Chapter 2: Wormtail, Moony, Padfoot and Prongs
The next day the boys woke up at noon, and made a mutual decision to play a two on two game of quidditch. James and Sirius were both top players on the Gryffindor quidditch team. James played as one of the three team chasers, while Sirius played as one of the two beaters, which suited him quite well as he was naturally roguish.
Of course, Remus had tried out for the team twice, but just didn't seem to be cut out for it. This didn't both him terribly though, because although he liked quidditch well enough, he could just as easily be content spending his time reading, catching up on school work, or more importantly, fool proofing the Marauders well thought out pranks, making sure absolutely nothing could go wrong.
Peter, on the other hand, could hardly catch a ball on foot, let alone riding a broomstick, which would be quite next to impossible. It was fairly safe to say he would rather watch from the sidelines. He was keener on placing bets on who would win an upcoming school quidditch match, and making profits off other houses when Gryffindor won. Naturally, this money partly went towards the Marauders stash they kept for their pranks.
Since there were only enough people for two people on each team, their game was based on who got the most goals. Of course, being part of a rich, pure blood family, it was only natural that the Potter Mansion held a quidditch pitch, if only three quarters the size of a full sized one, this was more than enough for their game, and at least they had the scoring rings for their goals.
The boys ended up playing two games. The first, Peter and Sirius won, only because they lost count of the score and Sirius declared them the winner "'cause me and Petsie here are just way hotter than you two losers. Therefore, we win!" So of course, they had a rematch which James and Remus won, basically because Peter wasn't on their team. The boys ended up staying on their brooms until dusk; once they had played the two games, they ended up just flying around, mucking about in the air. Once the sky got darker however, they were called in to scrub up before dinner.
~*~
"Now James, you're mother and I have a formal dinner to attend at the Rinton House, you boys will be alone for the rest of the night, we won't be home till late. Behave," he added, with a somewhat stern glance. "Of course father, when are we ever anything but innocent little cherubs, hmm?" James said, with a cheeky grin that said highly otherwise. "Don't worry Mr. Potter, we promise not to break any china," Remus reassured him. "Yes very well," Mr. Potter ended, "bye then." "Bye," chorused the four boys, with cheery waves. With that James' father nodded to the boys and waltzed out of the room. "Well boys, we're on our own," James said, smiling mischievously.
A squeaky voice from the doorway erupted in a squeaky tone, "Sirs, dinner is served." It was one of the house elves, and once it had said that it vanished with a pop. The boys took one look at each other, and raced out of the room. These boys lived for food, especially after spending the day on broomsticks. As the boys made their way through three main dishes of pasta, stir - fry and steak, randomly grabbing a buttered roll, or a scoop of mash potato, they talked about a variety of things; the end of year ball etc. However, there was one topic that was sure to make anyone want to stop and eavesdrop.
