Just Too Tempting
By Avadne
Chapter 2: A Gentleman
Lily was still curiously thinking about that boy and girl they found in the closet; who were they? Why were they in a closet? And where did they come from? Lily knew almost all the students by name; although no where near as popular as the Marauders, her Prefect and Head Girl duties had forced her to take each student in careful consideration and knowledge.
"Excuse me?" she asked hesitantly when she spotted the Marauders accompanying the new students. They all turned sharply; was that a look of recognition in the girl's blue-green-brown eyes? It couldn't be. And what was that in the strange boy's eyes, a somewhat creepy pale blue.
"Hello, Lily," Remus greeted her, bordering on polite. They had been Prefects together since 5th year, so there was time spent together; but as a Marauder, Lily didn't really hold any of them in high acclaim. She gave a very hesitant, forced half-smiled at him and was just about to ask, but the Marauders weren't done yet. There was always something else they could say. Especially Sirius. Speaking of which, he had just piped up.
"What do you want, Evans?" he asked, much ruder. Lily had never been impressed with Sirius, like the other girls. Admittedly, she had harbored a tiny crush on him in 3rd year, but it was quickly squashed down to nothingness when she learned about his personality. Up until 5th year, he had basically ignored her; probably not purposely, but he didn't even know who Lily was. Then Potter started asking her out. And every time, Lily rejected him. Naturally, as James's best friend, Sirius was not happy with Lily.
"Are you always such a prick?" Hermione asked lightly, looking at Sirius. Remus smirked at this and a knowing look came over his face, as well as a playful glint in his amber eyes.
"Trust me, you don't know half of it," he replied for the other boy. While his voice was deadpanned, a ghost of a grin was trying to make its way onto Remus's face. Sirius looked mock-hurt.
"You're killing me, Moony. How can you be so cruel?" Sirius asked dramatically, clutching his heart in an over exaggerated motion. Hermione rolled her eyes and noticed that James had done the same. They grinned at each other briefly, before turning their attention back to the real problem.
"Forget it. I should've expected this; after all, you are friends with Potter," she spat out the name like it was dirt. James looked slightly hurt, but covered it up quickly. Lily had already stormed of, not even asking for the students' names.
"Stay away from that one, she's dangerous," Sirius advised, grinning and looking at James.
"Lily Evans. She's the Head Girl and a Gryffindor," Peter explained quietly.
"James has been asking her out since 5th ye-" Sirius began helpfully, but James elbowed him hard in the ribs. Not exactly smooth, but James glared heavily at the other boy. A silent conversation with their eyes later, both James and Sirius turned around, back to Hermione, Draco, Pete and Remus.
"Forget it, we'll tell you all about the dynamics of Hogwarts later. Now, on with the tour," Sirius said, grinning cheekily. Draco rolled his eyes, not amused, but Hermione grinned. This might not be so bad after all, she though reluctantly.
It had now been 5 days since the arrival of Hermione and Draco at Hogwarts, 1977 and so far, it was certainly a memorable experience. Hermione had observed the Marauders carefully; Remus had light brown hair that was purposely somewhat messy, large amber eyes and a smooth tan, as well as being taller than all the others, but still slender. She had also spotted that everyday Remus had the same heavy chain disappearing under his school shirt and robes. And Hermione had noticed that all 4 Marauders coincidentally disappeared last night, Tuesday the 27th, not to return until midday today.
Sirius had shaggy black hair, cut shorter with the front a bit longer, so that it fell into his stormy grey eyes and aristocratic features; Hermione also noticed that the top of his right ear held an ordinary, muggle piercing. He had broad shoulders and was only an inch or two shorter than Remus. Hermione had smirked at her first sight of Sirius's pierced ear and was sure that his mother would simply have loved it. Come to think of it, that was probably the reason Sirius had gotten it in he first place.
Peter; well, he was the shortest out of the group, shorter than Hermione even. He was also rather pale-skinned and had wavy, blonde hair, cut rather short and watery eyes and a round face, as well as fidgety hands that Hermione immediately saw.
