Disclaimer: No, I am not JK Rowling, and all Harry Potter characters,
places etc. belong to her not me.
Rating: PG-13 (Not so much in this chapter, but later it will be. If I ever get there.)
Description: MWPP; set near the beginning of seventh year. James and Lily finally get their act together.
A/N: Okay... this is the first fanfic I ever wrote, so be kind.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
Five essays in various stages of completion were strewn across the table by the Gryffindor common room fire. Of the five seventh year students who the essays belonged to, only one was paying his homework the attention it deserved. Remus Lupin had never liked to leave things half done, though his friends' loud conversation was making it harder and harder to concentrate.
Sirius Black and James Potter had each managed to write the title of the essay and a couple of paragraphs before Sirius' infamously short attention span had run out. When Sirius was bored, everyone around him knew about it. Luckily for Remus, James was always happy to be distracted by his best friend and surrogate brother, and the two of them could keep themselves amused while he carried on with his work.
Peter Pettigrew, the last member of their group, had stayed working for about the same length of time as Sirius and James, but had managed only a few lines. And one of them was largely crossed out. He was now watching and listening to James and Sirius, dropping in a comment whenever he could, mostly agreeing with whatever they said.
The fifth student, Lily Evans, was ostensibly still working. None of them were entirely sure why she had chosen to come and sit with them this evening. She usually went out of her way to avoid their company.
She said that she had wanted James' help with the Defence Against the Dark Arts essay they were working on. No one believed this for a moment. There was no denying that James was one of the best in the year at the subject, but for Lily to admit he was good at something was not just unheard of, it was a miracle. And in the quarter of an hour she had been here, she had not once asked James a question. Or anyone else, and Remus knew that he and Sirius were as good at the subject as James.
Her quill was still in her hand, and her head was bent over her essay, but she spent more time watching James than doing anything else. Remus looked up briefly, considering what to write next, and saw her at it again. She must have sensed his gaze, because she flicked her eyes towards him, smiled briefly and returned to her essay, putting quill to parchment only to find she had not written for so long that her ink had dried up.
Remus stifled a laugh and glanced at his friends to see if they had noticed.
They had not. Someone had made the mistake of mentioning Quidditch. As much as he enjoyed watching a good game, Remus thought that James was slightly obsessed. Peter was almost as bad.
"I'm not saying the Comet's not a good broom," James was saying with an almost lecturing tone, "but it doesn't compare to the Nimbus 1500. Its only real advantage is that it's so much cheaper."
"But the Nimbus hasn't been updated for, what, five or six years now?" argued Sirius. "There've been so many advances in broom-making."
"Who's the Quidditch player here?" demanded James. "So the Nimbus doesn't have the most up-to-date charms. There's no other serious contender. You can say what you like about the Comets and Cleansweeps, but they'll never have the precision of the Nimbus." Peter was nodding eagerly.
"They might not at the moment, but they've both got new models coming out soon, and more in the pipeline. The Nimbus will soon be looking really outdated."
"Not for long." James sounded confident. "Nimbus are working on a new model, too. No one's seen it yet, but by the time the Comets have caught up with the 1500 the new Nimbus will be out and they'll have to do it all again."
Lily rolled her eyes "Is Quidditch all you ever talk about?" she asked.
"No, Evans... uh... Lily," said James patiently. "But ever since Sirius saw Jennifer Bletchley on the new Comet, he's decided it's the best broom in the world and has been trying to convince me."
Sirius mimed a punch at James' head as Peter laughed. Remus laughed too, despite the fact that he was trying to concentrate on his essay. Jennifer Bletchley had been after Sirius for ages, and everyone knew it.
"Did you see they've put the date of the next Hogsmeade weekend on the board?" said Lily, making a brave attempt to change the subject.
James looked at her in surprise, clearly wondering what she was up to. Coming over because she wanted his help with an essay was difficult to believe but possible. Holding a reasonable conversation with him, on the other hand, was definitely not usual behaviour for her.
"No, I hadn't," he replied. Sirius and James generally paid very little attention to the Hogsmeade dates. If they wanted to go into the village they did, regardless of whether they were supposed to be there. Half the time, they dragged Remus and Peter with them, and then all four of them got in trouble when they were found out. "When is it?" he asked.
