Oct 24, 2005

A/N:

Thanks to Sunshine65, anonymously morgan, Gwendolyn Rilesse, wounded-angel, Hurleygurl, and danielle2890 for reminding me that Neville's mum was Alice, not Anne. I knew it didn't sound right. And to everybody who reminded me that it was Slughorn, not Sludgehorn.

Gods, I really need to get myself a beta reader, to catch these little mistakes and the like. Speaking of which, if anyone would like to volunteer…? Drop a review or an email to the address listed in my profile.

In other news…I'm changing the rating to T, at least until I make a decision.

thatwasthelasttheyeversawofher—Yes, but that's how I always pictured him: an asshole. Until Lily, that is. Lol. And I know some pretty immature kids. If it really bothers you, you can pretend that he was just trying to convince himself something he didn't really adhere to.

Anonymously morgan—Sirius is my favorite character, and I hate it when people portray him as a brainless moron. He may be failing his classes, yes, but that's because he doesn't much care, not because he lacks the brains.

--- --- ---

A Day in the Life…

(If I had a beta, I'd be able to come up with much better titles.)

"AUGGHHH!" cried James for what must have been the tenth time that hour, as he executed—or tried to execute—a flying leap toward the Diricawl he was supposed to be caring for, only to have the plump, fluffy bird vanish in a puff of smoke, reappearing the next second balanced precariously atop a tree branch, cackling and taunting its would-be pursuer. James moaned and let loose a string of curses, rolling onto his back and staring up at the cloudy sky.

"Nice, James," smirked Sirius, who had been watching with interest, his own Diricawl safely in the hands of his partner, Remus.

"Stuff it, Sirius," James muttered, angrily refusing Peter's aid, and shooting his bird a piercing glare from where he lay. He crossed his arms behind his head and sighed. "I dunno how you convinced me to take Care of Magical Creatures again. You know I'm terrible at it."

"It's an easy class. All you have to do is keep an eye on the things, and try not to get them killed."

Remus, who was stroking his and Sirius' Diricawl, looked over, raising an eyebrow. "This from a guy who nearly dropped his bowtruckle in the lake last year?" he said pointedly, grinning.

Sirius shrugged. "Yes, well, it was giving me problems."

James scoffed. "All it did was insult your intel---AHH! Damn you, you stupid bird, GERROFF!" His cries were punctuated by a none too masculine screech as the Diricawl, who had leapt off the tree and onto his stomach, commenced in using his ear as a chew toy.

Sirius immediately dissolved into uncontrollable laughter, startling Peter, who had been trying to prod the happily gurgling bird off of James with a stick. "He…He likes you, mate," he managed to choke out, before he was promptly hit in the stomach with a shoe. Falling to the ground, he sat there, clenching his stomach, momentarily stunned, and then broke out into laughter again.

"STUPID…BIRD!" James shrieked again, now missing a shoe, making a blind grab for it, and only managing to secure a handful of feathers, as it disappeared again. He pulled out his wand, flailing it about aimlessly.

"Boys, is there a problem?" Professor Kettleburn, aged and arthritic, had appeared on the scene, attracted, no doubt, but James' screams. He surveyed the situation—James and Sirius both sprawled on the muddy ground, the former minus his left shoe and looking worse for the wear, the latter trying unsuccessfully to contain his laughter; Peter, who looked petrified, his normally pink cheeks a pasty white; and Remus, who was smiling despite himself and trying to assure him that all was under control, the only one out of the four who didn't look as if he had just taken a mud bath. The professor decided he didn't want to know.

He tottered over and, executing some well placed spells, gathered up the two chortling birds with ease. "If none of you are hurt," he said, "you four had better be excused from the class. It's almost lunchtime in any case."

As he limped away, Sirius began to laugh incessantly again, choking off only when James threw his other shoe in his direction.

The boys gathered up their belongings, brushed themselves up, and headed back toward the castle, James in a black anger, Sirius still suppressing chuckles, Remus with an amused expression on his face, and Peter glancing nervously around at his friends.

"Damn you, Sirius," James muttered as soon as they were out of earshot of the professor. "The least you could've done was get that bird offa me."

Sirius swallowed his laughter, and put on a hurt expression. "It's kind of hard to help anything when you've taken a shoe squarely in the stomach."

