Every third chapter, will be in James's perspective. Enjoy!
*****James's Point of View*****
"And of course, your Head's of school this year! It gives me great pleasure to introduce our Head Girl, Lily Evans and our Head Boy James Potter!" Dumbledore clapped as the rest of the school, besides a portion of the slytherin table, joined him.
Merlin it felt good. The look on Snape's face. I'd never brag out loud about it because I'd look like a right pratt to Lily if I did. But in my own mind, I was jumping around, pulling the finger and rubbing it in Snivvies face. Here I was, Head Boy, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, standing next to Lily Evans as Head Girl. This year was looking absolutely gorgeous if I do say so myself. Dumbledore pulled us aside quickly after finishing his announcements.
"I have something for the two of you," he grinned handing us each a key with a small red ribbon attached to it. I took it and frowned, wondering what it could be.
"What's this professor?" Lily asked, taking the words right out of my mouth.
"This is the key to a small study space, for the both of you to share. I believe there is a small bookcase with some of your most checked out books, along with other things, courtesy of Madam Pince. A couch, quite comfortable for napping I have heard, and a desk for each of you. There is a privacy lock that I'm sure the two of you can work out, so you may have your own time alone when need be." He explained. Lily's eyes lit up and then slightly dimmed, probably remembering the fact that she'd have to share it with me.
"Is it strictly for us alone professor? Or can others join us?" She asked.
"What you do with the space is up to the two of you. I trust you will use it respectfully and responsibly, that's all I have to say on the matter," he smiled and gave the both of us a knowing look, that I could only translate to 'Don't use it for parties or canoodling' not that I think it would be big enough for a party anyway, but I guess I'll have to wait and see. I nodded in agreement, as Lily looked at me, and then back to Dumbledore.
"Was that everything then professor?" she said smiling and fiddling with the key.
"Yes, yes, hurry along now, your dinner will be getting cold," he smiled as he turned towards the teachers table.
I followed Lily down the small steps and towards the Gryffindor table, I meant to make some sort of conversation with her, but I couldn't think of anything other than. You, me and a private room sounds like my dream come true or I'm sure there'll be loads of studying going on in that space'. The first Lily would absolutely hate, and the second, no matter how much sarcasm I put into it, probably was going to actually be true so... There really wasn't any point to it.
"Lily Evans look at you," Sirius said as Lily and I sat down at Gryffindor table. I frowned at him, which he simply ignored.
"What's that you've got there?" Remus asked, gesturing towards Lily's key.
"Key to a study space, away from the common room," she replied, shrugging. Neither of us really knew what to expect, other than what Dumbledore had told us.
"I've got one too," I said, spinning the key between my fingers and smiling as Sirius. He tried to swipe it, but I was ready for him. He frowned and made a sad face of defeat.
"So you two have to share a little space all to yourselves? What possible good could come of that?" Remus teased, raising his eyebrows. I couldn't tell if he was making fun of me or Lily.
"Oh a bet a lot of good could come of it Moony," Sirius said, winking at Remus. Causing Lily to sigh and close her eyes as if she were dealing with a child. Which to be fair, she basically was.
I gave Sirius a look to tell him to ease up and turned to the rest of the group,"You guys are actually welcome to come in with us, when we want you to, so.." I trailed off. Trying to get the conversation away from the easy target of Lily and I being alone together, in a private space... With nothing but books and a couch and... Merlin, it was really easy to think about.
"Oh! Oooh, we can plan all sorts of fun stuff in there James!" Sirius said with a boyish grin, obviously referring to pranks and whatever else brewing in his head.
"Ah, I mean..." I began, but saw Lily's lips press together and her eyes dart away from mine,"I don't think I should be planning too much of the stuff you're talking about Sirius."
Sirius looked confused but Lily seemed to relax slightly.
"You know, from an outsiders perspective, you and Sirius doing some 'fun stuff' alone in a private room sounds awfully wrong, you do realise James," Remus said, finishing off what was left of his pumpkin juice.
"He's not wrong James. I thought the same thing" Marlene interjected as the other girls giggled at us, "You know what I can't stop thinking about though? Why on Earth Dumbledore picked you to be Head Boy James," she said with a smirk.
"Why? More like why not? Am I right James?" Sirius said, whacking my jaw with his cupped hand, "Smart, charming, handsome some might even say, date-able?"
