Victoria Concordia Crescit
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything you recognise.
1. In the beginning
It's a glorious spring day in '77 when it happens.
At the usual magnificent feast that is breakfast at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, one simple, innocuous event changes the fate of Wizarding Britain forever. A straightforward answer to a straightforward question, with ramifications for generations to come.
"Lily, would you do me the pleasure of accompanying me to Hogsmeade next weekend?"
A faint blush, a quick flash of a grin and a reply.
"Of course. I'd love to."
A matching grin, this one lasting slightly longer. "Great. It's a date then."
Emerald green eyes meet sapphire blue, one last exchange of quick smiles and he leaves. Lily Evans turns back towards the Gryffindor table, unable to stop the pleased little smile that has taken up residence on her face.
Beside her, Marlene McKinnon's jaw is loosely hanging slightly open. Lily pretends not to notice her best friend's rather unattractive facial expression, instead focusing her concentration on lightly buttering her toast, just how she likes it.
"Lily. I don't mean to be crude, but I'm going to be." Good old Marlene, always straight-up with what she's thinking. "Rudy fucking Menzies just asked you to Hogsmeade, oh my god you jammy bitch he is so stupidly fucking good looking."
The words tumble out in a rush, picking up speed towards the end the way Marlene's words always do when she's excited.
"Thanks, Marlene. I hadn't noticed," is the demure reply, finished with a hearty crunch as Lily bites into her toast. Outside she looks every inch calmness personified. Inside, she feels as though a particularly cheery leprechaun is putting on a rendition of Riverdance, complete with Irish jig.
Rudy Menzies is indeed "stupidly fucking good looking". Tall and handsome, he exudes a quiet confidence and grace that comes with being born into aristocracy. With stylishly messy dark hair that rather reminds her of Paul McCartney, his startlingly clear blue eyes had been declared the nicest owned by a boy at Hogwarts by Lily and her dormmates last year during a particularly giggly all-nighter.
It's not just his physical attributes that attract her to Rudy. She had gotten to know him during their prefect rounds together last year, as the two were often paired up to patrol. Intelligent without being overly studious, he was always quick with a joke, able to make her laugh with his goofy sense of humour and easy-going nature.
And now he had asked her to Hogsmeade. What should she wear? Should she look like she was making a special effort, or would that scare him? He had said it was a date, but-
"How fucking excited are you?! I am so jealous of you, those eyes," Marlene brusquely interrupts Lily's inner monologue with her characteristic excited tone and favourite swearword.
Lily had once asked Marlene why she loved the word fuck the way she did.
"Because it rolls so nicely off the tongue. Look; fuck, fuck, fucking, fuuuuuck. And it's a fantastically versatile word. Put it anywhere in a sentence, it works perfectly. It's the bacon of the English language."
Bacon and the word fuck were two of Marlene's favourite things in the world. Lily often wondered why her best friend refused to admit her obvious compatibility with Sirius Black, who shared these characteristics with her.
"Yes, he does have lovely eyes," Lily grins, allowing herself a delighted giggle as the realisation that she's going to Hogsmeade with Rudy fucking Menzies properly sinks in. How lovely.
There's just one issue. The elephant in the room, as it were.
Marlene broaches the subject first. "What about James? He'll be crushed."
"That's not my fault, Marl. I've told Potter a thousand times how I feel about him."
Always Potter, never James.
"That's true." Marlene chews at her lip, as if debating her next words. "Fuck. Well, it's his own fault really. Karma, you could say."
"I just hope that he leaves Rudy alone. You know what he's like." Lily shares a dark look with Marlene, picking up her cup of tea to sip.
It had been her third year when boys had stopped thinking that girls were stupid and begun to notice little Lily Evans was becoming rather pretty. It had been near the end of fourth year, when yet another boy had inexplicably begun to ignore her after asking her to Hogsmeade, that she had finally figured it out. Potter and his mates – mainly Black – had hexed the life out of anyone who had dared to approach "James' girl".
By fifth year, the young wizards of Hogwarts had figured out that Lily Evans was strictly Off Limits and steered well clear. If Potter scared off Rudy, she was unsure if she'd ever be able to talk to him again.
And then Marlene says the words that scare her more than Potter's reaction ever could.
"Oh my god, you have to let me style you this is going to be so great you are going to look fucking amazing!"
"Fuck," she thinks.
"So she's?"
"Yep."
"With him?"
"Mm-hmm."
"And it's definitely?"
"Afraid so."
"And there's no way?"
"Looks unlikely. Sorry mate."
"Bugger."
James lies back on his four-poster bed, staring up at the crimson ceiling of his dormitory.
Of all the people Lily could go to Hogsmeade with, Menzies was one of the worst. Not because he was a bad person or anything; James actually got on quite well with the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain.
Quite the opposite, in fact. Rudy was one of the nicest people James had ever met. He had never heard anyone say a bad word about him.
It was almost worse than if she had agreed to go with Snape; at least James could hate Snape and justify it. But if he followed his usual method operandi and hexed Menzies into a quivering heap, not only would Lily hate him, but he would feel like an utter heel.
Remus Lupin breaks the somewhat uneasy silence that has descended over the dorm.
"Are you going to hex him?" he asks, with a rather weary tone. As the nominal authority figure in the group, Remus often struggled to balance the responsibilities of his badge with the behaviour of his friends.
James ponders the question a moment, but he already knows the answer.
"No, I'm not."
"Oh good, because I'd feel like a proper bastard if we did. I'd support you mate, but Menzies is a fucking top bloke," chimes in Padfoot.
"I know. I almost wish he was an arsehole," James replies, being met with nods from all three.
Directly across the room, little Peter Pettigrew is at the desk, scribbling away furiously in an attempt to finish a forgotten Charms essay due first thing in the morning. "What are you going to do about it?" he asks, without looking up.
This is the question James doesn't want to answer, because he knows what it means.
He's evidently silent a moment too long, as his fellow Marauders concentrate all their attentions upon him, the dorm falling silent as Peter stops scratching away at his parchment momentarily.
Finally, he answers. "Nothing. I'm going to do nothing." He hesitates a further second, letting the others know that this is a Momentous Decision. "I'm going to move on."
James Potter is officially trying to get over Lily Evans.
The silence is deafening, until Sirius breaks it with a stunned noise.
"Fuck, Prongs."
So, it's springtime in Fifth Year and Lily's got a date with the delectable Rudy Menzies. James is moving on – or so he says. Will he be able to stick to his decision? Find out next time, only on Victoria Concordia Crescit.
I hope you like this. It's my first attempt at anything other than a oneshot and I hope I manage to stick to it. Feel free to let me know if you're intrigued, interested or incapable of giving a damn about this story.