Chapter Three: Lily Evans
"Come on, Swi! Let's go!"
Sirius's gruff call from across the common room echoed in Ermengarde's ears. It was almost time for Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was the teacher even then, something that startled Ermengarde so much that she almost lost her nerve. But then, when she had gone to meet with her, Professor McGonagall said something that shocked her even more.
"Ah, yes, Miss Switoviak, we've been expecting you. Tell me, where was it you studied before?" asked McGonagall.
"I – I was in France, at Beauxbatons...I've studied up to the equivalent of fifth-year standard, I have, and I'm certainly ready for my O.W.L.s, so there's nothing really to worry about."
"All right, Miss Switoviak. Your class will be in two hour's time. I look forward to it," said McGonagall, nodding Ermengarde out.
"Swi! Are you coming or not?" Sirius beckoned her a second time.
"I'm coming," answered Ermengarde, gathering her books.
Remus, James, Peter, and Sirius were waiting by the portrait hole for Ermengarde, ready to lead her to Transfiguration class. Ermengarde had had to run back to the common room to collect her books for the class and had been momentarily distracted by the idea that the staff had been expecting her...that they had been prepared for someone to appear twenty years in the past, as suddenly as a wisp of wind, and that they even had her books laid out for her. What sort of mad time-travel experience was this supposed to be?
"We wondered whether you'd gone deaf, Swi," said James. "We called you four times."
"Why are you calling me 'Swi'?" asked Ermengarde.
"They thought you needed a nickname. Apparently, 'Ermengarde' is too long to pronounce in its entirety," said Remus with a small grin about his face.
"Why? Would you rather be called 'Ermy'?" suggested Sirius with a guffaw.
"No, thank you," said Ermengarde. "I suppose 'Swi' is fine. Though back home, I used to be called 'Owl' an awful lot."
"Owl?" repeated Sirius. "No, that won't do. If you're going to be called by a nickname, it's got to be better than that..."
"Though maybe something to do with owls?" said James.
"Hmm..." Sirius thought for a moment, then a huge grin spread across his face.
"Don't even think about it," said Remus warningly.
"What?" asked Ermengarde.
"He was going to suggest 'Hooter', I can almost guarantee it," said Remus in vague disgust, though he was suppressing a smile all the same, amused by his friends' immaturity.
"Okay, fine...we'll think of something, though, won't we?" said James.
Ermengarde didn't say much to Sirius for the next twenty minutes, rather insulted by his idea of a nickname. Though he was an essentially kind person, she couldn't help but feel that he had the wrong idea about girls in general. James, on the other hand, seemed relatively chivalrous towards Ermengarde, holding doors for her and grinning whenever he caught her eye. Between his random acts of hospitality and Remus's constant gentlemanly manner, Ermengarde felt rather pampered. Peter still said very little, and Ermengarde was glad for it: she had the impression that he was a bit wet and weedy and not a good conversationalist. She also got a strange feeling about him, a feeling that made her not trust him one bit.
As they all sat down in Transfiguration, Ermengarde caught a glimpse of a very pretty girl sitting near the front. She had shoulder- length, deep red hair and very bright green eyes – those eyes looked eerily familiar...
And then Ermengarde made the connection. Those eyes belonged to Harry Potter...they were his mother's eyes. That meant that Lily Potter was sitting no more that thirty feet away from Ermengarde at this very moment. The injustice of this realization washed over Ermengarde until she was almost ashamed at her luck, sitting there with Harry's parents, seeing them alive, while he was back in the future Hogwarts, orphaned, with no real memories of his parents.
"Evans! Hey, Evans!" James said to Lily.
Lily turned reluctantly in her seat to face James. For some reason, she did not look too pleased to talk to him.
"What do you want?" she asked shortly.
"Next Hogsmeade visit's in a week," said James.
"So?" said Lily.
"So...want to come with me? I'll buy you a butterbeer, we can go into Zonko's...what do you say?" asked James.
It was almost comical to Ermengarde to hear how different James's voice sounded when he spoke to Lily. Instead of joking and loud, he spoke more softly and let his voice become deeper. She could also see in his eyes a sort of boyish hopefulness and it made her fail at smothering a smile while waiting to see what Lily's response would be.
"No, I don't think so," said Lily primly, and she turned right back around in her seat and faced the front once more.
"Evans!" James said again.
Lily turned sharply and this time looked very annoyed with James. "What?"
"Come on...just one date, won't you? It won't kill you anyway," he said, grinning as though convinced that he had won her over.
Lily did not respond, but turned back around again and started chatting with a friend of hers. James tried to look as though he didn't really care, but Ermengarde could see in his eyes that the boyish hopefulness had faded and was replaced with disappointment.
"Stuck-up bird," muttered Sirius.
"Don't call her that," said James sharply.