"You know, we should have nicknames," James suddenly said. The other three boys gave him a quizzical look. "We do," Sirius finally said, "Jamsie, Remy, Petsie and Siri," and he accordingly pointed to each boy as he stated their 'nicknames.' "No, no. Like, we're the Marauders right, and you know, now that each of us can turn into an animal," James said, dropping his voice, "we should each have a name that represents that animal. You know, like for me, something to do with my antlers." Remus looked thoughtful for a moment, "you know, that's not such a bad idea." He paused, and then, "Oh, ooh! James, you could be prongs!" He said excitedly, gesturing above his head where the antlers would be on a stag. "That I could. Good thinking!" James said, grinning, "now for you guys." At that the boys went silent for a few moments in thought. "Moony," Peter piped up suddenly. "What?!" Sirius said, looking confused. "R.Remus could be...you know...Moony," he said, now somewhat unsure of himself. Remus grinned. "Yeah! I Like it. Moony." He said. At this, the other boys smiled too. "Catchy that one is. Now me." Sirius said eagerly. "Hmm," thought Remus. "Furface." "Waggy." "Bitch." "Snuffles." At this, Sirius, who currently had a mouthful of Pumpkin Juice in his mouth, spluttered, and spurted this all over Peter's plate. "Snuffles! Snuffles! The best you could come up with!? Snuffles..!" While Remus and James were chuckling and making noises as you would to a cute little puppy dog, Peter just pouted and complained, "Aww, look what you've done to my food." Everyone ignored this. "Ok, ok, something other than Snuffles I take," Remus said, with a grin. Sirius gave him 'the look.' The list went on until. "Fastfeet?" "Padfoot." At this Sirius grinned and said, "Finally, some genius. Now, for good old Petsie." "Scatter." "Cat chow." and again the list went on until James spoke up. "How about Wormtail." Peter gave him a look of somewhat horror. James elaborated. "Ok, don't you remember. It was like the second time we went out onto the ground in our animal forms; we went into the forest and." "And that bird attacked your tail 'cause it thought it was a worm!" Sirius finished for him, and again, the boys cracked into mirthful laughter at this memory. "So what do you think? Wormtail?" Asked James. "Well, it's better than Cat Chow," said Peter resignedly, though smiling nevertheless.
~*~
The next few weeks until the start of term went by in a flurry. The boys used their new nicknames as often as possible, and soon it became a second nature to call each other these names instead of those on their birth certificates.
In the last week of the holidays the boy's floo'd their way to Diagon Alley, where they bought all their school supplies, and a few of quite the opposite. A few Filibuster Fireworks and Sound Charms later, the four Marauders were sitting at an outside table, enjoying the taste of Florean Fortescue's ice cream. Though, not alone; sitting with them was Belinda and Lisa, two of the sixth year female Gryffindors. Although, no Lily.
While Remus was quite smooth, as James would say, while talking to Belinda, and did indeed flirt, if ever so subtly with her, Peter was quite the opposite. He was shy and nervous, and couldn't quite get his mouth around any coherent words. Finally, after many not so subtle nudging from Sirius and winks of encouragement from James, Peter found his voice, and made an attempt at conversation with Lisa, even if it was that bit futile. "So.so Lisa.you do anything these holidays?" Peter finally managed to say.
"Yeah, sure, for the first two weeks my family and I visited some distant cousins in Canada. I tell you though, they've got some weird ass way of talking over there," she replied, somehow withstanding Peters spluttering.
The girls chit chatted idly with the boys, though couldn't stay for as quite soon Belinda's mother came by to pick them both up. The girls said their farewells, with promises of finding them on the Hogwarts express on the first of September. When the boys were alone again, Remus said, "Care to explain what these are for?" and gestured towards the bag carrying the Filibuster Fireworks and Sound Charms. At this, Sirius grinned and as the four boys huddled together, told them of the prank tool he had invented in his time alone at the Black Manor, and the Marauders discussed the many pranking opportunities that came along with this ever so useful tool.
To onlookers, this scene may have looked like four innocent boys simply getting overexcited about a recently watched quidditch match or the likes. They would see one of the boys gesturing wildly with his arms, clapping his hands together once, then with a pointed finger, spiraled his hand upwards, chatting excitedly. At this, the boys would all laugh, maybe with a hint of cheekiness, but could still perhaps be taken as innocent. Little did they know.
~*~
As the Hogwarts express chugged on, making its way towards the famous Hogwarts, James and Sirius were strolling down the train, ducking their heads in compartments, trying to find the rest of their fellow Marauders, Remus and Peter.