But the one that took her breath away was James… about the same height as Sirius, taller than Harry had been, he was also rather thin with extraordinarily messy black hair, a strong jaw, paper-white ivory skin and hazel eyes, with a pair of wire-rimmed glasses resting on his straight nose, that almost looked like they were just a decoration.
Hermione had just been thinking about Lily; her dark red waves, emerald eyes and fair skin, when James had suggested a practice duel out of boredom. A few minutes later, they were both fully into it.
"Hey! Leave her alone!" a voice yelled out angrily. James and Hermione stopped their training to see what was going on. Classes had already been going for nearly a month, but it was Hermione and Draco were due to restart their classes this Monday. The past few days had been spent touring Hogwarts, meeting students and generally just lounging around. Hermione had spent an alarming amount of time with the Marauders, while Draco was not always with them; he had made a few unlikely allies in his own house, apparently.
"Oh. Evans," James said, as if bracing himself for a lecture. Lily Evans was standing in front of Hermione and James, eyes narrowed down dangerously in James's direction. Surprisingly, Lily had not yet been properly introduced to the new students, while the Marauders had taken an instant liking to them.
"Don't you 'Oh. Evans' me, Potter!" she spat out. "Leave her alone, you arrogant bully. Always picking on other people-"
"Evans, calm down. It's not what it looks like," James defended himself, slightly alarmed. She gave him a very fierce glare. Hermione was deeply amused and look on.
"Shut up, Potter! Don't try to justify yourself. Moved on from Snape, have you?" she yelled.
"Mi, a little help?" James asked desperately. Hermione laughed at his expression. Lily stopped, seeming very confused at the polite and distressed, yet slightly amused tone James had used.
"Hi, I'm Mi Hooper. I came to Hogwarts for my final year with my… ah, friend, Hunter Brown. James was nice enough to introduce me to some people and show me around. We were just having a dueling practice; James here wanted some help with his technique. And you are…?" Hermione asked, smiling slightly at James, who grinned back.
"Oh. I'm Lily Evans," Lily introduced herself, going very red. "Sorry, I though Potter was terrorizing people like he usually does," Here, Lily shot James a very nasty look. He winked at her. Her glare increased.
"Really? From what I've seen, James has been a complete gentleman," Hermione answered, suppressing a giggle. Lily's eyes widened as James smirked.
"We better get back to it, Mi. I've never seen anyone break through my Transfiguration Shield before, but that stunner just shattered it," James said, impressed by Hermione's knowledge of DADA. She hadn't been the smartest witch in her year and an active member of the DA for nothing. Not to mention all her secret practices with Harry when they thought she was the next target. And the goings on of 6th year… everything had left Hermione quite skilled in protecting herself.
"Thanks, James. You're pretty good too. I might show you a patronus after this, if you want," Hermione offered. Lily was still standing in the same spot, listening.
"You-you can make a patronus?" she asked with amazement. Lily had read about the magic of a patronus, but never made one before. It was incredibly advanced magic.
"Yeah, I learned in 5th year," Hermione answered proudly. "My best friend, Harry-" she faltered slightly, shifting her eyes form Lily to James, "-taught me. He was brilliant at DADA," Hermione's eyes filled up with tears as she thought of Harry, her best friend.
"You miss him a lot, don't you?" Lily asked gently. Hermione nodded, but then brightened.
"Expecto Patronum," she yelled out suddenly. Her silvery patronus burst out, a small, innocent looking otter. James and Lily stared at it with amazement; it was a beautiful sight. "You see, I was thinking of Harry, happy thoughts. It was the ideal time for a patronus," she explained. The little otter disappeared a few minutes later, leaving a deeply impressed Lily and James.
"Do you think you could teach me?" James asked in amazement.
"Sure, if you want. But it's extremely advanced. It will be hard learning one now," Hermione warned. James grinned back, accepting the challenge.