"And by some you mean yourself Sirius," Lily said as the other girls laughed.
"I was thinking more of the female population actually Lily, such as yourself," Sirius said resting his head on my shoulder and batting his eyelids. What a tosser, but I couldn't help but laugh.
"She'd rather date Peter," Alice said under her breath but loud enough for me to hear. I stiffened, she was not serious.
The girls erupted in a fit of laughter, Lily included and I wondered what I was missing. I looked to Remus and Sirius, who both shrugged, then to Peter who was completed distracted by his mashed potato to even notice.
"That's enough, we don't want them knowing all our secrets now Alice," Marlene said, biting her lips and concealing another laugh.
"Lily!" I called just before the red head slipped out of the portrait hole.
"Ugh, what James?" she asked frustratedly.
"Don't tell me you're going to check out the Head study without me?" I said, placing my hand on my heart and walking closer to her. She was still slowly trying to move while I spoke.
"I'm not, I've got to go to the hospital wing," she said quickly.
"Are you sick or something?" I asked frowning.
"No, just. Look I'll explain later," she said as the portrait closed. I wasn't satisfied with that answer. Was she actually just going to check it out without me? Merlin, I was so nosy. I stuck my head out of the portrait hole and saw Lily walking with a very quick pace, in the direction of the Hospital wing. Hmm. I contemplated calling or running after her but decided to not irritate her any further.
I came back into the Gryffindor common room with a perplexed look on my face.
"What's the face for James," Marlene asked, sitting in the couch closest to the fireplace with a book in her hand.
"Lily said she's going to the hospital wing? Is she alright?" I said, surely Marlene would know.
"Why do you care," she said concealing a smile,"Oh wait I forgot you're obsessed with her."
"Funny," I said, sitting on the ground in front of the couch.
"I shouldn't tell you this but, she's got some sort of like Healer opportunity. She's going to be doing work experience in the hospital wing along with like three other students." she said, watching the door as if Lily was going to come in and tell her off at any second.
"A healer huh?" I said thinking out loud. I mean, she was very good at all the classes involving healing... Potions, herbology, charms? She would probably be a great healer, now that I think about it. She'd be a great anything, who am I kidding.
"She seemed pretty interested," Marlene smiled. "But don't mention anything okay? I don't know if she wants it on the down low or anything."
"My lips are sealed," I said, motioning a zipper across my lips with my fingers. Marlene laughed and went back to reading her book. I took this as a sign to leave her alone.
"I'll catch you later Marls," I said, pushing myself up and heading towards the boys dormitories.
"See yah," she called, her eyes still glued to her book.
Jogging up the stairs to my dorm room I heard loud noises coming of course from the marauders room. I closed my eyes and braced myself for whatever I was about to encounter. I walked in slowly to see Peter and Sirius huddled around a pile of cards. Exploding snap?
"Ahh- Want to explain the noise?" I said laughing and crashing onto my bed.
"Peter has beaten me in every single game of exploding snap since we got on the train this morning. It's driving me barking mad, mind the pun." Sirius explained, falling back to lay flat on the floor, his hands on his face.
"He's the champ Padfoot, just quit before he's buried you in losses," Remus said, unpacking the last of his trunk.
Sirius let out a groan. He wasn't the best loser. He tossed the cards he had left on the top of the pile and a small burst sounded, making him jump and peter laugh. Much to Sirius's dismay. Throwing a tantrum, Sirius lay on his own bed with a sour look on his face, staring up at the ceiling.
"Hey James, have you had a chance to check out your head study yet?" Peter asked, sorting the last of the cards back into the box.
"Not yet, I'm just waiting on Lily. Thought we could check it out together, seeing as it's for the both of us," I said shrugging.
"Oooh, can't we just go take a peek with you Jamesy! Pleaseeee," Sirius said perking up, his face full of hopes for some adventure.
"Pads I can't-" I started.
"Of course not. Because you're all about Lily now. Lily will think this, Lily won't like that," he whined.
"I'd say the same thing if it were you Sirius. I said I would go see it with her, and I'm keeping my word," I said, hand on my heart and raising my eyebrows at him. He knew I was right.
"Mmhh. Whatever," he mumbled.
"Now I've just come to waste some time before Lily get's back from some healer meeting thing, and then I'm off. I'll let you have a peak tomorrow okay Sirius?" I said rubbing my hands together before stretching my arms above my head.
"Some healer thing?" Remus asked.
