James Potter awoke at six o'clock two months after his eleventh birthday
very groggily. This day was also the day his friend's cousin was having
her 11th birthday party.
James couldn't wait for September 1. This day was going to be one of the best of his life: the beginning of his life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school where he would be going since he got accepted. And, since his mother and father were a witch and wizard, he had known he would be accepted ever since they first mentioned Hogwarts. His parents had never shut up about it as James had been growing up; telling him everything he needed to know about Hogwarts was something they refused to not do.
As James put on his clothes so he could go out and meet up with Remus and his other friend Sirius, the family house-elf (his family was rich) Moxby came up to him and asked what he fancied for breakfast.
"Something I can grab on the go," was all James replied, and Moxby left the room. James then put on his socks and ran down the staircase to find his parents awake and ready to give yet another lecture about running down the stairs.
"I know, sorry, but I'm in a rush, you didn't wake me up early enough!" said James to them, running into the kitchen to grab the food that was prepared for him (a sausage biscuit, eggs, and a hash brown) and left. Remus lived right down the street a block, so James was at his front door in five minutes. He had arrived just in time; Remus was getting into the car with Sirius right behind him.
"You're late, man!" said Sirius, giving his buddy a slap on the back. James grabbed his hand and they all said their 'hellos' before heading off.
"We have to pick up your friend Peter on our way over," said Remus' mother, turning onto White Willow Road.
"Okay," replied Remus as they arrived at Peter's house.
"What, the boy's too lazy to walk over to our house?" asked James as Peter walked out the door and to the car. James and Sirius squeezed together to allow for room for Peter.
"Hello Peter," said Remus' mother as she began driving towards the house where the birthday party was to be held.
"Whose house is this we are going to anyway?" asked James, and Remus responded.
"My cousin Vanessa. Sirius has met her already," he said, and Sirius blushed.
"That says a lot," said James sarcastically as the four laughed.
"Hey!" said Sirius. "I don't like her," he said, but James gave him the look of 'You know you do' and Sirius nodded.
"Don't worry, we won't make fun of you for it," said James, opening the roof. He stuck his head out of the roof and saw a very beautiful girl with ginger hair and green eyes walking on the sidewalk. His eyes stuck on her as if they were glued. She looked over at him, blushed, and then looked back at the ground. Remus' mother forgot the house number again, so he stopped the girl to ask her if she knew where Vanessa lived.
"Excuse me. I'm looking for Vanessa Finite. Do you happen to know where she lives?"
"Yes, um-" she replied, wondering what his name was.
"Remus Lupin," said Remus, smiling.
"Nice to meet you, Remus. Vanessa lives right here," said the girl, pointing to the house at the end of the street.
"Thanks, um-"
"Lily," said the girl. "Lily Evans."
"Thanks Lily. I'd better go, my cousin is expecting me," said Remus.
"Oh are you the one she is talking about?" asked Lily, giggling.
"What do you mean?"
"She told me to keep a lookout because a very forgetful boy and his mom would be arriving to her party soon," explained Lily.
"Oh. What relation are you to Vanessa? I've seen you here before and all, but normally I'm just talking to my friends," said Remus, as Lily looked on top of the car to see James, and then looked inside to see Sirius and Peter. Sirius' and James' eyes were all fixed on Lily.
"Vanessa and I are best friends," said Lily, staring at the immature boys in the back seat. "Are those your friends?" Lily asked, laughing as she pointed at Sirius and James, who were both sticking their heads out the roof.
"Them? Oh yeah. You'll meet them at the party," said Remus, grinning.
"Okay. I have to go and get changed anyway. See you in a few," said Lily, smiling and running towards her house. James' eyes followed her until they no longer could see beyond her door.
Remus got back into the car to find James, Sirius, and Peter laughing their heads off.
"What's so funny?" he asked them, and Peter immediately spoke his first words of the day.
"You were flirting with that girl! That Lily girl!" said Peter, continuing to laugh.
"So?" asked Remus, Sirius, and James simultaneously.
They turned their eyes upon each other.
"Wait, do you guys like her?" asked Remus, laughing.
"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" said James dreamily.
"Snap out of it man!" said Sirius, slapping James on the back. "And to answer your question Remus, no I do not. I admit she's pretty, but Vanessa is better," said Sirius, laughing.
As they got out of the car, Vanessa greeted them. She appeared to have been watching them talk to Lily, as the first thing she said after greeting them was "I see you've all met Lily, my best friend."