"You have to think of a very happy memory or thought. Anything that makes you feel joy; see, your Patronus is a reflection of love, life and happiness. Everything a Dementor hates and tries to suck out of you. But as your Patronus isn't an actual being, it cannot die," Hermione explained, very aware that Lily was hanging on to every words, but not about to say so. James had just raised his wand eagerly, ready to try, but was interrupted. There was a very loud crash and yelling.
"PRONGS!" a voice yelled. Another loud crash later, Sirius had bounded into the room happily, which was clearly never a good sign. His luminous grey eyes sparkled with excitement and there was a large, mischievous smile on his face.
"We're going to plan another prank… we just wanted to get Evans away, she always ruins it," Sirius began excitedly as Remus sniggered slightly.
"Padfoot, maybe you'd have the sense to actually ask Mi and Hunter if they like pranks?" Remus asked. In the short time they had been here, Hermione and Draco had seen a new side to their future Professor. While he wasn't as crazy as Sirius or James, he had a certain roguish quality about him. He was also very cynical, and easy to trust or talk to.
"Who doesn't love pranks?" James asked, his voice holding as much enthusiasm as Sirius's. Draco smirked while Hermione had to work hard to prevent rolling her eye.
"Well, I'll be good with this… but Mi…" Draco told them, disdainfully peeking at Hermione. She glared back at him fiercely, determined to show herself up.
"Hunter, would you like me to remind you what I did to you last year? You know, with the Howler?" Hermione asked sweetly, clearly reliving the moment; as a personal revenge, she had delivered a Howler to Draco that screamed out a few made up, yet rather interesting hobbies. Draco closed his eyes and gulped painfully.
"No, thanks," he replied, an expression of embarrassment on his face.
"That's what I thought," Hermione replied sweetly, grinning at the Marauders.
"Right, here's what we're going to do. Mi, Hunter, you guys are in for a treat; you'll be seeing the master Marauders at work…" Remus went on to explain the prank, one which he had thought of. James and Sirius had the reputation as the masterminds of most pranks, but a fair amount of their more brilliant ideas had come from Remus. His organized nature, logical thinking and resourcefulness always made his pranks memorable.
"So, James has the transfiguring, right?" Sirius asked once Remus was done. Hermione and Draco sat there, laughing heartily; this was going to be good. Remus nodded in answer to Sirius, looking at him strangely, as if Sirius had missed something extremely obvious.
"Of course. James has the actual transfiguration, you should brew up the potion and I'll have to perform the charm. Pete, you're our watch out and as usual, and the excuse is up to you. Alibis included," Remus clarified, as if he were speaking to 5 year olds. Clearly, this was standard procedure, or something. The other 3 Marauders nodded.
"Well, I have some researching to do in the library. Anyone coming with?" he asked, standing up and dusting himself off casually, looking around in hope of company. Draco couldn't help but miss the way James's eyes rested on Hermione for a bit longer than others; this opportunity was too good to miss.
"Well, Mi that's your cue. After all, it is the library," Draco taunted, smirking in Hermione's direction. Hermione glared in his direction, also raising herself.
"Actually, I think I might. It will give me the chance to be away from you," she shot back. James grinned happily and out of the corner of her eyes, Hermione saw Sirius give James a subtle wink. Immediately, Hermione felt her cheeks go pink; they thought she was hitting on him. Hitting on her best friend's father. Oh God.
"Great, Mi. Let's leave these pricks here, then," James grinned again, charmingly and looked at Sirius as he said 'pricks'. Sirius smirked and turned to the others, waving his hand away at James and Hermione.
"Library, then?" Hermione asked hesitantly. James offered her his arm in a gentleman-like gesture.
"Library it is," James agreed quietly as Hermione accepted his arm. And so was the beginning the slow journey to the Hogwarts Library, where Madam Pince would tell them off for eating, sleeping, talking or even breathing too loudly.
A bit of a weird chapter, but it was important to show the dueling with Hermione and James. I have my reasons, I promise! Next chapter prank :)
Avadne