disclaimer: I don't own it already! sobs
"A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appearing so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.
"Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the gorund, and high-heeled, buckled shoes. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore."
"Aha!" James exclaimed, "So Dumbledore's in this book!"
"Obviously," Remus muttered, rolling his eyes. James ignored him pointedly. "What if -- what if we're in the book?" he continued excitedly. "I mean, the title does include 'Potter' --"
"Oh, so now he's the 'Potter' in the title?" Peter said, looking both very surprised and terrified -- he obviously did not speak up on his own very often.
Sirius frowned thoughtfully. "You know, that's an idea there. Let's see," he said, skimming the next few pages. "Ah, the cat is McGonagall ... what do you know ... hmmm ... Voldemort's mentioned, seems that in this story he's just been defeated ... HEY!" he suddenly exclaimed, causing James and Remus to jump and Peter to fall out of the cair he'd been sitting in.
"YOU'RE IN THE BOOK, PRONGS! Here -- listen -- the exact words are 'JAMES AND LILY POTTER'! Looks like you get lucky with Lils after all; if I'd written this I wouldn't have thought --"
Sirius paused, confused. His words didn't exactly have the effect he'd expected; in fact, the three Marauders were frozen. James face had the distinct look of panic written on it. Slowly, he turned around -- and met the very green eyes of a certain Lily Evans.
"Would you stop bellowing at the top of your lungs at this hour?" she demanded, glaring hotly at the four of them. "It's extremely rude, not to mention disgustingly immature. And Remus -- you're a prefect -- why can't you set a better example?"
"Ah, we were just reading," James said timidly, sounding very much as if he'd rather be in any situation in the world than this one.
"Oh, really?" she snarled. "May I ask just what it is that you're reading? 'James and Lily Potter'," she quoted, doing a decent impression of Sirius's voice. "What is it, James's diary?"
Even the dearest loyalty to their friend couldn't prevent Sirius, Remus, and Peter from sharing a laugh at the way James turned from pale to bright red at this statement.
Much to James's abject horror, his friends didn't seem to think he'd been tortured quite enough.
"How could she possibly have known he fancied her?" Sirius said in a loud whisper. "He's always been so subtle --"
"Oh, come off it," Lily said, feeling a bit sorry for James despite herself. "What are you really reading?"
Sirius held up the battered copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
"That's a Muggle book," she said suspiciously. "They're all over the bookstores in London."
"... though, I've never bothered actually reading it," she added a bit uncertainly. "Is it any good?"