Yes, thought James, and you better not mind me having a crush on her, the beautiful girl. I wonder what she'd be like—
"Snap out of it!" said Sirius playfully, having seen James zone out like never before.
James tried to stifle a laugh, however was unsuccessful. The gang and Vanessa walked into the backyard and jumped into the pool after taking off the clothes that were on top of it. Just then, another girl showed up. She had short brown hair and was as thin as a toothpick. The first thing she said when she arrived was "The party is here!"
"No, the party can't start without Miss B-e-a-utiful," James found himself saying under his breath. He had never before fallen so deeply for a girl with just one vision of her. This girl, as far as he could tell, was different. She wasn't ordinary. And he knew this well.
Fifteen minutes later, Lily showed up in her bathing suit. She ran right over to Vanessa, who had kicked the short and toothpick-thin girl named Petunia out of the party right after she had arrived.
James' eyes wandered right over to her. She had ginger brown hair and lovely green eyes, and her hair, which was back in a ponytail right now, was down to her waist. James and Sirius walked over to Lily and Vanessa, who were in the middle of a conversation.
"Yeah, Sir--" said Vanessa, who had just seen Sirius and James walk over.
"What, now you're talking about me?" said Sirius in a joke-sort of way.
James' eyes were still upon Lily. She appeared to have noticed, because the next thing he heard was, "What are you looking at?"
Lily was looking at him. Feeling flattered, he figured he'd show off how great of a person he was. He jumped into the pool, however didn't know how to swim. He had figured, being a wizard, that he could save himself 'miraculously', however was unsuccessful. Remus jumped into the pool but James was running out of breath.
"Hang on a sec," said Lily, jumping in. She dove right under James and picked him up. Once he was above the water, he looked at her with grateful eyes. Remus was now treading water in the other end though, so she swam over to him. After pulling him out of the water, Sirius playfully said, "Little Miss Swimmer! Can you save me?"
James stared at Sirius as Vanessa held him back. "Do you know how to swim?"
"Yes, I was just joking," said Sirius, suddenly grabbing Vanessa and pushing her into the pool. Vanessa came up coughing; it was as if someone had tried to drown her but had been unsuccessful. Lily ran over to help her friend out of the pool, but then she too started laughing. At that very moment, an owl swooped down upon Vanessa and left a letter there. She, still shaking from the shock, walked aside with Lily, and James could have sworn he heard her whisper, "That was one of the best things of my life!" when Vanessa began opening the letter. Sirius came up from behind her and started reading it. James, with the look on Sirius' face, knew what that letter read.
"YOU'RE A WITCH!?" screamed both Sirius and James simultaneously.
"Potter, do you ever wonder why I don't want you here?"
"I didn't mean it--" said James, but was cut off by Lily.
"What is that about? It is her birthday, be nice to the girl."
"If you kiss me I will," said James as a joke. He didn't mean it badly; he meant it seriously of course. Lily looked at him as if he had five arms before responding.
"Why would I want to disgust myself?"
"Bad luck James," said Sirius, laughing. Vanessa followed suit.
"Why did you call Vanessa a witch?" she asked after calming herself from such an atrocious question.
"It's a bit of a--" James tried to respond before being cut off by Sirius.
"—Secret," finished Sirius, looking at Vanessa.
"One that a Muggle like yourself shouldn't know," Peter said, walking over.
"What's a Muggle?" asked Lily, and they all fell silent.
James could tell from the look on her face that she was feeling hurt. She stormed away without even grabbing her towel and began running down the street. Once out of the gate, James saw her begin to walk. Figuring that it was time with her away from Sirius to ruin the moment, he decided to follow her. However, Remus was ahead of him.
Suddenly, Lily turned around. Remus appeared to have called her, and the two of them stopped. Remus walked over to her and James snuck up, wanting to hear what they were saying.
"Are you okay?" Remus asked, clearly concerned.
"Yes, I think so. I just have never heard of a 'Muggle' before, so I don't know what it is," said Lily, and Remus nodded.
"It's not an insult; it's just a word some people use for non-magic people," said Remus, hoping Lily wouldn't question him further. However, at this definition, she looked at him strangely.
"But there's no such thing as magic people, according to my sister," said Lily. Her sister may have hated her, however she loved her all the same.
"Yes there is. Your friend just got accepted to a big school for her to learn magic, that's what the big fuss is over. James and Sirius didn't call her a witch rudely, they meant it seriously," explained Remus, and Lily flung her arms around him.
