Obviously, I haven't bought rights to Harry Potter in the last few weeks. Duh. Sorry I haven't updated, AP exams and other Finals.
It was a fine Autumn day, and Sirius, James and Peter were sitting on the green by tall tree with low branches. James was sitting on the lowest branch of the tree, slouching down with his foot dangling over, scraping the dirt of the ground. Sirius was 2 branches higher and about a meter away from James, feet propped up against another branch that was sprouting from that one, while Remus and Peter sat on the ground, propped up against the tree. Remus was working on a Potions essay, and harassing James, Peter and Sirius to finish with theirs, or at least start it. Peter was fiddling with his remembral, rolling it around in his hands, perhaps tossing it a few centimeters up in the air then catching it, and eating a big box of "Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans" one jelly bean at a time. He picked up a whitish-green one and put it on top of his tongue, waiting for it to dissolve, and then he noticed a putrid taste in his mouth. Onion flavor. Peter made a funny face, flinching and blinking with his right eye, while curling his nose, as his mouth scrunched up, before he spit out the bean. James saw the face that Peter was making, and laughed.
"Pick a winner, Wormtail?" James said, between laughs.
"Onion flavor!" Peter replied sticking his tongue out then shaking his head furiously, his mousy brown hair in his watery eyes.
"Peter, you should really take up a new candy, you always seem to get the worst ones."
"Well, this one looks good," Peter said, picking up a red one, "probably cherry, or maybe strawberry." Peter popped the bean into his mouth, made another awful face, eyes wide as he sucked in his lips, and spit the bean 2 meters, "Ewwww….Jalapeno flavored!"
"I thought Jalapenos were green." James said, looked at the box reproachfully. Peter shrugged, taking a big swig from a water bottle and wiping his mouth of on his shirtsleeve. Sirius and Remus however, were unconcerned with Peter's bean dilemma, as they both had concerns of their own. Or at least, Remus did, he had finished his potions essay, "There, it's perfect!" and had moved on to some History of Magic reading. Sirius, however, was transfixed by something else off in the distance.
Then Peter realized what had captured Sirius' immediate attention: A girl with sort of frizzy dirty blonde hair and dark blue eyes beneath two nicely shaped brown eyebrows, sat on a low brick wall near an oak tree. Her complexion was mostly clear, and she wore her Hogwarts uniform, with the shirt completely un-tucked, and one dark gray knit sock pulled up 3 or 4 centimeters higher than the other. She had pale red finger nail polish on her nails, which had chipped off at the edges. Peter was fairly sure it had not been a professional job; perhaps a friend had done them for her. She wore a Ravenclaw scarf, and neither Peter nor Sirius has ever seen her before. She was reading something she obviously found very comical, because her eyes were streaming with tears of mirth. Peter watched as Sirius walked in her general direction and leaned against a brick wall, trying his best to look delightfully unconcerned.
The girl came to a very funny part of her text, and bent very far over, sending the book out of her lap and onto the ground. Sirius saw the book fall a few feet in front of him, and walked over to pick it up. The name on the inside cover was Whitney Grace Miller.
"Oops," she said laughing at her own mistake, "Thanks." She took the book from Sirius hands, and their eyes met for a moment before she looked away and chortled softly, shaking her mostly straight blonde hair a little.
"What are you reading?" Sirius asked, running his hand through his long shaggy black hair, without really thinking about it. His voice was very smooth, and for some reason, it reminded Peter of Strawberry yogurt.
"Oh, it's just a muggle fiction book about magic that I bought in London." She said, blushing slightly.
"Is it any good?" he asked, coolly interested in what she had to say."
"No, but it's funny." She laughed at herself again.
"So, what's your name?"
"Whitney Grace, but mostly people just call me Grace really. Kind of ironic, actually."
"Of course not," Sirius said with a chuckle, "what are you talking about?"
"Oh, I'm sure that my dropping my book was smooth."
"I guess not." He laughed, as she blushed crimson. Peter watched animatedly. Sirius was the least trustworthy of all of the Marauders, but girls found him the easiest to trust, mostly because of his deep brown eyes, and because he was the ideal of male beauty. Strange really, because Remus was probably the most loyal, and he was the least interesting to most of the Hogwarts females. Of course, Peter was of even lower female interest than Remus. But it was okay with him, there was really only one person who held his interest, and that was Lily. Not that he held her interest. She didn't hate him like she supposedly hated James, but she was completely unconcerned with him. She probably liked Sirius, maybe Remus, but not him, and, at the present time, DEFINITELY not James. He continued to watch Sirius' smooth charm, and wished deeply that he held such a power over the female gender. Or at least his height, lightly tanned skin, medium length dark brown hair and deep chocolate eyes.
"So, what are you doing tomorrow?" Sirius asked her, while he leaned against the wall with his hair dangling dangerously in his face.
"Group review for my History of Magic Test." She smiled at him apologetically, somewhat regretting her answer.
