Ten things about the Marauders Chapter 2: James, a harry potter fanfic

1) James' parents always tell their son never to let love pass him by.

What happens is that James almost makes love sprint in the opposite direction, because he's eleven (twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen) and absolutely needs Lily's attention and doesn't know the first thing about girls.

ŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀŀ

2) James has a supremely normal life; he is, in fact a remarkably well-adjusted teenager. But he's too observant for his own good.

He sees the way Sirius flinches at mistakes as if he's waiting for a blow to fall, the way his best friend comes home (really home) in September pale and nearly as bony as a skeleton, the way he drinks up praise and attention.

He notices how Remus always stays up to watch the moon rise, how as the moon waxes the frail-looking boy pales and retreats into brooding silence, how he never takes off his shirt if someone's watching. Most of all he remembers the horror of the resigned expression on Moony's face when they told him their discovery; there were no tears, nothing, just a heart-breaking acceptance that James never ever regrets shattering.

He tries to ignore the way Peter's parents hardly acknowledge their son, tries to ignore that, at King's Cross, the Pettigrews seem more interested in James' accomplishments than in Peter's; above all he tries not to notice that Peter notices.

James sometimes hates himself for whining so extensively over what, in the big picture, is nothing; he's a lovesick prat who's earned himself a few detentions and whose parents love him and he harps on and on because it makes him feel more like he fits in with the troubled misfits he loves. He can't shut himself up, even though it always makes him feel worse.

3) He never tries out for Seeker because, all the way up through seventh year, he and Sirius try to convince Remus to try out for the position. The werewolf always refuses and it's not until some time after graduation that James learns that his friend hates flying in any way, shape or form. Flabbergasted, James stares for a good minute because he can't imagine being uncomfortable in the air; that's where he's always felt invincible.

4) He's received the exact same lessons as Sirius. The only difference is that while his friend always had expensive, cruel and indifferent tutors, James learned from his parents and their friends amidst laughter and love. Consequently, Sirius, in an attempt to throw off all the oppression of his childhood, tries to erase the habitually good posture and instinctual good manners while James considers them the mark of a gentleman.

5) James never understands why he's the unofficial leader of the Marauders. Sirius is all bright lights and glitter and look-at-me-now. Remus is brilliant, though it is a quiet subtle and sneaky genius that no one ever predicts. Even Peter is charismatic in a way that James never quite comprehends. But they all look to him and follow his lead and he never suspects their instinctual knowledge that he is the one who understands love.

6) The name Harry is Lily's choice (James, to Remus' horror, was all for naming his son after his werewolf friend) and James secretly admits that he never much fancied it. Far too in love with Lily to push the point, he agrees easily and it's not until he holds the newborn baby in his arms and looks into his son's eyes that he thinks: Yes, this is Harry. Ever after, he will defend the name with his life.

7) With the exception of the Great Hall, Hogwarts really doesn't impress James much at first. He is, after all, the scion of one of the richest wizarding families and as such has always had the best of everything. And, really, most of Hogwarts gives the impression of the cozy but ramshackle summer cottage that no one has the heart to sell. Sirius is the only one to understand; Remus and Peter, country boys through and through, have probably never even seen a bigger building. When they begin to explore the intricacies of Hogwarts inner workings, he learns to appreciate the subtle and witty genius behind the moving staircases and devious passages.

8) He knows his parents secretly disapprove of Lily; for all their open-mindedness, his parents have generations of pureblood prejudice to overcome – it's all very well for muggle-borns to attend Hogwarts and enjoy equal status, but to marry their son?! When, smiling, they welcome Lily into their family and go out of their way to make her feel at home, he feels like he has never loved them more. For the rest of their lives, as if trying to prove their acceptance, the elder Potters treat their daughter-in-law as a treasure.

9) He almost wishes that he hadn't been so fixated on Lily, because when they (finally) become a couple, he is terribly inexperienced and thus scared out of his mind. Remus, with a crooked smile, tells him that girls think that sort of thing is romantic, but James still wishes for the certainty that he won't mess up and lose the only girl who has ever mattered (will ever matter).

10) The only time he's ever truly been angry with Sirius is in the aftermath of Sirius' Big Fuck-Up. Outraged for Remus' sake and nauseated by Sirius' disregard for Snape's life (no, even Snape doesn't deserve that), he shouts just about the only words that can really hurt his (former?) best friend.

"You're just like your fucking family!"

After that, it's months of tension; Sirius desperately avoids Remus, James and Sirius glare at each other, Peter, more nervous and jumpy than ever, nearly becomes mute and Remus reverts back into the tortured little boy with old man's eyes. Full moons are horrible nights of misery and anger. Looking back, James realises that if Remus hadn't pleaded them to please, please, please start talking again, he might have lost his best friend for good. A year passes before the words stop hanging between them, though.

Number 8 is based off of an anecdote in Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Trilogy; during "The Summer Tree" (To all fantasy fans: if you haven't read it, do so immediately; it's absolutely fantastic).