This was too much for James. Feeling quite upset that she didn't want to kiss him, even though he had meant it as a joke, he walked dejectedly back to the party. Lily looked back to see him walking back alone though, so she and Remus stood up and walked over to him. Remus kept walking and went back into the party, clearly completely excited, and, as James thought, who wouldn't have been? Queen of Beauty and Kindness had just hugged him!
Lily stared at James as if she was surveying him. "What, did you follow me too?" she asked, as if she had never seen a guy before.
"Um, yeah. Sorry," he said as he began to turn around, but Lily grabbed his arm.
"Sorry, I didn't think you had called Vanessa a witch as a compliment, I thought it was an insult," she said before letting go. He didn't run away though, he was trying to fix the words she spoke to him in his memory. This must have given him a bad eye fix though, because Lily moved her head to ask him what he was looking at.
"Sorry, zoned out a bit," he said, starting to walk back to the party. Lily followed him.
The two talked the whole way back. It turned out they had a lot in common. Upon their arrival back, they had cake. James couldn't stop thinking about Lily. Suddenly he saw the cake levitate and land itself upon the other girl that had been at the party, Petunia. Lily put her hands over her mouth. James stared at her.
"What was that?" they asked, excited.
"I don't know," said Lily truthfully.
James and his friends exchanged glances. Lily saw these and asked what was going on.
"Nothing," they all said, a bit quickly.
She questioned their honesty, however had to let it be. Ten minutes later, James and his crew had to leave.
"I'll see you later," said Vanessa to Lily as she too left. Remus hugged her before her departure and James wanted to, but resisted the temptation and just shook her hand.
"We'll see each other again soon, I think," said James, meaning it. Lily looked confused, however walked out all the same. James then went and said his goodbyes to Vanessa and let her in on the secret: that Lily was probably a witch too.
"Yes, she probably is. Her birthday is tomorrow though, so we'll find out then," replied Vanessa. Remus came over and told James that they had to leave though, and so they all left.
A week later was August 29. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all going to Diagon Alley on this day, and Remus said that Vanessa was going as well. When James asked him if Vanessa had mentioned Lily, Remus looked at him strangely.
"Why would you want to know?" he asked, and at the pained expression on James' face, Remus went on, "Yeah, we're meeting both her and Vanessa at the ice cream parlor."
James tried not to look too intrigued by this news. However, he had a problem hiding his real motive: to talk to her and possibly make his move.
At one o'clock, the marauders went to meet Lily and Vanessa. Sirius ran in and noticed immediately that all the chairs were set up for a diner--two per table. Sirius took the seat by Vanessa, who, James noticed, turned to Lily really happily and mouthed something looking rather like "OH MY GOD!" James then found Lily sitting in a corner, looking like she was buried in a book. Remus had started walking over to her already though, so he just held back. Lily must have said something to him though, as he walked away from the table rather dejectedly. James, seizing the opportunity, walked over to her and greeted her in a quite friendly manner.
"Hello, Lily," he said, and Lily's eyes stayed glued to her book. Lily, about five seconds later, asked him what he was doing there.
"I wanted to talk to you about something," he said, trying to gather up courage.
"Shoot," she said, flipping the page.
"Not here, I need to talk to you in private," he said, looking at Remus. Remus appeared to be questioning his sanity.
"It's private enough over here. Shoot," Lily repeated, turning the next page.
James looked at the book. "What is that about?" he asked, and Lily lifted the book to show him the cover.
"An Newbie's Guide to Basic Hexes. Having fun?" he asked mischievously, and Lily caught him.
"I have no intention of having fun. In the back of this book is how to reflect the hexes, and I need to know how to stop them from harming me," Lily explained, as another two boys accompanied by four girls stepped into the ice cream parlor.
One of the boys had greasy black hair, and, James noticed, seemed to have a keen eye out for Lily. The other boy had silver-bleach blonde hair, and appeared to be with someone that Sirius immediately recognized--
"Narcissa?" Sirius asked, and the girl that was holding hands with the blonde-haired boy turned around. The girl appeared to be named Narcissa, because she recognized Sirius immediately...
"My cousin, dear, how are you? I expect these are all your friends?" she asked Sirius, motioning to the rest of the room. Sirius nodded, and the girl leaned forward. James sent an Eavesdropping Charm across, so he heard what followed.