"Maybe I should go, I'm failing." Said Sirius, laughing.
"Then maybe you should!" she laughed too, "It's going to be mostly Ravenclaws there, so you probably won't know many people."
"Well, I'll know you! Maybe I'll learn enough about the German Empire to pass the test."
"Um…Sirius, it's a test about wizardry during the Roman Empire."
"Then I'm screwed, but I'll probably come anyway."
"Cool." She said, obviously at a loss for words. After all, the most sought after man at Hogwarts had not only approached her, an average Ravenclaw girl, but he was making an honest effort to spend time with her. "So, I'll see you after breakfast tomorrow? We're meeting on the lawns."
"Sounds like a plan," Sirius said, grinning at the brainy blonde, "So, anyone from Gryffindor coming?"
"Oh, some random girl named Lila, or something," She said, shrugging, "She sits next to my friend, Emma, during History of Magic."
"Lily, maybe?" asked Sirius, Peter's heart sped, if Lily was their, he wanted to come. He was thought maybe that, if he thought it hard enough, Sirius would ask him to come.
"Ask me! Ask me to come!" He thought, biting his lower lip and straining his face, as thought it would make any difference.
"You know, I might have a friend who would be interested, if that's the case…" Sirius said, thinking about.
"Ask me! Ask me!" Peter screwed up his face and held his breath.
"Yep, My friend…James would love to come." Peter deflated, and his heart sunk, "he could always use a little History of Magic help. And some Lily help."
"Does he like her, or something?"
"Does he LIKE her?" Sirius burst out into a bark-like laugh, "Only since 1st year when he knocked her off a boat."
"He did WHAT?" Asked Grace, confused by Sirius's explanation. Sirius proceeded to explain what had happened in first year, laughing at the funny bits. Peter took a deep breath, and stopped listening for now.
About 20 minutes later, Sirius came back, climbing the branches of the tree, and collapsing on a branch near James, his head in the dense foliage.
"Hey James, I've got us a date Tomorrow." Sirius broke the silence, and Peter turned an ear to listen.
"Sirius, I'm not interested in dating you." James said with a snicker.
"Not me, you poofter, I've got me a date with Grace, and YOU a date with Lily.
"All right! How'd you manage that?"
"She doesn't know." Sirius replied with a shrug.
"What do you mean, 'she doesn't know'?" he was rather confused by what he had said.
"I mean she doesn't know. There's a big study session for the History of Magic Exam."
"Oh, right!" James gave Sirius the thumbs up, "But they're be plenty of time afterwards for us to go our separate ways, right?"
"Only reason I decided to come." Sirius raised his eyebrows suggestively.
"But who was that girl you were talking to, she's quite a looker."
"Oh, Grace? Yeah, she's a Ravenclaw, so she's got the brains, AND the looks. She's going to be much harder to get her to warm up to me though, but I've never said I didn't like a challenge."
"You talk about Women like they're cattle or something, Sirius!" Remus replied, somewhat indignantly, "You'd shag the Chief Vestal Virgins if you got the opportunity." Sirius, James and Peter all gave him a confused look, sitting in silence. "Sorry, History of Magic review." He said, showing them the cover of the book, which read "Government of the Roman Empire, a Magical Perspective."
"Well, anyway, it's tomorrow right after breakfast." Sirius said, ignoring what Remus had just interjected.
"Breakfast? But it's a Saturday, I was planning on sleeping in!"
"Tough luck mate, it's either sleep or Lily, you got to decide now what your priorities are. Sleep, or girls."
"Well, I guess in this instance I'm going to go with Lily. Sleep will have to wait."
"Wouldn't it be counterproductive to wait to go to sleep if you're going to get up early?" Lupin asked, shrugging.
"I guess you're right, and me with a divination star chart to finish. I'd better start it." James pulled out some parchment and got to work, while Peter continued to toss around his remembral, taking short homework breaks, or talking to Remus or James. He wanted to go to that review and see Lily tomorrow; he doubted he would be so forward. But right now, he really needed to finish his divinations work so the old bat who taught divination wouldn't try to give him "morning detention" or something.
Maybe tomorrow would be a better day, and a better chance for him and Lily, but he doubted it. He never really got any closer to her, and she seemed always so far off and unattainable. Especially because James liked her, and even though she hated him, Peter always knew that there was a fine line between love and hate, especially if the hate had no real foundation. James probably had a better chance with Lily than he did simply because they HAD a history. And it didn't help much that James was insanely attractive. As chaser of the Quidditch team and all around popular guy, James was well sought after by the young female population of Hogwarts. He, Peter, had few redeeming qualities. He was small for his age with mousy brown hair and watery eyes, and he was very shy, and clingy. James was loud and fast and outgoing and fun, and fairly obnoxious at times. But there was always a chance for him, no matter how miniscule, and tomorrow was another day, with an immediately looming opportunity for him to win her affections. Or at least, it could happen, right?