DISCLAIMER: I've stolen the world and the characters from J.K. Rowling. As
much as I wish I were an incredibly creative British author, I'm just a
poor idiot from America.
Amos Diggory was as much of a friend to James Potter as it was possible for two different Quidditch Captains to be. They fought viciously on the field, but in class and in the halls they had far too much in common to be rude to one another. They were both intelligent, funny and giggled over by half of the female population at Hogwarts. Amos paid a little more attention to the rules than James did, but their minds worked the same way, and they liked each other.
Amos really did like James Potter, but he was tired of losing every contest to him. Gryffindor always won the Quidditch Cup, and because of that they usually took the House Cup too. The House Cup wasn't really something Amos chalked up to losing to James, because James usually hurt the points competition more than he helped it. Hufflepuff just didn't get the in-class points that the other houses seemed to earn hand over fist. Amos could stand losing Quidditch matches to James because he won some too, but when James was made Head Boy over Amos, it hurt. There was no contest he could win to top that; it was pointless to try, but it left Amos with the feeling that whether or not he deserved it, James got everything Amos wanted. This left Amos rather anxious for his Gryffindor girlfriend.
Amos trusted Lily completely and knew she would never hurt him, but when she told him she was doing a soul mate spell, his heart nearly dropped out of his stomach. He knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she would see James and he would lose his perfect girl to the perfect boy. When she later told him that she had seen a stag, he had to forcibly restrain himself from shouting with joy. He didn't care if she saw He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself, as long as she didn't see James.
Amos knew this was unfair to Lily, and to James, but he couldn't help the way he felt. He couldn't help loving Lily, and he couldn't help feeling deep within his heart that she didn't belong to him.
James flopped onto Sirius and sighed, causing the bigger boy to shout and wake up the rest of the dormitory. Luckily, Frank could sleep through anything, so only the Marauders threw pillows at James where he landed on the floor. "Sorry, Sirius," James sighed again, stretching and letting the pillows fall where they would. "I forgot we switched beds."
"We switched beds a month ago, Antler-brain. What the hell is wrong with you?" Sirius sat up and glared at his friend, who dropped languidly into his own bed.
"She kissed me," James stated simply, causing the rest of the Marauders to sit up quickly and stare at him.
"Lily?!" Remus asked, stunned.
"Yeah," James said, sighing happily again against his pillow. "I mean, she thought I was a regular wild animal, but still. a kiss is a kiss."
"Lily just goes around kissing wild animals?" Sirius asked. "Maybe I'll do my lovable stray impression for her."
"Don't even think about it, Padfoot," James stated happily. "I was out running and I saved her from one of those giant spiders."
"You didn't leave immediately after," Peter asked. "That's dangerous; she'll know you weren't a random stag."
"She was so hurt and groggy, I couldn't, but its okay, because she thought it was her voice charm from Peg-leg's class today."
"That's lucky," Remus said. "I don't suppose you know what the perfect prefect was doing out and about at midnight in the Forbidden Forest?"
"Looking for moonflowers to do a different version of the soul mate spell, which will hopefully show her me in human form, thus solving all of my problems," James replied with a grin.
"Did she find any," Sirius asked astutely.
"Nope, she's going back out tomorrow. I was going to shadow her as Prongs to keep her out of trouble."
"Just make sure she finds some tomorrow, otherwise she'll go out again during the full moon," Remus said, warily.
"I'll keep her safe, don't worry so much Moony."
"Groovy," Sirius said. "Now all of us except Prongs can go back to bed and he can sigh into the darkness about how Lily's lips felt against his fur."
The Marauders all turned over and went back to sleep, except James who followed Sirius' suggestion to the letter.
The next day was a Saturday, and also the first Quidditch match of the season, Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw. The entire school turned out in full force to watch the match. Lily sat with the other Gryffindors, but she wore Hufflepuff's colors and waved flags with brilliant badgers emblazoned on them.
"You know, Lily, its good to support your boyfriend and all, but you might be taking this a little far," Elizabeth said, sitting next to her.
"Bet you he catches the snitch before an hour is up," Lily stated proudly.
"That's a bet I wouldn't take unless they were playing Gryffindor," James responded from Lily's other side.
"He did it once," Lily defended.
"Two years ago, and Sirius was out of the game for turning Snape into a giant cobra," Remus added from behind her.