"Are any of them Mudbloods?" she asked him in a whisper, however James heard her loud and clear.
"No, they aren't. Well, the guys aren't. Vanessa and Lily are Muggle- born, but-"
"NO BUTS! No Mudbloods are to be related to us! Got that?" she told Sirius stubbornly, but he shook his head very clearly.
"Anyway," Narcissa continued, "this is Lucius Malfoy," she said, pointing to the boy with bleach-blonde hair, "and this is Severus Snape, his friend," she said, pointing to the boy with greasy hair.
James surveyed this Severus Snape man. He clearly never took a shower, and if he did he didn't show it at all. The boy seemed to have caught Lily's attention, for she picked up her book and walked outside the parlor.
James followed her. "What are you doing out here?" he asked.
"Trying to avoid everyone that is annoying me," she said, her nose now buried in The Complete Guide to Transfiguration.
"That guy over there seems to like you," said James, pointing to Snape.
"Well, you see, I'm not exactly interested in guys right now. There are more important things, including school and learning. I'll look over and read up on that stuff first," said Lily, putting her nose back in the book.
"Give it a break, woman! You'll do fine, the first week at Hogwarts no one does anything anyway," he said, and Lily looked at him. She was beautiful, even though she didn't have on any makeup. He opened his mouth to tell her to join his crew when Severus Snape walked out of the parlor and asked James to scoot over.
"I'm talking to Lily," said James, and Snape pulled out his wand. James followed suit, but Snape was too quick. The next moment James was on the floor, wriggling in pain.
Lily took out her wand and cast the only spell she knew so far on Snape.
"Tarotnam," said Lily, and suddenly Snape turned into a rat. James, now not having the wand pointing at him anymore, stood up, shaken. He hadn't expected an attack before he even went to Hogwarts! However, Lily, a first year like himself, already could do human transfiguration. That was not normal. That was the mark of a talented witch, because she must have taught herself how to do the spell, and most fifth years couldn't even do human transfiguration! James turned to Lily to thank her, but she was gone.
"Where'd she go?" he asked himself aloud as he left the rat version of Snape scurrying over to Lucius Malfoy.
On September 1st, James and his crew met up and got on the train in their own compartment. James saw Lily passing with Vanessa, and Remus opened up the door inviting them in. They looked at each other, shrugged, and they walked in.
James scooted over making room for Lily between himself and Remus, and Sirius moved over, making room for Vanessa next to him.
As Lily and Vanessa sat down, James blushed.
"Why are you going red man?" asked Sirius playfully, slapping James' face. Lily looked at him curiously and then took out her book again.
"What's that?" James asked Lily, grabbing the book. It was a novel by the author Stephen King, named Cycle of the Werewolf. Remus squirmed a bit in his seat then noticed James staring at him. He went back to curling up, and then James gave Lily back the book.
"Is it good?" he asked, and Lily nodded, going back to reading. Sirius then grabbed the book from her telling her "No reading in this compartment."
Lily snatched back her book, grabbed her stuff, and walked out of the train compartment.
"Does she talk?" Sirius asked, but James was already walking down after her. She seemed to have found another compartment so James followed her in.
"Lily, sorry about that, that's just Sirius, that's how he acts, he's a prank man," said James, but Lily just buried herself in the book again.
"Lily, I'm serious. Why don't you want to talk to me?" he asked, and she looked at him.
"I would have thought that obvious. I told you, James Potter, I don't talk to guys, as I don't want them fawning over me. Good day, Mr. Potter," she said, putting the book in front of her face yet again. But James wasn't going to give up that easily.
"Please, Lily, just come back into our compartment," he said with pleading eyes. Lily therefore must have avoided them, as she remained secluded from the world reading her book.
As James left, he ran into Remus, who was standing outside the compartment.
"Sorry Remus," he said, walking back to his own compartment. However, he walked back to Lily's compartment and managed to hear a bit of Remus' and Lily's conversation.
"Sorry about him," said Remus. "He just hasn't met anyone as pretty as you before."
"Remus, I told you, please stop with the compliments. I may look easy but I'm not, and I also do not appreciate having men close to kneeling at my feet. Please leave, and tell James, who is sitting outside listening to this conversation, not to try and eavesdrop again."
"God, she's pretty-no, beautiful, and smart," he said as Remus walked out the door dejectedly.
"Lily, how'd you know James was out here?"
"He doesn't seem the type to give up easily," she said, going back to her book.