"This one?" Asked James, as Sirius ducked his head into another compartment. "Eugh, no, it's that fat pudgy Hufflepuff and that annoying sister of his that dobbed us in to McGonagall. "Next," James said, making a face. "Slytherins, next, my dungbombs are in my suitcase." James looked into the next compartment, and instead of saying anything, just made a number of faces - amusement, shock, disgust - and then finally, after not saying anything for at least 20 seconds, Sirius blurted out, "What is it already!?" "Is that.no.Joshua? ...and.and." stuttered back James. Finally, getting sick of this, Sirius pushed hi. Aside and looked into the compartment himself, and then opened his mouth in shock. "Joshua.and.and.Michael?" Sirius was just as stunned. Then, coming out of his stupor, James grabbed Sirius' arm and they jogged away from that particular compartment. They kept going at a quick pace until they heard Remus' voice shout out to them. "Oy! We're in here!" So the boys back trotted a few steps and looked into the window of the compartment where the voice came from, just to make sure it was the right one, then they hurriedly walked into the compartment where Remus and Peter sat, apparently in the middle of a games of Exploding Snap.
Remus looked up from his cards and said, "Finally, you said you would be here soon, I didn't think it would take that long to talk to you're Quidditch Captain," then, noticing their disgusted faces, asked "what is it?" At this James spoke up, "Did you know that the Head Boy and Michael Willipot were.gay? Together!" At this, Peter apparently had a horrible mental image and started spluttering. Remus, however, did not look phased. "Of course, that's old news. They've been together since last year, when that Elizabeth chick broke up with Michael, and Joshua was there to 'comfort' him. I'm surprised you guys hadn't noticed, the whole of Gryffindor Tower knows." "Oh, I thought they were just.good friends," muttered James, as Sirius just nodded dumbly in agreement. "Nah," Remus, said, waving his hand, "come on, play some Exploding Snap with us." Before Sirius and James got the chance to walk over to where Peter and Remus where playing, the compartment door opened.
Through the door came Belinda and Joey Milton, two of the resident female sixth year Gryffindors. Upon seeing the Marauders, Belinda smiled and greeted them. Joey looked around with a not too happy look no her face, and tugged at Belinda's sleeve, jerking her head back towards the door. "Hang on," Belinda told the boys, and she followed Joey back out of the compartment. "What is it?" Belinda inquired of Joey. "You're actually friendly with those dickheads?" Joey asked, motioning towards the door of the compartment. "Look Joey, I know you and Lily don't really like them. Once you get to know them they're really nice," Belinda started, and then when Joey began to protest she quickly explained, "Look, why they're not trying to impress everyone, they're great to be around. And you have to admit, Remus isn't all that bad, even when he is around everyone else, its really just James and Sirius. Just give them a chance, you'll see for yourself." At Belinda's sincere look, Joey was at least half convinced. "Ok," Joey said hesitantly, "but if they make and cheesy or rude comment you can't blame me if I walk out." "Deal," and with that, Belinda opened the door and walked back inside the compartment, Joey at her heels.
While Belinda and Joey were outside discussing the boys, James said to Sirius, "Mate, this is your chance, you gotta show her how great a guy you are." "And don't stuff it up. Be nice," Remus added, "or you might stuff it up for me as well." At this, Sirius pretended to look hurt and horrified of the very idea. "Of course!" He said, "She won't be able to resist my wondrous charm, you have nothing to worry about." "I beg to differ," Remus said dryly. Before Sirius could say anything else, the compartment door opened once more, and the two potential dates walked back in.
"Glad you decided to join us," James said, Sirius nudged him and then smiled at Joey. "There's a place here if you want to sit," Sirius said, pointedly at Joey, and then scooted over to make space for her. Joey vacillated, but Belinda gave her a look that clearly said 'what are you waiting for', and so with that, Joey went and sat next to Sirius, while Belinda plunked herself happily down next to Remus. They obviously had a connection.
