave up for the second time that day. "Ok Sirius, I can't go to Hogsmeade with you tomorrow."
"Is that all?" Sirius looked scandalised. James held up a hand.
"Because…I'm going with Lily Evans."
There was an awed silence. "Like, on a date?" asked Peter finally.
James lost patience. "No Wormtail, because she wants a new quill," he snapped.
Sirius grinned his lazy grin. "Congratulations mate! I thought you'd given up on her."
"Well I had, but…the situation arose, and there it is." James was certainly not about to let on that he had been too tongue-tied to ask her himself.
Diary,
Today was worse than usual. Lindsay tripped me up as I was coming out of Charms and my books spilt all over the floor; I was so late for Transfiguration McGonagall took twenty points from Gryffindor and then in Care of Magical Creatures, Lindsay and her friend Jessica got me in the back with a Stinging Hex and I screamed really loudly, then Professor Kettleburn took another twenty points, so now the whole House is mad at me for losing them forty points, and none of this is my fault! At least it'll all be over in a week. Tenth of July – the end of term. I'm counting the days in this diary.
Not that home's any better…
Now they're saying…something about how I never get them points anyway…the usual stuff. I try not to let it get to me too much, I try so hard to ignore them, but sometimes I snap. I get up, scream that its' not my fault no one knew about me, that I was forgotten, that I didn't get my letter until six months ago…five years late…
Now I'm trying to squeeze five years' worth of learning into three terms. I didn't have the time to make friends at the beginning – I've got even less of a chance now.
Sick of complaining. Going to bed.
'Night.
Tulah
James lay on his bed staring up at the darkened ceiling. It was midnight and, as he had just finished telling Sirius, his date with Lily had gone better than he could have dreamed. "You kissed her?" Sirius had gaped. "On the first date? Isn't that a bit extreme?"
James was giving the matter careful consideration. ::Of course it wasn't too extreme! She kissed me back, didn't she? Didn't she??::
"Sirius?"
The mop of black hair sticking out of the bed next to his made no reply.
"Sirius!"
"Aagh…?" Sirius sat up and looked around. James rolled his eyes; Sirius narrowed his in a death-glare. "You're going to rot in hell for this, Prongs."
James grinned unrepentantly. "Now that you're up-" he paused in order to dodge the pillow Sirius had hurled - with deadly accuracy - at his head. "Now that you're up, I want to go see Lily. Are you in?"
Sirius sat very still for a moment. He wanted to come with James – but there was one small dilemma. James read it in his friend's eyes before Sirius even spoke. "Lindsay'll be there, right?" Sirius' face was full of pain. James said nothing.
Sirius was in love. To the rest of the Marauders' anger, the object of his adoration – Lindsay Kerry, James' least favourite person in the whole house – did not return his affections…or at least, not to the point where she would allow either them to commit to a steady relationship. James watched his friend's bemusement with mounting fury as Lindsay let him get so far, and then backed right off again. At first James had been tolerant, certain that Lindsay was just…well…shy. Then it occurred to him that the most popular and sought-after girl in the school was hardly likely to be shy. After that, the penny had finally dropped.
She was playing with him, James thought in disgust for the hundredth time. She was acting like Padfoot was an interesting toy, and his friend was taking it as a compliment. James fumed silently, so taken up in his own emotions he didn't notice that Sirius had come to a decision.
"Prongs? Helloo? Earth to Prongs?" Sirius waved a hand hopefully in front of James' eyes. James came back to earth with a thump.
"Yup sorry, let's go." He threw the Invisibility Cloak over them both and they left the dorm, walking in practised silence.
It was a well known fact that if you tried to walk up the stairs to the girls' dorms (and didn't possess the required degree of femininity) they turned into a slide; good entertainment on a rainy day, but a little inconvenient if you wanted to visit your girlfriend in the dead of night.
Fortunately, being the Marauders, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had figured out the solution to this small setback years ago and were quick to use it to their advantage. "Levitatus," James muttered, dimly hearing Sirius do the same; both boys rose about six inches into the air and floated noiselessly up the stairs.
Sirius watched James cross the floor to Lily's bed; the look on her face as he bent over her tugged at his heart. He tried not to look at Lindsay, but she called, "Sirius? You must be freezing! Come in here."
::Subtle, Lindsay, subtle…:: he thought wearily, sitting down gingerly on the edge of her bed all the same.
"Padfoot, we're going down to the common room for some privacy," James said quietly. The slight emphasis on the last word was enough to stop Sirius shouting, "No, don't leave me!" and before he could think of a better protest they had gone. Far too late, he realised that he couldn't now get back through the common room without disturbing his friends' peace…something for which James would quite possibly never forgive him.