"You bet I'm not," he said, walking back to his own compartment with Remus.
James couldn't wait for September 1. This day was going to be one of the best of his life: the beginning of his life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school where he would be going since he got accepted. And, since his mother and father were a witch and wizard, he had known he would be accepted ever since they first mentioned Hogwarts. His parents had never shut up about it as James had been growing up; telling him everything he needed to know about Hogwarts was something they refused to not do.
As James put on his clothes so he could go out and meet up with Remus and his other friend Sirius, the family house-elf (his family was rich) Moxby came up to him and asked what he fancied for breakfast.
"Something I can grab on the go," was all James replied, and Moxby left the room. James then put on his socks and ran down the staircase to find his parents awake and ready to give yet another lecture about running down the stairs.
"I know, sorry, but I'm in a rush, you didn't wake me up early enough!" said James to them, running into the kitchen to grab the food that was prepared for him (a sausage biscuit, eggs, and a hash brown) and left. Remus lived right down the street a block, so James was at his front door in five minutes. He had arrived just in time; Remus was getting into the car with Sirius right behind him.
"You're late, man!" said Sirius, giving his buddy a slap on the back. James grabbed his hand and they all said their 'hellos' before heading off.
"We have to pick up your friend Peter on our way over," said Remus' mother, turning onto White Willow Road.
"Okay," replied Remus as they arrived at Peter's house.
"What, the boy's too lazy to walk over to our house?" asked James as Peter walked out the door and to the car. James and Sirius squeezed together to allow for room for Peter.
"Hello Peter," said Remus' mother as she began driving towards the house where the birthday party was to be held.
"Whose house is this we are going to anyway?" asked James, and Remus responded.
"My cousin Vanessa. Sirius has met her already," he said, and Sirius blushed.
"That says a lot," said James sarcastically as the four laughed.
"Hey!" said Sirius. "I don't like her," he said, but James gave him the look of 'You know you do' and Sirius nodded.
"Don't worry, we won't make fun of you for it," said James, opening the roof. He stuck his head out of the roof and saw a very beautiful girl with ginger hair and green eyes walking on the sidewalk. His eyes stuck on her as if they were glued. She looked over at him, blushed, and then looked back at the ground. Remus' mother forgot the house number again, so he stopped the girl to ask her if she knew where Vanessa lived.
"Excuse me. I'm looking for Vanessa Finite. Do you happen to know where she lives?"
"Yes, um-" she replied, wondering what his name was.
"Remus Lupin," said Remus, smiling.
"Nice to meet you, Remus. Vanessa lives right here," said the girl, pointing to the house at the end of the street.
"Thanks, um-"
"Lily," said the girl. "Lily Evans."
"Thanks Lily. I'd better go, my cousin is expecting me," said Remus.
"Oh are you the one she is talking about?" asked Lily, giggling.
"What do you mean?"
"She told me to keep a lookout because a very forgetful boy and his mom would be arriving to her party soon," explained Lily.
"Oh. What relation are you to Vanessa? I've seen you here before and all, but normally I'm just talking to my friends," said Remus, as Lily looked on top of the car to see James, and then looked inside to see Sirius and Peter. Sirius' and James' eyes were all fixed on Lily.
"Vanessa and I are best friends," said Lily, staring at the immature boys in the back seat. "Are those your friends?" Lily asked, laughing as she pointed at Sirius and James, who were both sticking their heads out the roof.
"Them? Oh yeah. You'll meet them at the party," said Remus, grinning.
"Okay. I have to go and get changed anyway. See you in a few," said Lily, smiling and running towards her house. James' eyes followed her until they no longer could see beyond her door.
Remus got back into the car to find James, Sirius, and Peter laughing their heads off.
"What's so funny?" he asked them, and Peter immediately spoke his first words of the day.
"You were flirting with that girl! That Lily girl!" said Peter, continuing to laugh.
"So?" asked Remus, Sirius, and James simultaneously.
They turned their eyes upon each other.
"Wait, do you guys like her?" asked Remus, laughing.
"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" said James dreamily.
"Snap out of it man!" said Sirius, slapping James on the back. "And to answer your question Remus, no I do not. I admit she's pretty, but Vanessa is better," said Sirius, laughing.
As they got out of the car, Vanessa greeted them. She appeared to have been watching them talk to Lily, as the first thing she said after greeting them was "I see you've all met Lily, my best friend."