"Sorry," said Sirius.
The lesson began and soon they were off practicing turning birds into lamps and back again. Ermengarde partnered up with Remus and took advantage of McGonagall's preoccupation with Peter's inability to perform the spell at all and decided to ask him a few questions about Lily and James.
"How long has James fancied her?" she asked.
"Well...I suppose since first year. He's always showed off around her," said Remus, successfully transfiguring his parakeet.
"That's rather sweet, isn't it?" Ermengarde sighed. "It's romantic, I think."
"It would be a bit more romantic if she fancied him back, wouldn't it?" said Remus, smiling.
"I suppose so," Ermengarde agreed. "But I can tell they're meant for each other."
"You think so?" said Remus in surprise. "I think Lily's more suited for someone who's more...I don't know...not James."
"No, I can see a definite possibility of a relationship there," said Ermengarde. "In fact, I think it would be for the best if they did, in fact, get together in the end."
"If you say so," said Remus.
"Trust me," said Ermengarde. "I should know."
"What do you mean?"
"I just...I have a hunch, and my hunches have never been wrong yet."
Remus did not respond, but transfigured his parakeet once more into a rather impressive lamp. Ermengarde looked at James, who seemed to be competing with Sirius over who could make the better lamp and laughing his head off when Sirius's lampshade had a pattern of black dogs on it. Further off, Lily and her friend were still chattering, occasionally throwing irritated glances in James's direction when he burst out into laughter along with Sirius. Ermengarde looked at Remus again, who avoided her eye for a moment, then finally met her gaze.
"What?" he burst out. "What are we supposed to do, play Cupid?"
"That's exactly right," said Ermengarde.
"You're mad," said Remus.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I could no sooner play Cupid than...than Peter could transfigure Professor McGonagall into a toadstool," Remus protested.
"Oh, come on, Remus...I don't think you really understand the importance of all this!" said Ermengarde.
"Then explain it to me."
"I...I can't. Not just yet. But you'll understand later, I promise...just trust me on this! They belong together. Oh, come on, Remus...help me, would you?" Ermengarde pleaded.
Remus looked as though he were about to refuse, but Ermengarde widened her eyes in what she hoped was an innocent, girlish, pleading expression. Remus's face softened and he gave a small nod.
"Oh, don't look so worried," said Ermengarde. "This could be fun."
"Fun," muttered Remus, still looking as though he was doing this against his better judgment, and he transfigured his parakeet once more.
"Come on, Swi! Let's go!"
Sirius's gruff call from across the common room echoed in Ermengarde's ears. It was almost time for Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was the teacher even then, something that startled Ermengarde so much that she almost lost her nerve. But then, when she had gone to meet with her, Professor McGonagall said something that shocked her even more.
"Ah, yes, Miss Switoviak, we've been expecting you. Tell me, where was it you studied before?" asked McGonagall.
"I – I was in France, at Beauxbatons...I've studied up to the equivalent of fifth-year standard, I have, and I'm certainly ready for my O.W.L.s, so there's nothing really to worry about."
"All right, Miss Switoviak. Your class will be in two hour's time. I look forward to it," said McGonagall, nodding Ermengarde out.
"Swi! Are you coming or not?" Sirius beckoned her a second time.
"I'm coming," answered Ermengarde, gathering her books.
Remus, James, Peter, and Sirius were waiting by the portrait hole for Ermengarde, ready to lead her to Transfiguration class. Ermengarde had had to run back to the common room to collect her books for the class and had been momentarily distracted by the idea that the staff had been expecting her...that they had been prepared for someone to appear twenty years in the past, as suddenly as a wisp of wind, and that they even had her books laid out for her. What sort of mad time-travel experience was this supposed to be?
"We wondered whether you'd gone deaf, Swi," said James. "We called you four times."
"Why are you calling me 'Swi'?" asked Ermengarde.
"They thought you needed a nickname. Apparently, 'Ermengarde' is too long to pronounce in its entirety," said Remus with a small grin about his face.
"Why? Would you rather be called 'Ermy'?" suggested Sirius with a guffaw.
"No, thank you," said Ermengarde. "I suppose 'Swi' is fine. Though back home, I used to be called 'Owl' an awful lot."
"Owl?" repeated Sirius. "No, that won't do. If you're going to be called by a nickname, it's got to be better than that..."
"Though maybe something to do with owls?" said James.
"Hmm..." Sirius thought for a moment, then a huge grin spread across his face.
"Don't even think about it," said Remus warningly.
"What?" asked Ermengarde.
"He was going to suggest 'Hooter', I can almost guarantee it," said Remus in vague disgust, though he was suppressing a smile all the same, amused by his friends' immaturity.
"Okay, fine...we'll think of something, though, won't we?" said James.