"Why do your friends call you Padfoot?" asked Lindsay.
His mind elsewhere, Sirius fumbled for an answer. "Uh…because I have…hard feet. You know…Pad, foot."
::Wonderful, Sirius. Masterly cover-up there.::
"Oh. Well…I have very soft feet." She ran one up his leg to demonstrate. Sirius surrendered to her and lay back on the bed, enjoying the familiar feel of her fingers running through his hair, and of her mouth curving into a smile against his.
"Guys?"
Sirius ignored the voice, instead choosing to slip an exploratory hand up Lindsay's top.
"SIRIUS BLACK, LISTEN TO ME OR I'LL HEX YOU TO OBLIVION!" screamed one of Lily's friends. He turned over lazily.
"Uh-huh?'
"What was I gonna say? Oh, that was it…can you guys please make out somewhere where we can't hear you?"
"Yeah," added someone else. "Get a room."
"But the common room's taken," Lindsay complained. Sirius, while never opposed to a little making out, didn't particularly want to piss off everyone else in the dorm. With a sigh he sat up and ran a hand through his mussed hair.
Lindsay let out a tiny, disappointed sound.
He turned away from her crossly, solidly ignoring her mutters of displeasure, and fixed his eyes instead on the bed in the furthest corner. All he could see of its occupant was a small lump. As he watched, amused – how could anyone curl up so small? – the lump shook slightly. Straining his ears, he thought he heard a quiet sob. Not so amused now Sirius said, "Who's crying?"
Silence.
"Lins, whose bed is that?"
"That? Oh, that's Tulah Page. You don't want to talk to her," replied Lindsay, her tone implying exactly who Sirius did want to talk to.
"I think I do, actually," Sirius told her politely. He remembered Tulah; the shy girl who'd only just started at Hogwarts. He got up and crossed the room to sit on the bed in the corner. Gently, he tried to pull back the duvet; it was yanked out of his hands and dragged even further up over its owner's head. Sirius shrugged, got up, took one step away…and pounced. He tugged sharply on the end of the duvet, which flew off the bed and into his hands.
Lindsay gave a mortified scream.
The owner of the duvet let out a whimper of protest, which turned into a sob; Sirius was debating what to do next when the door flew open.
Professor McGonagall stood framed in the doorway.
Without stopping to think, Sirius threw himself onto Tulah's bed and pulled the duvet up over them both.
It was only when it was too late that he realised he could have hidden under the bed…
He was facing Tulah, and he took the opportunity to get a good look at her. Dirty-blonde hair framed bloodshot blue eyes and tearstained cheeks. She sniffed loudly, glaring mistrustfully at him.
"What on earth is going on in here?" Professor McGonagall shrieked. "Miss Kerry, I heard you shouting down in my office! What do you think you're playing at?"
Sirius ignored the rest of the tirade; he was too worried that Tulah would make him get out of her bed and McGonagall would find him. Not that he minded another detention; he had reached a record, and he was beating James by three and Remus (an incurable good boy) by twenty.
Still, maybe it was better not to get expelled or anything, especially in the last few weeks of term.
"Sorry," he mouthed apologetically at Tulah. Instead of replying, she stared at him blankly as though she hadn't heard.
McGonagall left, having first shouted herself hoarse, and Sirius threw off the duvet.
Lindsay sniffed. "Great, Page," she said nastily. "Thanks for not owning up. You lost us another ten points, you stupid cow."
Tulah's lips tightened and her eyes filled with tears once more.
"That's not fair Lins," Sirius protested. "It was you that screamed."
Lindsay's whole manner changed. "Oh, Sirius! I forgot you were here! Are you coming back to my bed now?" She patted the sheet invitingly.
Sirius shook his head, feeling unsettlingly like a petulant toddler. "No."
"But Tulah stinks!" wailed Lindsay, sounding like a two-year-old herself.
Sirius sniffed. There was a strange smell, but it was also kind of familiar…
"Who dropped the dungbombs?" he asked Tulah with a grin. To his surprise she smiled back, a tiny, shy twitch of her mouth.
::So there's a person in there somewhere!::
"No-one in particular," she replied with a sidelong glance at Lindsay, who snorted derisively and turned to talk to her friend.
Diary,
…It was so weird! I mean why would Sirius Black, James Potter's best friend, practically going out with Lindsay Kerry, want to talk to me???
But we did talk, for hours, long after everyone had gone to sleep…
"God, so you have a pretty shitty time here then," said Sirius.