"Next week; Halloween. I was thinking," Lily's voice was suddenly higher than usual. "Um. maybe you'd like to come into Hogsmeade with me?" It was plain from her tone of voice that she only meant James. Despite himself, Remus looked up. James was looking oddly pleased and slightly pink.
"Yeah, I guess. That'd be good." Lily also blushed, and Peter looked astounded. There was a moment of silence, which somehow did not feel quite right. Then Remus realised that was because it should not have been silent. Sirius should have been teasing both of them mercilessly. Remus glanced at him to see a very odd look on his face. Oh dear, he thought. James and Sirius did everything together; he would not appreciate some girl intruding.
"Abandoning us?" Remus asked lightly to cover the awkward silence. "Always a sucker for a pretty face." Lily looked torn between beaming at the compliment and glaring at him. In the end she did both; glaring until a smile won through.
"Oh. oh, we'll meet you later. Can't we?" James looked at Lily pleadingly.
"Yes, yes, of course we can. We'll all meet up for lunch in the Three Broomsticks."
"You two had better behave," warned Sirius, apparently recovered from his fit of jealousy. "If you're going to act all mushy you'll just put me off my lunch." Lily ignored him, turning away with great dignity. James pulled a less-than-dignified face at his best friend, who returned the favour.
Remus added a final few lines to his essay, surveyed it, and then rolled up the parchment with satisfaction.
Sirius looked at him with great alarm. "You can't have finished already?" He glanced at his own, barely started essay. "Come on, Moony, surely even you can't have kept working when Prongs has been providing such entertainment?" He gestured at Lily and James. Lily continued to ignore him, but James threw a cushion at him. Sirius returned it but missed, catching Remus full in the face and prompting a swift brawl. Lily pulled her legs up into her chair, looking mildly disgusted, and when all four boys sat in an exhausted heap on the floor a few minutes later, she shook her head and sighed.
"I should have known better than to expect five minutes sensible conversation from you lot. See you later, James." Gathering her work, she picked her way carefully over the remains of their fight as they hauled themselves back into their chairs.
"Girls," sighed Sirius. "They can never take a joke."
Rating: PG-13 (Not so much in this chapter, but later it will be. If I ever get there.)
Description: MWPP; set near the beginning of seventh year. James and Lily finally get their act together.
A/N: Okay... this is the first fanfic I ever wrote, so be kind.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
Five essays in various stages of completion were strewn across the table by the Gryffindor common room fire. Of the five seventh year students who the essays belonged to, only one was paying his homework the attention it deserved. Remus Lupin had never liked to leave things half done, though his friends' loud conversation was making it harder and harder to concentrate.
Sirius Black and James Potter had each managed to write the title of the essay and a couple of paragraphs before Sirius' infamously short attention span had run out. When Sirius was bored, everyone around him knew about it. Luckily for Remus, James was always happy to be distracted by his best friend and surrogate brother, and the two of them could keep themselves amused while he carried on with his work.
Peter Pettigrew, the last member of their group, had stayed working for about the same length of time as Sirius and James, but had managed only a few lines. And one of them was largely crossed out. He was now watching and listening to James and Sirius, dropping in a comment whenever he could, mostly agreeing with whatever they said.
The fifth student, Lily Evans, was ostensibly still working. None of them were entirely sure why she had chosen to come and sit with them this evening. She usually went out of her way to avoid their company.
She said that she had wanted James' help with the Defence Against the Dark Arts essay they were working on. No one believed this for a moment. There was no denying that James was one of the best in the year at the subject, but for Lily to admit he was good at something was not just unheard of, it was a miracle. And in the quarter of an hour she had been here, she had not once asked James a question. Or anyone else, and Remus knew that he and Sirius were as good at the subject as James.
Her quill was still in her hand, and her head was bent over her essay, but she spent more time watching James than doing anything else. Remus looked up briefly, considering what to write next, and saw her at it again. She must have sensed his gaze, because she flicked her eyes towards him, smiled briefly and returned to her essay, putting quill to parchment only to find she had not written for so long that her ink had dried up.
Remus stifled a laugh and glanced at his friends to see if they had noticed.