"Oh shit, I told Marlene I wouldn't mention it... Don't say anything to Lily about it, until I know for sure that you're allowed to know," I laughed nervously.
"What are we not allowed to know right now, but might be able to know, if Lily says it's alright for us to know?" Remus said raising an eyebrow and smiling at me.
"She's got some sort of healer opportunity in the hospital wing. There's a meeting going on at the moment. I'm not too sure about the details, but it's something to do with like career stuff, work experience maybe?" I said, sort of unsure of what it really was, myself.
"So you're telling me, Evans is going to be a nurse at our schools hospital wing," Sirius said, looking at me with a face that only made me super uncomfortable.
"Stop it," I said firmly.
"Stop what?" he said innocently, as if he wasn't imagining Lily in a nurse's costume.
"Stop imagining her like that Padfoot!" I yelled, throwing a pillow at his enormous head.
"Oh nurse Lily! I need some help, let me just take off my shirt and show you my AH-"
I took Sirius to the floor, tackling him far before he could finish torturing me. Remus and Peter just laughed, rolling around trying to catch their breath. I pinned Sirius down and threatened him with my fist. But of course he was smiling at me. I wasn't going to punch him, and he knew it. I rolled my eyes and stood up, offering him my hand to help him to his feet.
"You'll be glad you didn't hurt me too much Prongsie, otherwise I might just have to go to the hospital wing and- OUCH- JAMES!" Sirius frowned, rubbing his arm from where I'd punched him for not shutting the hell up.
"You're asking for it mate," I warned. Sirius just rolled his eyes and smiled at me. That bloody tosser.
What felt like a decade later, Remus had left and come back to our room and mentioned that Lily was in the common room. I jumped to my feet and grabbed my key to the study and headed down the stairs. As I came down I could see Lily smiling at something Marlene had said, she was sitting next to her on the couch by the fire. Her face lit with the warm tones from the flames, making her eyes look mesmerising. She was beautiful.
"Hey Lily," I said, swinging the key around my finger as I approached her, smiling. Raising an eyebrow as if to say 'you, me, and this key have a date.' But then all I could think of was how this was not a date at all.
"Oh yeah," she said and I frowned... Oh yeah? As if it had slipped her mind that we were going to go see our study together? I should've taken Sirius.
"Can we get a move on? It's getting a little late," I said, feeling a little disheartened. Lily made a face and said goodbye to Marlene but as she turned away I saw her wink at me. Did she somehow just know what I was thinking at all times? I've known Marlene since I was in diapers. We've been neighbours and friends all my life... Family friends I guess you could say. But how did that mean she knew me so bloody well. I rolled my eyes in response to her wink, she tried to conceal a laugh in return.
Walking down the hallway, we were not making very good conversation until I remembered the details of where she had been before now.
"So ahh... You said you'd explain later about the whole hospital wing thing?" I asked, hoping she would tell me about it. Meaning I wouldn't have to pretend Marlene hadn't told me. She had a thinking face on, sort of like something was bothering her, and I hoped it didn't have something to do with me.
"Um," she hesitated and I bit my lips slightly.
"I mean, you don't have to explain yourself if you're not comfortable... I was just, yeah." I said awkwardly, my hand flying to the back of my hair. Something I noticed I did when I was nervous.
"No I mean, it's not that I don't want to say. I just-" she said shrugging. "I don't even know if I should do it.. or, you know..."
She trailed off and I sort of struggled to answer, because I wasn't supposed to know what she meant so I just played along," I mean, I don't..." I laughed.
"Oh! Right, I just... basically there's this work experience thing Madam Pince is running. Where I and a few other students would be working in the hospital wing throughout the week, and we would assist in helping students get medical treatment." she rushed out and sort of blew it off, making it sound like it wasn't a big deal.
"Oh wow?" I said, hoping it sounded believable. "That sounds good though, I think you'd be great at it? Why the hesitation?"
"I don't know, I think it's a lot of responsibility... What if I don't treat something right or I cause more damage to a student? I could get something wrong, I don't know," she said. I was surprised. I didn't think Lily was afraid to achieve anything. I thought she was a 'conquer anything she tries' kind of person. Maybe she needed to hear that.
"You're right, but... You'd also be helping people. I think that if there's anyone in the school, least likely to harm a student, it's you Lily..." I said sincerely. She smiled, but I knew she was sort of uncomfortable, so I added. "Unless I was the patient of course. Then I'd probably need to be sent to ."