As Remus and Belinda chatted easily with each other, never at a loss for words, and James went to sit with peter to play some Exploding Snap, Sirius sat with Joey, trying to show her his 'better' side. "So, I've seen that you're pretty good at Transfiguration," Sirius tried, hoping to start and open conversation. "Of course, I find the subjects I like, I'm good at. I apply myself, you know." Joey replied. "I know exactly what you mean! The art of being able to change something at your own will, to suit your needs, it's amazing!" Sirius elaborated. Joey seemed impressed. Good looking and smart? Now there's a good bonus, thought Joey, and we actually have something in common.god, I'm not sure if that's a good thing. "I know, it's excellent. I heard you got quite a few O.W.L.S. for our Transfiguration exam," Joey said, instead of voicing her thoughts. "Yeah, I was expecting the theory to be a bit harder actually."
~*~
James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The entire school was seated in the great Hall for the Welcome feast, and it was nearing the end. He tuned out as Professor Dumbledore spoke a few words to the respectfully silent students.
From the time he had set his eyes on Lily that evening when they were boarding the horseless carriages, until about twenty minutes ago, James had tried to make conversation with Lily, but his attempts were completely futile. He has tried everything to get her to talk to him; starting conversations about things he knew she was interested in, but every time he did she seemed to just completely ignore him. He even tried small talk, casually asking her to pass the mash potato, and subtly telling her that he liked her ring and asking where she got it from. She had just looked at him exasperatedly and said "you wouldn't know the place" and then had gone back to contributing in a conversation with a seventh year girl on her left.
He glanced over at her as she gave her full attention to Dumbledore. The light from the candles reflected off her face, giving it a certain glow. Her intoxicating green eyes twinkled as Dumbledore made a joke, I wish I could make her eyes twinkle like that, and her red hair shined in the magically presented night sky. She's so beautiful, he thought to himself, not for the first time. Maybe she is the one girl that I don't deserve. I don't get her, she's so complicated.and yet, so simple. She's never has anything bad to say about anyone else, unless perhaps they insult her in some way, but then she just defends herself. She even stands up for Snape. He thought back to the times when she had told him off for doing something nasty to Snape, even when he reminded her of all the spiteful things Snape had said to her.
Someone shook him out of his thoughts. Remus was standing behind him with Peter at his side. James looked around at the students climbing out of their seats and heading out of the huge double doors of the great Hall, to go to their respective dormitories. Sighing, he got out of his own seat and followed his friends out the doors.
"Where's Sirius?" James asked, noticing the absence of his friend. "He went ahead with Joey, he said he was going to walk her up to the tower," Remus replied. "I don't know how he did it," started peter, "she seems completely taken by him, and it's only first day back. He'll definitely have her as a date for the ball." "Yeah," said Remus, "seems like he doesn't need you're help to win her over after all. Although, I dare say, you'll be needing all the help you can get to get Lily." James flinched at the reminder, but said smoothly, "Don't worry, there's still plenty of time to win over Lily Evans' heart." He heard a sob nearby. He looked around and saw a pretty brunette fifth year looking at him with tears in her eyes, and then she ran off; her friend glared at him before chasing after her. Remus looked amused.
"Oh, damn," said James, "I thought she would have taken a hint after I didn't write back to her last letter in the holidays. I mean, it's not like I ever said I loved her or anything." He glanced hopelessly at Remus. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll get over it," reassured Remus, "So how many ex - girlfriends is that?" "Tch, I lost count after fourth year. I thought you would keep track." Remus laughed. "Ok, well you know you can't have anymore girlfriends now. Well, and that don't go by the name of lily Evans." Peter said. James just grumbled.
But Peter is right, he thought to himself, I gotta change my attitude. No more Mister James Potter heart breaker extraordinaire. Maybe I should ask David for some advice on how to stick to one girl. David was in seventh year and had been going out with his girlfriend, Claire, since they were both fourth years. He was even talking about proposing to her after graduation. That's gotta be hard. I've never seen him even look at another girl in interest.talk about devotion. But.Lily.she's definitely worth it.
James went to bed that night with thoughts of speaking to David the next day, asking for advice.
A/N: Hey guys, just dropping a note to ask everyone to please review! Constructive criticism welcome. Next chapter you will find out exactly what this useful pranking tool is.