"Everyone's against Amos, I should be sitting with the Hufflepuffs," Lily huffed.
"Hey," Elizabeth cried, "I didn't mean it like that!"
"And I said I wouldn't take that bet today, you're probably right." James soothed her.
"And I was too busy watching McMillan make a truly excellent play, which you lot missed, to argue," Sirius cut in.
"What happened," Lily asked, her eyes darting around the field.
"Suffice it to say, the score is now 10-0 Hufflepuff," Peter said, cheering with the rest of the crowd.
Not wanting to miss anything else, the bickering students dropped the argument and focused their eyes on the players. After the game, they rushed the field with everyone else to give congratulations to the winners (Hufflepuff, 260-100). Lily rewarded her sweaty boyfriend with a big, public kiss and later with an even bigger private snog.
"I love you," he whispered to her as they parted for their separate houses.
"I love you, too," she said, with a soft smile. "And that was a really well played game."
"Who will you be supporting in the next match?" The next match was Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor.
"Whoever looks like they're losing," she said, giving her age old answer. He returned her smile then, and they left on their separate paths.
At five minutes after midnight, James dashed out of the common room, still wearing his invisibility cloak, realizing that Lily must have taken the window and could have been out for an hour already.
At seven minutes after midnight, Lily's broom floated slowly to the ground outside of her window only to see her stag sprinting toward the forest. "Stag," she called, briefly forgetting how many rules she was breaking.
Surprisingly, the stag stopped cold and turned to look at her. She didn't have her voice charm, but she got out one of the apple's she'd brought and walked slowly toward it. She was trying not to startle it, so it took her quite a while to cross the grounds, but she was completely unsure of why the animal didn't bolt immediately. When she got close enough, she offered the apple to him. He sniffed it tentatively, and then nibbled on it. When he finished it off in a few quick munches, she offered him a sugar cube. He seemed to like this, too and allowed her to pet him.
"You need a name, Mr. Stag," Lily whispered to him. "If I'm going to keep talking to you, I'd like to know who I'm talking to. I think I'll call you. I don't know, Coathanger? On account of those huge pronged antlers you wave about so proudly. Hm, maybe Prongs. I've heard Sirius call James that, although that will stay between us, I wouldn't want James to know I named you after him. No, that would never do." She smiled. "I'll give you a carrot if you agree to keep this our secret." The stag didn't say anything, so she gave him a carrot.
"As much as I'd love to stay out here with you, I really do need to go into the forest. I have to get those moonflowers tonight or I'll have to wait three days to come out again." The stag cocked its head at her as she began to walk away. Then it seemed to make up its mind and follow her. They walked together into the forest.
Lily looked around diligently, but couldn't stand the oppressive silence after a while.
"I wish you could understand me," she said softly, "I'd really like someone to talk to right now. And I could warn you to be careful tomorrow. I mean, I know they aren't supposed to be a danger to normal animals, and that's all you seem to be, but I'll worry about you all the same." The stag stopped walking.
"What is the matter Prongs, why have you stopped?" Lily looked around for something dangerous, and instead saw the softly glowing flowers she was searching for. "Oh, Prongs, you're amazing! I would have completely missed them!" She pecked the stag's cheek and went to pick the flowers. When the flowers were safely tucked into her bag, she gave the animal another apple. It munched happily and walked with her out of the forest.
"I do believe you're the tamest stag I've ever met, Prongs," Lily smiled. "I wonder if you're some wizard's pet down in Hogsmead." The stag did not answer, so she continued. "I do feel safer when you're around, though I hope you won't be insulted when I tell you that I still don't think you're my soul mate. When the full moon is over, though, I'll come back out here again and bring you some more food. After all, you need to fatten up for winter and I still haven't thanked you properly for saving my life or finding my moonflowers."
Lily stroked the stag's neck while they walked, but when they reached the edge of the forest, Prongs shied and sprang away. Feeling a little less safe as she crossed the school grounds and used her hidden broom to soar back up to the girls' dorm, Lily wondered what had spooked her friend.
James did a victory lap around the entire Forbidden Forest. From what he knew about the spell Lily was attempting, she should know they belonged together within a week. Then she would break up with Amos, and he wouldn't have to do a thing! He could get Lily without being the bad guy, stay friends with Amos, and never have to risk Lily hating him for his unimpeachable conduct. It was almost too perfect.
