Playing the Part
By: Shrk-bait
Chapter 15: A Serving of Clarity
I love you not only for who you are, but for what you are when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but what you are making of me.
-- Roy Croft
While Lily had been weighing her situation, standing aloof near the entrance of the Great Hall, life went on as normal as it usually did for the rest of Hogwarts – the Marauders included.
Sirius had grown bored of arguing with Remus and instead directed his attention to searching for the bowl of marmalade to spread on his eighth piece of toast. Remus had begun another conversation with Kira about how he and Sirius had met and the reasons – if there were any – for Sirius' . . . uniqueness. James averted his attention to Miles, his Gryffindor Quidditch subordinate, and was coldly refusing to cancel practice on account of an excessive amount of homework.
"If the ancient Egyptians stopped building the pyramids because they got a load of homework, who do you think would have created all those mummy curses?" James proposed in defense. "And the world simply wouldn't be the same without those curses, you know."
Though he truly did sympathize with the young boy's ordeal, he was Captain and if he could juggle the play, an arm-full of N.E.W.T classes, and Head duties on top of Quidditch while still maintaining a half-conscious state of mind, a bit of exhaustion wouldn't kill his teammates. At least, he hoped not.
"The ancient Egyptians didn't have homework, Captain!" Miles squealed in response. "But if they had as much as we do, plus the stress of extra Quidditch practice, I'm sure there wouldn't be any ancient Egyptians to speak of now."
"Bollocks. They would have dealt with it . . . just like you're going to do." He nudged the boy along. "Off you go, my boy. Food is getting cold."
"Alright then, if your mind's made up . . . see you at practice! I'll be the one exhausted from staying up all night finishing the desk-load of work I have."
"Have fun doing that." James smirked, almost admiring the kid's audacity. "Oy, you won't be complaining once we win the House Cup, will you?"
Miles glanced back at James just as those words left his mouth. He shook his head laughingly, a smile donning his dark features. For someone who claimed to be facing such hardship and stress, he seemed quite content. Perhaps he had achieved peace of mind, perhaps he had sorted out his priorities, or perhaps that was the effect James Potter had over people. Just perhaps.
"My, James Potter, you handled that quite well." Kira applauded, looking upon him with reverence. "Just like a good Captain would have handled it. You're maturing quite nicely."
"What are you babbling about? I just wanted to eat. My food really is getting cold." James grinned, downing his flask of pumpkin juice. "You're as loony as your friend Evans is. Loony, the whole lot of you."
Kira muttered something about James being a stupid git and rolled her eyes as she watched him prepare to dig into his breakfast.
"Kira! Moony! You have to help me!" Sirius demanded urgently, his eyes darting around the table. "I've searched everywhere, but there just isn't anymore left in all of Gryffindor."
"What? What are you talking about?" Remus inquired quickly, believing it to be some sort of emergency.
This – of course – was a miscalculation on his part, considering the fact that it was Sirius Black and even the slightest thing could be taken as an emergency. In this case, food took the place of utmost importance for Sirius and nothing could stand in his way.
"The Marmalade!" he sobbed, clutching his dried piece of bare toast in his right hand and the spreading knife in his left. "It's g-g-gone!"
"Oh goodness, Sirius, can't you just eat it with butter or something?" Kira grunted.
"NO! I can't function normally without it. Come on, we're going on a mission." He announced, taking a proud stance, one leg propped up on the bench and his head held high. "We'll form a marmalade-retrieval squad."
"Normally? Does he ever really function normally?" Kira whispered to Remus while Sirius was lost in his own heroic daydream.
"It depends on your definition of normal, really." He replied knowledgably, eyes twinkling playfully.
"Are you listening, troops? Let's go! There has to be some marmalade left in this school . . . maybe we can nick it from the Slytherins. They'd never notice. Those grotty whelps couldn't possibly be able to appreciate such exquisite dining anyway." Sirius schemed, grabbing Remus by the back of his cloak and dragging him off, Kira following the pair while shaking her head in amusement.
James actually was famished and so, with a few quick scoops, he had gathered onto his plate, an array of breakfast items, all which appeared exceptionally delicious.