The next day the boys woke up at noon, and made a mutual decision to play a two on two game of quidditch. James and Sirius were both top players on the Gryffindor quidditch team. James played as one of the three team chasers, while Sirius played as one of the two beaters, which suited him quite well as he was naturally roguish.
Of course, Remus had tried out for the team twice, but just didn't seem to be cut out for it. This didn't both him terribly though, because although he liked quidditch well enough, he could just as easily be content spending his time reading, catching up on school work, or more importantly, fool proofing the Marauders well thought out pranks, making sure absolutely nothing could go wrong.
Peter, on the other hand, could hardly catch a ball on foot, let alone riding a broomstick, which would be quite next to impossible. It was fairly safe to say he would rather watch from the sidelines. He was keener on placing bets on who would win an upcoming school quidditch match, and making profits off other houses when Gryffindor won. Naturally, this money partly went towards the Marauders stash they kept for their pranks.
Since there were only enough people for two people on each team, their game was based on who got the most goals. Of course, being part of a rich, pure blood family, it was only natural that the Potter Mansion held a quidditch pitch, if only three quarters the size of a full sized one, this was more than enough for their game, and at least they had the scoring rings for their goals.
The boys ended up playing two games. The first, Peter and Sirius won, only because they lost count of the score and Sirius declared them the winner "'cause me and Petsie here are just way hotter than you two losers. Therefore, we win!" So of course, they had a rematch which James and Remus won, basically because Peter wasn't on their team. The boys ended up staying on their brooms until dusk; once they had played the two games, they ended up just flying around, mucking about in the air. Once the sky got darker however, they were called in to scrub up before dinner.
~*~
"Now James, you're mother and I have a formal dinner to attend at the Rinton House, you boys will be alone for the rest of the night, we won't be home till late. Behave," he added, with a somewhat stern glance. "Of course father, when are we ever anything but innocent little cherubs, hmm?" James said, with a cheeky grin that said highly otherwise. "Don't worry Mr. Potter, we promise not to break any china," Remus reassured him. "Yes very well," Mr. Potter ended, "bye then." "Bye," chorused the four boys, with cheery waves. With that James' father nodded to the boys and waltzed out of the room. "Well boys, we're on our own," James said, smiling mischievously.
A squeaky voice from the doorway erupted in a squeaky tone, "Sirs, dinner is served." It was one of the house elves, and once it had said that it vanished with a pop. The boys took one look at each other, and raced out of the room. These boys lived for food, especially after spending the day on broomsticks. As the boys made their way through three main dishes of pasta, stir - fry and steak, randomly grabbing a buttered roll, or a scoop of mash potato, they talked about a variety of things; the end of year ball etc. However, there was one topic that was sure to make anyone want to stop and eavesdrop.