Ermengarde didn't say much to Sirius for the next twenty minutes, rather insulted by his idea of a nickname. Though he was an essentially kind person, she couldn't help but feel that he had the wrong idea about girls in general. James, on the other hand, seemed relatively chivalrous towards Ermengarde, holding doors for her and grinning whenever he caught her eye. Between his random acts of hospitality and Remus's constant gentlemanly manner, Ermengarde felt rather pampered. Peter still said very little, and Ermengarde was glad for it: she had the impression that he was a bit wet and weedy and not a good conversationalist. She also got a strange feeling about him, a feeling that made her not trust him one bit.
As they all sat down in Transfiguration, Ermengarde caught a glimpse of a very pretty girl sitting near the front. She had shoulder- length, deep red hair and very bright green eyes – those eyes looked eerily familiar...
And then Ermengarde made the connection. Those eyes belonged to Harry Potter...they were his mother's eyes. That meant that Lily Potter was sitting no more that thirty feet away from Ermengarde at this very moment. The injustice of this realization washed over Ermengarde until she was almost ashamed at her luck, sitting there with Harry's parents, seeing them alive, while he was back in the future Hogwarts, orphaned, with no real memories of his parents.
"Evans! Hey, Evans!" James said to Lily.
Lily turned reluctantly in her seat to face James. For some reason, she did not look too pleased to talk to him.
"What do you want?" she asked shortly.
"Next Hogsmeade visit's in a week," said James.
"So?" said Lily.
"So...want to come with me? I'll buy you a butterbeer, we can go into Zonko's...what do you say?" asked James.
It was almost comical to Ermengarde to hear how different James's voice sounded when he spoke to Lily. Instead of joking and loud, he spoke more softly and let his voice become deeper. She could also see in his eyes a sort of boyish hopefulness and it made her fail at smothering a smile while waiting to see what Lily's response would be.
"No, I don't think so," said Lily primly, and she turned right back around in her seat and faced the front once more.
"Evans!" James said again.
Lily turned sharply and this time looked very annoyed with James. "What?"
"Come on...just one date, won't you? It won't kill you anyway," he said, grinning as though convinced that he had won her over.
Lily did not respond, but turned back around again and started chatting with a friend of hers. James tried to look as though he didn't really care, but Ermengarde could see in his eyes that the boyish hopefulness had faded and was replaced with disappointment.
"Stuck-up bird," muttered Sirius.
"Don't call her that," said James sharply.
"Sorry," said Sirius.
The lesson began and soon they were off practicing turning birds into lamps and back again. Ermengarde partnered up with Remus and took advantage of McGonagall's preoccupation with Peter's inability to perform the spell at all and decided to ask him a few questions about Lily and James.
"How long has James fancied her?" she asked.
"Well...I suppose since first year. He's always showed off around her," said Remus, successfully transfiguring his parakeet.
"That's rather sweet, isn't it?" Ermengarde sighed. "It's romantic, I think."
"It would be a bit more romantic if she fancied him back, wouldn't it?" said Remus, smiling.
"I suppose so," Ermengarde agreed. "But I can tell they're meant for each other."
"You think so?" said Remus in surprise. "I think Lily's more suited for someone who's more...I don't know...not James."
"No, I can see a definite possibility of a relationship there," said Ermengarde. "In fact, I think it would be for the best if they did, in fact, get together in the end."
"If you say so," said Remus.
"Trust me," said Ermengarde. "I should know."
"What do you mean?"
"I just...I have a hunch, and my hunches have never been wrong yet."
Remus did not respond, but transfigured his parakeet once more into a rather impressive lamp. Ermengarde looked at James, who seemed to be competing with Sirius over who could make the better lamp and laughing his head off when Sirius's lampshade had a pattern of black dogs on it. Further off, Lily and her friend were still chattering, occasionally throwing irritated glances in James's direction when he burst out into laughter along with Sirius. Ermengarde looked at Remus again, who avoided her eye for a moment, then finally met her gaze.
"What?" he burst out. "What are we supposed to do, play Cupid?"
"That's exactly right," said Ermengarde.
"You're mad," said Remus.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I could no sooner play Cupid than...than Peter could transfigure Professor McGonagall into a toadstool," Remus protested.
"Oh, come on, Remus...I don't think you really understand the importance of all this!" said Ermengarde.
"Then explain it to me."
"I...I can't. Not just yet. But you'll understand later, I promise...just trust me on this! They belong together. Oh, come on, Remus...help me, would you?" Ermengarde pleaded.
Remus looked as though he were about to refuse, but Ermengarde widened her eyes in what she hoped was an innocent, girlish, pleading expression. Remus's face softened and he gave a small nod.
"Oh, don't look so worried," said Ermengarde. "This could be fun."
"Fun," muttered Remus, still looking as though he was doing this against his better judgment, and he transfigured his parakeet once more.