Amos Diggory was as much of a friend to James Potter as it was possible for two different Quidditch Captains to be. They fought viciously on the field, but in class and in the halls they had far too much in common to be rude to one another. They were both intelligent, funny and giggled over by half of the female population at Hogwarts. Amos paid a little more attention to the rules than James did, but their minds worked the same way, and they liked each other.
Amos really did like James Potter, but he was tired of losing every contest to him. Gryffindor always won the Quidditch Cup, and because of that they usually took the House Cup too. The House Cup wasn't really something Amos chalked up to losing to James, because James usually hurt the points competition more than he helped it. Hufflepuff just didn't get the in-class points that the other houses seemed to earn hand over fist. Amos could stand losing Quidditch matches to James because he won some too, but when James was made Head Boy over Amos, it hurt. There was no contest he could win to top that; it was pointless to try, but it left Amos with the feeling that whether or not he deserved it, James got everything Amos wanted. This left Amos rather anxious for his Gryffindor girlfriend.
Amos trusted Lily completely and knew she would never hurt him, but when she told him she was doing a soul mate spell, his heart nearly dropped out of his stomach. He knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she would see James and he would lose his perfect girl to the perfect boy. When she later told him that she had seen a stag, he had to forcibly restrain himself from shouting with joy. He didn't care if she saw He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself, as long as she didn't see James.
Amos knew this was unfair to Lily, and to James, but he couldn't help the way he felt. He couldn't help loving Lily, and he couldn't help feeling deep within his heart that she didn't belong to him.
James flopped onto Sirius and sighed, causing the bigger boy to shout and wake up the rest of the dormitory. Luckily, Frank could sleep through anything, so only the Marauders threw pillows at James where he landed on the floor. "Sorry, Sirius," James sighed again, stretching and letting the pillows fall where they would. "I forgot we switched beds."
"We switched beds a month ago, Antler-brain. What the hell is wrong with you?" Sirius sat up and glared at his friend, who dropped languidly into his own bed.
"She kissed me," James stated simply, causing the rest of the Marauders to sit up quickly and stare at him.
"Lily?!" Remus asked, stunned.
"Yeah," James said, sighing happily again against his pillow. "I mean, she thought I was a regular wild animal, but still. a kiss is a kiss."
"Lily just goes around kissing wild animals?" Sirius asked. "Maybe I'll do my lovable stray impression for her."
"Don't even think about it, Padfoot," James stated happily. "I was out running and I saved her from one of those giant spiders."
"You didn't leave immediately after," Peter asked. "That's dangerous; she'll know you weren't a random stag."
"She was so hurt and groggy, I couldn't, but its okay, because she thought it was her voice charm from Peg-leg's class today."
"That's lucky," Remus said. "I don't suppose you know what the perfect prefect was doing out and about at midnight in the Forbidden Forest?"
"Looking for moonflowers to do a different version of the soul mate spell, which will hopefully show her me in human form, thus solving all of my problems," James replied with a grin.
"Did she find any," Sirius asked astutely.
"Nope, she's going back out tomorrow. I was going to shadow her as Prongs to keep her out of trouble."
"Just make sure she finds some tomorrow, otherwise she'll go out again during the full moon," Remus said, warily.
"I'll keep her safe, don't worry so much Moony."
"Groovy," Sirius said. "Now all of us except Prongs can go back to bed and he can sigh into the darkness about how Lily's lips felt against his fur."
The Marauders all turned over and went back to sleep, except James who followed Sirius' suggestion to the letter.
The next day was a Saturday, and also the first Quidditch match of the season, Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw. The entire school turned out in full force to watch the match. Lily sat with the other Gryffindors, but she wore Hufflepuff's colors and waved flags with brilliant badgers emblazoned on them.
"You know, Lily, its good to support your boyfriend and all, but you might be taking this a little far," Elizabeth said, sitting next to her.
"Bet you he catches the snitch before an hour is up," Lily stated proudly.
"That's a bet I wouldn't take unless they were playing Gryffindor," James responded from Lily's other side.
"He did it once," Lily defended.
"Two years ago, and Sirius was out of the game for turning Snape into a giant cobra," Remus added from behind her.
"Everyone's against Amos, I should be sitting with the Hufflepuffs," Lily huffed.