"Yeah, all in all…"
"You know…about that whole extra classes thing? Well, we could, you know, tutor you if you like?" Before Tulah could say anything, he carried right on, "I mean, we could ask McGonagall, I'm sure it would be ok…at least you'd be with people your own age."
"Slow down!," giggled Tulah, who had opened up quite a bit since the others had gone to sleep. "Who could teach me?"
"Well, us. The Marauders," Sirius explained. "James is a Transfiguration ace, Lily's good at Charms and Potions, Remus likes boring things like History of Magic and stuff…and I'm not bad at Defence Against the Dark Arts," he concluded modestly.
Tulah's head was spinning. The Marauders, teach her? She'd never hear the end of it, especially from Lindsay.
She summoned her courage and shook her head. "No thanks," she heard herself say. "I'm better off alone."
…I couldn't say yes, could I? And yet, saying no, I got the impression that I was turning down the opportunity of having friends for the first time in years. Who knows, maybe I'd even have fitted in with them? They always seemed ok…kind of goofy, but ok.
Guess I'll never know, huh?
Just you and me again….
Tulah was sitting by the lake, having finished writing for the day: her chin was resting on her hand, and she was thinking hard.
A loud bark echoed across the grounds; she looked up just in time to see an enormous black dog bounding towards her. It licked her face enthusiastically and she stumbled to her feet, giggling, to stop it from suffocating her.
She dug her fingers into the coarse fur at the base of his neck. "What are you doing here, huh? No dogs allowed, you know."
The dog looked up at her with appealing eyes and whined glumly. She laughed. "Don't worry, I won't tell. I'm hiding out too, you know. Should be in Transfiguration. Only last time I went in there, Lindsay tried to turn me into a rat."
The dog let out another bark, which sounded suspiciously like a laugh. She gave it a shove, which had no effect whatsoever. "Not funny!" she complained.
::But looking back on it, it was kind of funny:: she thought, surprised.
A bell rang up at the castle to signal the end of classes; the dog looked up, wagged his tail in farewell and trotted away towards the forest.
Diary,
…The dog comes to see me the whole time now; whenever I'm on my own he seems to turn up, tail wagging, to make me laugh by trying to lick my face off or eat my books.
Everything else is the same, though. There's the Summer Ball tonight; no one's asked me, of course. I'll go alone and then have an early night.
Oh yeah, something weird did happen this afternoon…
As he was coming out of the front doors, James was gobsmacked to see Sirius, in dog form, bounding around someone's feet.
Someone who proved, on closer inspection, to be Tulah Page (known to most of Gryffindor House as either 'the shy one' or 'that loser').
"Um, excuse me?" James felt a little awkward interrupting, especially as the girl was obviously embarrassed at being spoken to.
Lily caught up with him. "Hey!" she smiled…then stopped. "Wait…isn't that…?"
James willed her to keep quiet. His mind was trying to work.
"Yeah…Page, did you know that's my dog?"
Lily snorted; he kicked her surreptitiously. Tulah looked from one to the other, mystified. "Really?" she said noncommittally. "What's his name? Where d'you keep him?"
"Um…his name's, uh, Padfoot." He had to kick Lily again, because her giggles were overcoming her.
"He just kind of wanders round really," James continued, getting into his story. "I got him here by-" he was cut off by a shriek from Lily; Padfoot had stuffed his nose enthusiastically between her legs. Lily shoved him away, laughing. "Cheeky!"
James, however, didn't seem to think it was funny. He was looking daggers at Padfoot and Lily, noticing, said hurriedly, "He didn't mean it." James coughed ostentatiously and glanced sideways at Tulah, who didn't have a clue what was going on.
Lily seemed to get the message; she said, "Bye Tulah!" and began to leave.
"See you around, Page," called James over his shoulder as they walked off arm in arm.
"Padfoot!" bellowed James, striding into their dorm with murder in his eyes.
Sirius tried, and failed, to look innocent. "Um…" He opened his mouth and waited for an excuse to pop out, but nothing came.
"I. Told. You." James displayed enviable control.
Sirius gulped.
"I told you"" James repeated. "I warned you about this. You don't change in public!"
Sirius cowered. "I'm sorry Prongs," he muttered. "She was just…she looked like she could do with cheering up."
James managed to stay serious for ten whole seconds after Sirius had said this, and then he cracked.
"Y-youuu?" he howled. "Ch-cheer someone up?"
Sirius started to smile, then laugh. "Well I didn't do too badly did I?" he said defensively. "She did cheer up."
"Riiiight."
"Right!"
"Oh, and Padfoot? Watch where you put your nose next time…"