It always astounded him how efficiently the House Elves prepared everything, catering to the whim of every Hogwarts inhabitant. It couldn't have been that long ago that they went on a secret rendezvous to the kitchens, nearly emptying out their stocks. But James did not want to think about Lily Evans. She simply complicated things with her puzzling thought process and that was something he did not wish to deal with.
Sadly, every time he glanced down at the singed edge of his bacon or peered into his flask of pumpkin juice, all that came to mind was Lily Evans. Lily Evans, Lily Evans, Lily Evans. She was so unbelievably complex and mind-boggling.
Not to mention, she was completely destroying the entire sanctity of his morning eating ritual by – intentionally or not – spoiling his appetite. The nerve of that girl.
It just so happened that in the next minute, that very girl had gathered herself and holding her head high, marched over to his practically deserted section of the table (mostly due to Sirius' marmalade crisis) and plopped herself down upon the bench.
To everyone's surprise, right next to James Potter.
Being absorbed within his own thoughts, he hadn't noticed. Hadn't noticed until that pretty, polite red-head stacked a heavy collection of food onto her pallet and sloppily poured an orange sticky liquid into her empty flask. She clutched her utensils in hand, slightly shaking and breathing heavily.
James cocked his head to the left to meet her eyes. With a quick snuff, she dove in, spooning the contents of her plate into her maw, the portions barely fitting on her spoon. Occasionally, a stray bread crumb would cling onto the outskirts of her lip, but she paid no mind.
In fact, all Lily was doing was staring at James, who stared right back, his lips threatening to form a small grin. She swallowed and gulped down the pumpkin juice to ease the passage of food down her throat.
All there was to do was wait and see just how clever of a person James Potter really was. She had taken the dreaded step into spontaneity and climbed the first rung on the ladder that had haunted her for so long.
Within that brief moment, with those few direct actions, she had sent her message to Hogwarts.
She had sent her message to him.
James, the implication having been received with total clarity, responded in perfect fashion, just as she had. And as he shoved another piece of bacon into his mouth, his eyes continued to lock with Lily's.
Lily, she was smiling. James, he was smiling. They were smiling. Next to each other, smiling in absolute understanding and unison.
It was quite a sight to see.
"Oy mate, look over there." Sirius nudged Remus' side sharply with his elbow and whispered.
"Where?" Remus grumbled, slightly miffed that Sirius had dragged him across the hallway and all three of them were hiding behind a great stone column closest to the Slytherin table.
"I knew I shouldn't have stared at the sun for so long when I was a child. People always told me it would ruin my eyesight, but did I believe them? NO. Stupid, stupid Sirius." He rambled on, closing his eyes and massaging them vigorously. "Now I'm seeing things. I swear, I thought I saw . . . but that's preposterous."
"Is that Lily? Wow, she usually doesn't eat like that in public, with James Potter of all people!" Kira whispered incredulously.
"You see it to? Did you stare at the sun too long as well?" Sirius gaped at Kira, who rolled her eyes and motioned for Remus to explain.
"Well, it is a bit contradictory to her usual façade, but she's been acting differently lately, so it's not that surprising." Remus admitted, shrugging.
"Now this is creepy. All THREE of us have damaged eyesight from looking directly at the sun. It's amazing that we've found each other. We should start some sort of visually impaired club. Like the three musketeers, except . . . not." He proposed excitedly, leaving the remaining two shaking with laughter.
"You're an idiot, Padfoot. Your vision isn't bad. Your mental health might be a different story, but your vision is fine." Remus assured him.
"B-but that was Lily Evans," He exclaimed, pausing to steal the plate of a nearby Slytherin boy and wolf down a syrup-soaked pancake. "Piling all that food onto her plate and shoveling loads of food into her mouth; she was acting like a completely barbaric pig!"
"Puh. You're one to talk." Kira sneered, roughly smacking his head, waving goodbye to Remus, and walking off. "I resign from this marmalade mission. See you both in class."
"What the hell is she talking about?" he mumbled confusedly, unaware of the trails of sticky syrup dripping from the corners of his mouth and the crumbs littering his face and the front of his robes. "I am not a pig."
Remus burst into laughter, slapping the wall hysterically, while Sirius, being especially slow and unobservant in the mornings, demanded to know what was so funny, the urgent quest for marmalade suddenly vanishing from his mind.