"You know, we should have nicknames," James suddenly said. The other three boys gave him a quizzical look. "We do," Sirius finally said, "Jamsie, Remy, Petsie and Siri," and he accordingly pointed to each boy as he stated their 'nicknames.' "No, no. Like, we're the Marauders right, and you know, now that each of us can turn into an animal," James said, dropping his voice, "we should each have a name that represents that animal. You know, like for me, something to do with my antlers." Remus looked thoughtful for a moment, "you know, that's not such a bad idea." He paused, and then, "Oh, ooh! James, you could be prongs!" He said excitedly, gesturing above his head where the antlers would be on a stag. "That I could. Good thinking!" James said, grinning, "now for you guys." At that the boys went silent for a few moments in thought. "Moony," Peter piped up suddenly. "What?!" Sirius said, looking confused. "R.Remus could be...you know...Moony," he said, now somewhat unsure of himself. Remus grinned. "Yeah! I Like it. Moony." He said. At this, the other boys smiled too. "Catchy that one is. Now me." Sirius said eagerly. "Hmm," thought Remus. "Furface." "Waggy." "Bitch." "Snuffles." At this, Sirius, who currently had a mouthful of Pumpkin Juice in his mouth, spluttered, and spurted this all over Peter's plate. "Snuffles! Snuffles! The best you could come up with!? Snuffles..!" While Remus and James were chuckling and making noises as you would to a cute little puppy dog, Peter just pouted and complained, "Aww, look what you've done to my food." Everyone ignored this. "Ok, ok, something other than Snuffles I take," Remus said, with a grin. Sirius gave him 'the look.' The list went on until. "Fastfeet?" "Padfoot." At this Sirius grinned and said, "Finally, some genius. Now, for good old Petsie." "Scatter." "Cat chow." and again the list went on until James spoke up. "How about Wormtail." Peter gave him a look of somewhat horror. James elaborated. "Ok, don't you remember. It was like the second time we went out onto the ground in our animal forms; we went into the forest and." "And that bird attacked your tail 'cause it thought it was a worm!" Sirius finished for him, and again, the boys cracked into mirthful laughter at this memory. "So what do you think? Wormtail?" Asked James. "Well, it's better than Cat Chow," said Peter resignedly, though smiling nevertheless.
~*~
The next few weeks until the start of term went by in a flurry. The boys used their new nicknames as often as possible, and soon it became a second nature to call each other these names instead of those on their birth certificates.
In the last week of the holidays the boy's floo'd their way to Diagon Alley, where they bought all their school supplies, and a few of quite the opposite. A few Filibuster Fireworks and Sound Charms later, the four Marauders were sitting at an outside table, enjoying the taste of Florean Fortescue's ice cream. Though, not alone; sitting with them was Belinda and Lisa, two of the sixth year female Gryffindors. Although, no Lily.
While Remus was quite smooth, as James would say, while talking to Belinda, and did indeed flirt, if ever so subtly with her, Peter was quite the opposite. He was shy and nervous, and couldn't quite get his mouth around any coherent words. Finally, after many not so subtle nudging from Sirius and winks of encouragement from James, Peter found his voice, and made an attempt at conversation with Lisa, even if it was that bit futile. "So.so Lisa.you do anything these holidays?" Peter finally managed to say.
"Yeah, sure, for the first two weeks my family and I visited some distant cousins in Canada. I tell you though, they've got some weird ass way of talking over there," she replied, somehow withstanding Peters spluttering.
The girls chit chatted idly with the boys, though couldn't stay for as quite soon Belinda's mother came by to pick them both up. The girls said their farewells, with promises of finding them on the Hogwarts express on the first of September. When the boys were alone again, Remus said, "Care to explain what these are for?" and gestured towards the bag carrying the Filibuster Fireworks and Sound Charms. At this, Sirius grinned and as the four boys huddled together, told them of the prank tool he had invented in his time alone at the Black Manor, and the Marauders discussed the many pranking opportunities that came along with this ever so useful tool.
To onlookers, this scene may have looked like four innocent boys simply getting overexcited about a recently watched quidditch match or the likes. They would see one of the boys gesturing wildly with his arms, clapping his hands together once, then with a pointed finger, spiraled his hand upwards, chatting excitedly. At this, the boys would all laugh, maybe with a hint of cheekiness, but could still perhaps be taken as innocent. Little did they know.
~*~
As the Hogwarts express chugged on, making its way towards the famous Hogwarts, James and Sirius were strolling down the train, ducking their heads in compartments, trying to find the rest of their fellow Marauders, Remus and Peter.