Yes, thought James, and you better not mind me having a crush on her, the beautiful girl. I wonder what she'd be like—
"Snap out of it!" said Sirius playfully, having seen James zone out like never before.
James tried to stifle a laugh, however was unsuccessful. The gang and Vanessa walked into the backyard and jumped into the pool after taking off the clothes that were on top of it. Just then, another girl showed up. She had short brown hair and was as thin as a toothpick. The first thing she said when she arrived was "The party is here!"
"No, the party can't start without Miss B-e-a-utiful," James found himself saying under his breath. He had never before fallen so deeply for a girl with just one vision of her. This girl, as far as he could tell, was different. She wasn't ordinary. And he knew this well.
Fifteen minutes later, Lily showed up in her bathing suit. She ran right over to Vanessa, who had kicked the short and toothpick-thin girl named Petunia out of the party right after she had arrived.
James' eyes wandered right over to her. She had ginger brown hair and lovely green eyes, and her hair, which was back in a ponytail right now, was down to her waist. James and Sirius walked over to Lily and Vanessa, who were in the middle of a conversation.
"Yeah, Sir--" said Vanessa, who had just seen Sirius and James walk over.
"What, now you're talking about me?" said Sirius in a joke-sort of way.
James' eyes were still upon Lily. She appeared to have noticed, because the next thing he heard was, "What are you looking at?"
Lily was looking at him. Feeling flattered, he figured he'd show off how great of a person he was. He jumped into the pool, however didn't know how to swim. He had figured, being a wizard, that he could save himself 'miraculously', however was unsuccessful. Remus jumped into the pool but James was running out of breath.
"Hang on a sec," said Lily, jumping in. She dove right under James and picked him up. Once he was above the water, he looked at her with grateful eyes. Remus was now treading water in the other end though, so she swam over to him. After pulling him out of the water, Sirius playfully said, "Little Miss Swimmer! Can you save me?"
James stared at Sirius as Vanessa held him back. "Do you know how to swim?"
"Yes, I was just joking," said Sirius, suddenly grabbing Vanessa and pushing her into the pool. Vanessa came up coughing; it was as if someone had tried to drown her but had been unsuccessful. Lily ran over to help her friend out of the pool, but then she too started laughing. At that very moment, an owl swooped down upon Vanessa and left a letter there. She, still shaking from the shock, walked aside with Lily, and James could have sworn he heard her whisper, "That was one of the best things of my life!" when Vanessa began opening the letter. Sirius came up from behind her and started reading it. James, with the look on Sirius' face, knew what that letter read.
"YOU'RE A WITCH!?" screamed both Sirius and James simultaneously.
"Potter, do you ever wonder why I don't want you here?"
"I didn't mean it--" said James, but was cut off by Lily.
"What is that about? It is her birthday, be nice to the girl."
"If you kiss me I will," said James as a joke. He didn't mean it badly; he meant it seriously of course. Lily looked at him as if he had five arms before responding.
"Why would I want to disgust myself?"
"Bad luck James," said Sirius, laughing. Vanessa followed suit.
"Why did you call Vanessa a witch?" she asked after calming herself from such an atrocious question.
"It's a bit of a--" James tried to respond before being cut off by Sirius.
"—Secret," finished Sirius, looking at Vanessa.
"One that a Muggle like yourself shouldn't know," Peter said, walking over.
"What's a Muggle?" asked Lily, and they all fell silent.
James could tell from the look on her face that she was feeling hurt. She stormed away without even grabbing her towel and began running down the street. Once out of the gate, James saw her begin to walk. Figuring that it was time with her away from Sirius to ruin the moment, he decided to follow her. However, Remus was ahead of him.
Suddenly, Lily turned around. Remus appeared to have called her, and the two of them stopped. Remus walked over to her and James snuck up, wanting to hear what they were saying.
"Are you okay?" Remus asked, clearly concerned.
"Yes, I think so. I just have never heard of a 'Muggle' before, so I don't know what it is," said Lily, and Remus nodded.
"It's not an insult; it's just a word some people use for non-magic people," said Remus, hoping Lily wouldn't question him further. However, at this definition, she looked at him strangely.
"But there's no such thing as magic people, according to my sister," said Lily. Her sister may have hated her, however she loved her all the same.
"Yes there is. Your friend just got accepted to a big school for her to learn magic, that's what the big fuss is over. James and Sirius didn't call her a witch rudely, they meant it seriously," explained Remus, and Lily flung her arms around him.