She laughed this time, I'd relieved the tension of my honesty, and we were back to normal. Only I think I relieved some of her doubt. Or at least I hoped I did.
We approached the door that Dumbledore had described to us. A small wooden door with a lion's head knocker, and a metal strip that read 'Head's Study' in a cursive writing. Above the lock on the door, where our keys would fit, there was a small box that read 'vacant'. And I wondered once we were inside, what if would read. Occupied?
Lily and I inspected the door and looked at each other, she pulled her key out and looked at me as if to ask if she could 'do the honours' and and I smiled,"Go for it."
She inserted the key and twisted it to the right. There was a small click, before we proceeded to walk inside. Lily flicked on the light switch and the room lit up. It was bigger than I expected. There was two large bookcases that that made a sort of hallway into the study, on one side I could see tonnes of quidditch books that I remember staying up late reading when I was in first year. I was obsessed with them. On the other I saw a bunch of books that I didn't recognise, from authors I'd never heard of. I wondered if they were muggle books. It was obvious what side was mine and what side was Lily's. We both gravitated towards our shelves. I heard Lily gasp very very quietly. I turned to see if she was alright and her fingers were on one particular book. Some author named Jane Austin? I hadn't heard of her. I hesitated, wanting to ask if she was okay, but she cleared her throat and moved on from the bookshelf before I could.
"Wow," she said. There was a huge fire place in the centre of the wall across the room. In front of it was a long grey couch and one of those matching foot rests, ottomans I think they're called. To the left and right of the room there were two desks made of a nice dark wood. I wouldn't have a clue what the wood actually was, but it was beautiful. An array of quills were lined up on a shelf above either desk. Parchment, inks, of all colours were stacked within the desk. I saw what looked like a small trunk on the desk I assumed was mine. When I opened it, there was a collection of all the different balls used in quidditch. The quaffle; a personal favourite, the bludgers; two, tied down of course, and the snitch; hidden away in the lid's compartment. It was so cool.
On Lily's desk I could see a little snow globe, that looked like it had a small house inside. She laughed slightly as she picked it up.
"What is it?" I asked, hoping I wasn't intruding.
"Oh it's just... It's my house. With me and Petunia and Dad... My Mum as well," she said quietly. She stared at the snow globe and I thought I could see tears in her eyes, but she just placed the snow globe back onto her desk and walked over to the fireplace.
"Well," I said a little awkwardly. I don't think Lily is going to share anything personal with me, seeing as she can hardly stand me, so I try and change the subject. "You know Sirius is dying to come in here for some reason. I think he thinks it'll turn into some bachelor pad or something."
"Oh of course he does," Lily said turning to me and rolling her eyes.
"It's a nice little spot isn't it?" I said walking back to the bookshelves.
"Yeah I guess I won't be in the library as much anymore," she said as I pulled out a book from my shelf, inspecting it.
"That's a shame. I always knew where to find you if I was in the mood for being annoying," I said, trying to make her laugh. I could tell she was hiding a smile. That was good enough for me.
"You're not in the 'mood' for being annoying Potter, you just are," she said with a smirk.
"Glad you think so highly of me Evans," I said jokingly. "Surely I'm not annoying all the time."
"No, not all the time," I raised my eyebrows, feeling hopeful, but she just shrugged and said, "You can't be annoying when you're sleeping? But maybe you snore, so I wouldn't know."
She laughed as I scoffed, "I do not snore," I defended.
"We'll see about that," she said, walking in the direction of the door.
"How do you supposed you'll figure out that information huh?" I said, standing in her way. Suggesting of course that we would be asleep in each others presence eventually, in a bed, when we get married and live happily ever after. She caught my drift and cocked her head in awe.
"I mean when you inevitably end up napping on that couch, thank you very much," she said, pushing past me and walking out the door. I laughed and followed her through it.
We'll see about that Lily Evans, we'll see.
That's my third chapter done and dusted. I think I'm going to do 2 chapters in Lily's perspective and then 1 in James's just to get a good idea of both their side's and views, and whatever else. Plus I like writing banter between the Marauders hahaha. At this point I haven't actually posted any of the chapters I have written because I want to get a good amount ready, so I can post weekly, or fortnightly.
Anyway, I hope anyone who is reading, is enjoying it.
-Kels xo