"Hey," Elizabeth cried, "I didn't mean it like that!"
"And I said I wouldn't take that bet today, you're probably right." James soothed her.
"And I was too busy watching McMillan make a truly excellent play, which you lot missed, to argue," Sirius cut in.
"What happened," Lily asked, her eyes darting around the field.
"Suffice it to say, the score is now 10-0 Hufflepuff," Peter said, cheering with the rest of the crowd.
Not wanting to miss anything else, the bickering students dropped the argument and focused their eyes on the players. After the game, they rushed the field with everyone else to give congratulations to the winners (Hufflepuff, 260-100). Lily rewarded her sweaty boyfriend with a big, public kiss and later with an even bigger private snog.
"I love you," he whispered to her as they parted for their separate houses.
"I love you, too," she said, with a soft smile. "And that was a really well played game."
"Who will you be supporting in the next match?" The next match was Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor.
"Whoever looks like they're losing," she said, giving her age old answer. He returned her smile then, and they left on their separate paths.
At five minutes after midnight, James dashed out of the common room, still wearing his invisibility cloak, realizing that Lily must have taken the window and could have been out for an hour already.
At seven minutes after midnight, Lily's broom floated slowly to the ground outside of her window only to see her stag sprinting toward the forest. "Stag," she called, briefly forgetting how many rules she was breaking.
Surprisingly, the stag stopped cold and turned to look at her. She didn't have her voice charm, but she got out one of the apple's she'd brought and walked slowly toward it. She was trying not to startle it, so it took her quite a while to cross the grounds, but she was completely unsure of why the animal didn't bolt immediately. When she got close enough, she offered the apple to him. He sniffed it tentatively, and then nibbled on it. When he finished it off in a few quick munches, she offered him a sugar cube. He seemed to like this, too and allowed her to pet him.
"You need a name, Mr. Stag," Lily whispered to him. "If I'm going to keep talking to you, I'd like to know who I'm talking to. I think I'll call you. I don't know, Coathanger? On account of those huge pronged antlers you wave about so proudly. Hm, maybe Prongs. I've heard Sirius call James that, although that will stay between us, I wouldn't want James to know I named you after him. No, that would never do." She smiled. "I'll give you a carrot if you agree to keep this our secret." The stag didn't say anything, so she gave him a carrot.
"As much as I'd love to stay out here with you, I really do need to go into the forest. I have to get those moonflowers tonight or I'll have to wait three days to come out again." The stag cocked its head at her as she began to walk away. Then it seemed to make up its mind and follow her. They walked together into the forest.
Lily looked around diligently, but couldn't stand the oppressive silence after a while.
"I wish you could understand me," she said softly, "I'd really like someone to talk to right now. And I could warn you to be careful tomorrow. I mean, I know they aren't supposed to be a danger to normal animals, and that's all you seem to be, but I'll worry about you all the same." The stag stopped walking.
"What is the matter Prongs, why have you stopped?" Lily looked around for something dangerous, and instead saw the softly glowing flowers she was searching for. "Oh, Prongs, you're amazing! I would have completely missed them!" She pecked the stag's cheek and went to pick the flowers. When the flowers were safely tucked into her bag, she gave the animal another apple. It munched happily and walked with her out of the forest.
"I do believe you're the tamest stag I've ever met, Prongs," Lily smiled. "I wonder if you're some wizard's pet down in Hogsmead." The stag did not answer, so she continued. "I do feel safer when you're around, though I hope you won't be insulted when I tell you that I still don't think you're my soul mate. When the full moon is over, though, I'll come back out here again and bring you some more food. After all, you need to fatten up for winter and I still haven't thanked you properly for saving my life or finding my moonflowers."
Lily stroked the stag's neck while they walked, but when they reached the edge of the forest, Prongs shied and sprang away. Feeling a little less safe as she crossed the school grounds and used her hidden broom to soar back up to the girls' dorm, Lily wondered what had spooked her friend.
James did a victory lap around the entire Forbidden Forest. From what he knew about the spell Lily was attempting, she should know they belonged together within a week. Then she would break up with Amos, and he wouldn't have to do a thing! He could get Lily without being the bad guy, stay friends with Amos, and never have to risk Lily hating him for his unimpeachable conduct. It was almost too perfect.