This was too much for James. Feeling quite upset that she didn't want to kiss him, even though he had meant it as a joke, he walked dejectedly back to the party. Lily looked back to see him walking back alone though, so she and Remus stood up and walked over to him. Remus kept walking and went back into the party, clearly completely excited, and, as James thought, who wouldn't have been? Queen of Beauty and Kindness had just hugged him!
Lily stared at James as if she was surveying him. "What, did you follow me too?" she asked, as if she had never seen a guy before.
"Um, yeah. Sorry," he said as he began to turn around, but Lily grabbed his arm.
"Sorry, I didn't think you had called Vanessa a witch as a compliment, I thought it was an insult," she said before letting go. He didn't run away though, he was trying to fix the words she spoke to him in his memory. This must have given him a bad eye fix though, because Lily moved her head to ask him what he was looking at.
"Sorry, zoned out a bit," he said, starting to walk back to the party. Lily followed him.
The two talked the whole way back. It turned out they had a lot in common. Upon their arrival back, they had cake. James couldn't stop thinking about Lily. Suddenly he saw the cake levitate and land itself upon the other girl that had been at the party, Petunia. Lily put her hands over her mouth. James stared at her.
"What was that?" they asked, excited.
"I don't know," said Lily truthfully.
James and his friends exchanged glances. Lily saw these and asked what was going on.
"Nothing," they all said, a bit quickly.
She questioned their honesty, however had to let it be. Ten minutes later, James and his crew had to leave.
"I'll see you later," said Vanessa to Lily as she too left. Remus hugged her before her departure and James wanted to, but resisted the temptation and just shook her hand.
"We'll see each other again soon, I think," said James, meaning it. Lily looked confused, however walked out all the same. James then went and said his goodbyes to Vanessa and let her in on the secret: that Lily was probably a witch too.
"Yes, she probably is. Her birthday is tomorrow though, so we'll find out then," replied Vanessa. Remus came over and told James that they had to leave though, and so they all left.
A week later was August 29. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all going to Diagon Alley on this day, and Remus said that Vanessa was going as well. When James asked him if Vanessa had mentioned Lily, Remus looked at him strangely.
"Why would you want to know?" he asked, and at the pained expression on James' face, Remus went on, "Yeah, we're meeting both her and Vanessa at the ice cream parlor."
James tried not to look too intrigued by this news. However, he had a problem hiding his real motive: to talk to her and possibly make his move.
At one o'clock, the marauders went to meet Lily and Vanessa. Sirius ran in and noticed immediately that all the chairs were set up for a diner--two per table. Sirius took the seat by Vanessa, who, James noticed, turned to Lily really happily and mouthed something looking rather like "OH MY GOD!" James then found Lily sitting in a corner, looking like she was buried in a book. Remus had started walking over to her already though, so he just held back. Lily must have said something to him though, as he walked away from the table rather dejectedly. James, seizing the opportunity, walked over to her and greeted her in a quite friendly manner.
"Hello, Lily," he said, and Lily's eyes stayed glued to her book. Lily, about five seconds later, asked him what he was doing there.
"I wanted to talk to you about something," he said, trying to gather up courage.
"Shoot," she said, flipping the page.
"Not here, I need to talk to you in private," he said, looking at Remus. Remus appeared to be questioning his sanity.
"It's private enough over here. Shoot," Lily repeated, turning the next page.
James looked at the book. "What is that about?" he asked, and Lily lifted the book to show him the cover.
"An Newbie's Guide to Basic Hexes. Having fun?" he asked mischievously, and Lily caught him.
"I have no intention of having fun. In the back of this book is how to reflect the hexes, and I need to know how to stop them from harming me," Lily explained, as another two boys accompanied by four girls stepped into the ice cream parlor.
One of the boys had greasy black hair, and, James noticed, seemed to have a keen eye out for Lily. The other boy had silver-bleach blonde hair, and appeared to be with someone that Sirius immediately recognized--
"Narcissa?" Sirius asked, and the girl that was holding hands with the blonde-haired boy turned around. The girl appeared to be named Narcissa, because she recognized Sirius immediately...
"My cousin, dear, how are you? I expect these are all your friends?" she asked Sirius, motioning to the rest of the room. Sirius nodded, and the girl leaned forward. James sent an Eavesdropping Charm across, so he heard what followed.
"Are any of them Mudbloods?" she asked him in a whisper, however James heard her loud and clear.