"This one?" Asked James, as Sirius ducked his head into another compartment. "Eugh, no, it's that fat pudgy Hufflepuff and that annoying sister of his that dobbed us in to McGonagall. "Next," James said, making a face. "Slytherins, next, my dungbombs are in my suitcase." James looked into the next compartment, and instead of saying anything, just made a number of faces - amusement, shock, disgust - and then finally, after not saying anything for at least 20 seconds, Sirius blurted out, "What is it already!?" "Is that.no.Joshua? ...and.and." stuttered back James. Finally, getting sick of this, Sirius pushed hi. Aside and looked into the compartment himself, and then opened his mouth in shock. "Joshua.and.and.Michael?" Sirius was just as stunned. Then, coming out of his stupor, James grabbed Sirius' arm and they jogged away from that particular compartment. They kept going at a quick pace until they heard Remus' voice shout out to them. "Oy! We're in here!" So the boys back trotted a few steps and looked into the window of the compartment where the voice came from, just to make sure it was the right one, then they hurriedly walked into the compartment where Remus and Peter sat, apparently in the middle of a games of Exploding Snap.
Remus looked up from his cards and said, "Finally, you said you would be here soon, I didn't think it would take that long to talk to you're Quidditch Captain," then, noticing their disgusted faces, asked "what is it?" At this James spoke up, "Did you know that the Head Boy and Michael Willipot were.gay? Together!" At this, Peter apparently had a horrible mental image and started spluttering. Remus, however, did not look phased. "Of course, that's old news. They've been together since last year, when that Elizabeth chick broke up with Michael, and Joshua was there to 'comfort' him. I'm surprised you guys hadn't noticed, the whole of Gryffindor Tower knows." "Oh, I thought they were just.good friends," muttered James, as Sirius just nodded dumbly in agreement. "Nah," Remus, said, waving his hand, "come on, play some Exploding Snap with us." Before Sirius and James got the chance to walk over to where Peter and Remus where playing, the compartment door opened.
Through the door came Belinda and Joey Milton, two of the resident female sixth year Gryffindors. Upon seeing the Marauders, Belinda smiled and greeted them. Joey looked around with a not too happy look no her face, and tugged at Belinda's sleeve, jerking her head back towards the door. "Hang on," Belinda told the boys, and she followed Joey back out of the compartment. "What is it?" Belinda inquired of Joey. "You're actually friendly with those dickheads?" Joey asked, motioning towards the door of the compartment. "Look Joey, I know you and Lily don't really like them. Once you get to know them they're really nice," Belinda started, and then when Joey began to protest she quickly explained, "Look, why they're not trying to impress everyone, they're great to be around. And you have to admit, Remus isn't all that bad, even when he is around everyone else, its really just James and Sirius. Just give them a chance, you'll see for yourself." At Belinda's sincere look, Joey was at least half convinced. "Ok," Joey said hesitantly, "but if they make and cheesy or rude comment you can't blame me if I walk out." "Deal," and with that, Belinda opened the door and walked back inside the compartment, Joey at her heels.
While Belinda and Joey were outside discussing the boys, James said to Sirius, "Mate, this is your chance, you gotta show her how great a guy you are." "And don't stuff it up. Be nice," Remus added, "or you might stuff it up for me as well." At this, Sirius pretended to look hurt and horrified of the very idea. "Of course!" He said, "She won't be able to resist my wondrous charm, you have nothing to worry about." "I beg to differ," Remus said dryly. Before Sirius could say anything else, the compartment door opened once more, and the two potential dates walked back in.
"Glad you decided to join us," James said, Sirius nudged him and then smiled at Joey. "There's a place here if you want to sit," Sirius said, pointedly at Joey, and then scooted over to make space for her. Joey vacillated, but Belinda gave her a look that clearly said 'what are you waiting for', and so with that, Joey went and sat next to Sirius, while Belinda plunked herself happily down next to Remus. They obviously had a connection.