They had not. Someone had made the mistake of mentioning Quidditch. As much as he enjoyed watching a good game, Remus thought that James was slightly obsessed. Peter was almost as bad.
"I'm not saying the Comet's not a good broom," James was saying with an almost lecturing tone, "but it doesn't compare to the Nimbus 1500. Its only real advantage is that it's so much cheaper."
"But the Nimbus hasn't been updated for, what, five or six years now?" argued Sirius. "There've been so many advances in broom-making."
"Who's the Quidditch player here?" demanded James. "So the Nimbus doesn't have the most up-to-date charms. There's no other serious contender. You can say what you like about the Comets and Cleansweeps, but they'll never have the precision of the Nimbus." Peter was nodding eagerly.
"They might not at the moment, but they've both got new models coming out soon, and more in the pipeline. The Nimbus will soon be looking really outdated."
"Not for long." James sounded confident. "Nimbus are working on a new model, too. No one's seen it yet, but by the time the Comets have caught up with the 1500 the new Nimbus will be out and they'll have to do it all again."
Lily rolled her eyes "Is Quidditch all you ever talk about?" she asked.
"No, Evans... uh... Lily," said James patiently. "But ever since Sirius saw Jennifer Bletchley on the new Comet, he's decided it's the best broom in the world and has been trying to convince me."
Sirius mimed a punch at James' head as Peter laughed. Remus laughed too, despite the fact that he was trying to concentrate on his essay. Jennifer Bletchley had been after Sirius for ages, and everyone knew it.
"Did you see they've put the date of the next Hogsmeade weekend on the board?" said Lily, making a brave attempt to change the subject.
James looked at her in surprise, clearly wondering what she was up to. Coming over because she wanted his help with an essay was difficult to believe but possible. Holding a reasonable conversation with him, on the other hand, was definitely not usual behaviour for her.
"No, I hadn't," he replied. Sirius and James generally paid very little attention to the Hogsmeade dates. If they wanted to go into the village they did, regardless of whether they were supposed to be there. Half the time, they dragged Remus and Peter with them, and then all four of them got in trouble when they were found out. "When is it?" he asked.
"Next week; Halloween. I was thinking," Lily's voice was suddenly higher than usual. "Um. maybe you'd like to come into Hogsmeade with me?" It was plain from her tone of voice that she only meant James. Despite himself, Remus looked up. James was looking oddly pleased and slightly pink.
"Yeah, I guess. That'd be good." Lily also blushed, and Peter looked astounded. There was a moment of silence, which somehow did not feel quite right. Then Remus realised that was because it should not have been silent. Sirius should have been teasing both of them mercilessly. Remus glanced at him to see a very odd look on his face. Oh dear, he thought. James and Sirius did everything together; he would not appreciate some girl intruding.
"Abandoning us?" Remus asked lightly to cover the awkward silence. "Always a sucker for a pretty face." Lily looked torn between beaming at the compliment and glaring at him. In the end she did both; glaring until a smile won through.
"Oh. oh, we'll meet you later. Can't we?" James looked at Lily pleadingly.
"Yes, yes, of course we can. We'll all meet up for lunch in the Three Broomsticks."
"You two had better behave," warned Sirius, apparently recovered from his fit of jealousy. "If you're going to act all mushy you'll just put me off my lunch." Lily ignored him, turning away with great dignity. James pulled a less-than-dignified face at his best friend, who returned the favour.
Remus added a final few lines to his essay, surveyed it, and then rolled up the parchment with satisfaction.
Sirius looked at him with great alarm. "You can't have finished already?" He glanced at his own, barely started essay. "Come on, Moony, surely even you can't have kept working when Prongs has been providing such entertainment?" He gestured at Lily and James. Lily continued to ignore him, but James threw a cushion at him. Sirius returned it but missed, catching Remus full in the face and prompting a swift brawl. Lily pulled her legs up into her chair, looking mildly disgusted, and when all four boys sat in an exhausted heap on the floor a few minutes later, she shook her head and sighed.
"I should have known better than to expect five minutes sensible conversation from you lot. See you later, James." Gathering her work, she picked her way carefully over the remains of their fight as they hauled themselves back into their chairs.
"Girls," sighed Sirius. "They can never take a joke."