"No, they aren't. Well, the guys aren't. Vanessa and Lily are Muggle- born, but-"
"NO BUTS! No Mudbloods are to be related to us! Got that?" she told Sirius stubbornly, but he shook his head very clearly.
"Anyway," Narcissa continued, "this is Lucius Malfoy," she said, pointing to the boy with bleach-blonde hair, "and this is Severus Snape, his friend," she said, pointing to the boy with greasy hair.
James surveyed this Severus Snape man. He clearly never took a shower, and if he did he didn't show it at all. The boy seemed to have caught Lily's attention, for she picked up her book and walked outside the parlor.
James followed her. "What are you doing out here?" he asked.
"Trying to avoid everyone that is annoying me," she said, her nose now buried in The Complete Guide to Transfiguration.
"That guy over there seems to like you," said James, pointing to Snape.
"Well, you see, I'm not exactly interested in guys right now. There are more important things, including school and learning. I'll look over and read up on that stuff first," said Lily, putting her nose back in the book.
"Give it a break, woman! You'll do fine, the first week at Hogwarts no one does anything anyway," he said, and Lily looked at him. She was beautiful, even though she didn't have on any makeup. He opened his mouth to tell her to join his crew when Severus Snape walked out of the parlor and asked James to scoot over.
"I'm talking to Lily," said James, and Snape pulled out his wand. James followed suit, but Snape was too quick. The next moment James was on the floor, wriggling in pain.
Lily took out her wand and cast the only spell she knew so far on Snape.
"Tarotnam," said Lily, and suddenly Snape turned into a rat. James, now not having the wand pointing at him anymore, stood up, shaken. He hadn't expected an attack before he even went to Hogwarts! However, Lily, a first year like himself, already could do human transfiguration. That was not normal. That was the mark of a talented witch, because she must have taught herself how to do the spell, and most fifth years couldn't even do human transfiguration! James turned to Lily to thank her, but she was gone.
"Where'd she go?" he asked himself aloud as he left the rat version of Snape scurrying over to Lucius Malfoy.
On September 1st, James and his crew met up and got on the train in their own compartment. James saw Lily passing with Vanessa, and Remus opened up the door inviting them in. They looked at each other, shrugged, and they walked in.
James scooted over making room for Lily between himself and Remus, and Sirius moved over, making room for Vanessa next to him.
As Lily and Vanessa sat down, James blushed.
"Why are you going red man?" asked Sirius playfully, slapping James' face. Lily looked at him curiously and then took out her book again.
"What's that?" James asked Lily, grabbing the book. It was a novel by the author Stephen King, named Cycle of the Werewolf. Remus squirmed a bit in his seat then noticed James staring at him. He went back to curling up, and then James gave Lily back the book.
"Is it good?" he asked, and Lily nodded, going back to reading. Sirius then grabbed the book from her telling her "No reading in this compartment."
Lily snatched back her book, grabbed her stuff, and walked out of the train compartment.
"Does she talk?" Sirius asked, but James was already walking down after her. She seemed to have found another compartment so James followed her in.
"Lily, sorry about that, that's just Sirius, that's how he acts, he's a prank man," said James, but Lily just buried herself in the book again.
"Lily, I'm serious. Why don't you want to talk to me?" he asked, and she looked at him.
"I would have thought that obvious. I told you, James Potter, I don't talk to guys, as I don't want them fawning over me. Good day, Mr. Potter," she said, putting the book in front of her face yet again. But James wasn't going to give up that easily.
"Please, Lily, just come back into our compartment," he said with pleading eyes. Lily therefore must have avoided them, as she remained secluded from the world reading her book.
As James left, he ran into Remus, who was standing outside the compartment.
"Sorry Remus," he said, walking back to his own compartment. However, he walked back to Lily's compartment and managed to hear a bit of Remus' and Lily's conversation.
"Sorry about him," said Remus. "He just hasn't met anyone as pretty as you before."
"Remus, I told you, please stop with the compliments. I may look easy but I'm not, and I also do not appreciate having men close to kneeling at my feet. Please leave, and tell James, who is sitting outside listening to this conversation, not to try and eavesdrop again."
"God, she's pretty-no, beautiful, and smart," he said as Remus walked out the door dejectedly.
"Lily, how'd you know James was out here?"
"He doesn't seem the type to give up easily," she said, going back to her book.
"You bet I'm not," he said, walking back to his own compartment with Remus.