As Remus and Belinda chatted easily with each other, never at a loss for words, and James went to sit with peter to play some Exploding Snap, Sirius sat with Joey, trying to show her his 'better' side. "So, I've seen that you're pretty good at Transfiguration," Sirius tried, hoping to start and open conversation. "Of course, I find the subjects I like, I'm good at. I apply myself, you know." Joey replied. "I know exactly what you mean! The art of being able to change something at your own will, to suit your needs, it's amazing!" Sirius elaborated. Joey seemed impressed. Good looking and smart? Now there's a good bonus, thought Joey, and we actually have something in common.god, I'm not sure if that's a good thing. "I know, it's excellent. I heard you got quite a few O.W.L.S. for our Transfiguration exam," Joey said, instead of voicing her thoughts. "Yeah, I was expecting the theory to be a bit harder actually."
~*~
James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The entire school was seated in the great Hall for the Welcome feast, and it was nearing the end. He tuned out as Professor Dumbledore spoke a few words to the respectfully silent students.
From the time he had set his eyes on Lily that evening when they were boarding the horseless carriages, until about twenty minutes ago, James had tried to make conversation with Lily, but his attempts were completely futile. He has tried everything to get her to talk to him; starting conversations about things he knew she was interested in, but every time he did she seemed to just completely ignore him. He even tried small talk, casually asking her to pass the mash potato, and subtly telling her that he liked her ring and asking where she got it from. She had just looked at him exasperatedly and said "you wouldn't know the place" and then had gone back to contributing in a conversation with a seventh year girl on her left.
He glanced over at her as she gave her full attention to Dumbledore. The light from the candles reflected off her face, giving it a certain glow. Her intoxicating green eyes twinkled as Dumbledore made a joke, I wish I could make her eyes twinkle like that, and her red hair shined in the magically presented night sky. She's so beautiful, he thought to himself, not for the first time. Maybe she is the one girl that I don't deserve. I don't get her, she's so complicated.and yet, so simple. She's never has anything bad to say about anyone else, unless perhaps they insult her in some way, but then she just defends herself. She even stands up for Snape. He thought back to the times when she had told him off for doing something nasty to Snape, even when he reminded her of all the spiteful things Snape had said to her.
Someone shook him out of his thoughts. Remus was standing behind him with Peter at his side. James looked around at the students climbing out of their seats and heading out of the huge double doors of the great Hall, to go to their respective dormitories. Sighing, he got out of his own seat and followed his friends out the doors.
"Where's Sirius?" James asked, noticing the absence of his friend. "He went ahead with Joey, he said he was going to walk her up to the tower," Remus replied. "I don't know how he did it," started peter, "she seems completely taken by him, and it's only first day back. He'll definitely have her as a date for the ball." "Yeah," said Remus, "seems like he doesn't need you're help to win her over after all. Although, I dare say, you'll be needing all the help you can get to get Lily." James flinched at the reminder, but said smoothly, "Don't worry, there's still plenty of time to win over Lily Evans' heart." He heard a sob nearby. He looked around and saw a pretty brunette fifth year looking at him with tears in her eyes, and then she ran off; her friend glared at him before chasing after her. Remus looked amused.
"Oh, damn," said James, "I thought she would have taken a hint after I didn't write back to her last letter in the holidays. I mean, it's not like I ever said I loved her or anything." He glanced hopelessly at Remus. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll get over it," reassured Remus, "So how many ex - girlfriends is that?" "Tch, I lost count after fourth year. I thought you would keep track." Remus laughed. "Ok, well you know you can't have anymore girlfriends now. Well, and that don't go by the name of lily Evans." Peter said. James just grumbled.
But Peter is right, he thought to himself, I gotta change my attitude. No more Mister James Potter heart breaker extraordinaire. Maybe I should ask David for some advice on how to stick to one girl. David was in seventh year and had been going out with his girlfriend, Claire, since they were both fourth years. He was even talking about proposing to her after graduation. That's gotta be hard. I've never seen him even look at another girl in interest.talk about devotion. But.Lily.she's definitely worth it.
James went to bed that night with thoughts of speaking to David the next day, asking for advice.
A/N: Hey guys, just dropping a note to ask everyone to please review! Constructive criticism welcome. Next chapter you will find out exactly what this useful pranking tool is.