James gave a disbelieving grin. "Stop acting the victim, Sirius," he retorted, "it's not helping you any."

"Right."

The mood lightened considerably after that, as they entered the now deserted Great Hall and took a place at the Gryffindor table, eyeing the stubbornly empty plates. The conversation had somehow been steered toward Lily Evans.

"Lily is different, James," Remus cajoled gently, his deep gray eyes darkening, "she's not like all the other girls. You know that."

James scoffed. "All girls are the same, Moony. Inherently. They're all alike." He glanced over at Sirius, who was, for once, solemn.

"Sorry James," he said, "but I'd have to go with wolf-boy on this one."

James turned to Peter, who looked surprised that his opinion was being asked. "I've always known she's different," he ventured, then blushed hurriedly at the others' disbelieving stares. "Well, I dunno," he sputtered, "but I've always had this feeling."

Sirius grinned. "The last time you had a 'feeling', Peter, you ended up getting us trapped in a broom closet. And mind you, it was a very dusty one."

As the portly boy's blush deepened, James yawned, running a hand through his muddy locks. "You guys are making too much out of this," he remarked lightly, "Lily's only different because she takes a little getting used to."

His friends exchanged a glance, but shrugged. James was indignant, but his remark was drowned out as the lunch bell rang and the rest of the school began to file into the Hall.

Sirius, who had pretended to swoon as he spotted Salina blowing him a kiss across the hall, became solemn again as she sat down a couple seats away from them. "You know," he said quietly, his already jet black eyes darkening to an even darker shade of pure pitch, "Salina's different, too. She's just…I dunno, so much…stronger than every other girl I've dated."

Remus nodded sagely. "Like she has more of a personality?"

His friend nodded, then stole a glance at said girl, as he grew increasingly pensieve, a rarity for Sirius.

Remus shrugged and turned to James, who was frowning slightly. "You know, James," he commented lightly, "If you're going after Lily, there's a Hogsmede trip coming up, in case you've forgotten."

Jame just nodded, and the boys fell silent, digging into the food that had appeared magically in front of them, the cacophony of the Hall drowning out any thoughts they might have been thinking.

---

Lily, who was among the last few to enter the Great Hall for lunch, headed for the seat her friends had saved for her, stubbornly ignoring the pointed glances James shot her way.

Honestly. Couldn't the git find something else to do? He was beginning to fray her nerves even more than he usually did, and that was saying something. Granted, he seemed to have changed slightly over the summer, as he was now forgoing his old methods of annoying her (playing with that annoying Snitch prominent among them), and resorting to more subtle, if slightly more unnerving, ways.

She shot him a dark look under her eyelids, the arrogant sob. She had to admit, though, he was a lot less arrogant than he could be, being a pureblood of the longest family lines, and he was much better than some Slytherins she knew, who frequently paraded the halls with nothing to boast but the fact that they had been lucky enough to have been born into a wizard family. Gods…the ignorance.

But no, that wasn't why she disliked James, or, at least, not the entire reason. Truth be told, she hated him because he was just so…talented. He could excel at anything he did, be it charms, potions, Quidditch—with the exception of Care of Magical Creatures and History—just by batting an eyelid. Unlike Lily, who whiled away numerous hours in the library, furiously trying to master her spells, James never studied, never had to try hard…and yet he always did well in class.

To put it simply, she was jealous. Desperately so.

Lily snuck another glance at him, and had to admit, if it weren't for those two setbacks, she'd get along with him just fine. More than fine perhaps.

After all, a stubborn little voice in her head said, not every wizard has his charm, his personality (minus his inflated head), or his looks, which, although not breathtaking like those of his best friend, aren't bad at all.

She blanched. "Wait…what?"

The entity just shrugged.

Lily caught herself just in time. Taking a deep breath, she averted her eyes and concentrated on placing one foot in front of the other. "That's hypothetically speaking, of course," she told herself firmly, "We all know it'll never happen. I mean, I don't even know his middle name, or what color his eyes are…"

Gold. His eyes are gold.

"…Or what his favorite food is, or how much time he spends on his hair…" She firmly squashed the voice and seated herself squarely between her two best friends, ladling mashed potatoes onto her plate. The treacherous little thing, however, refused to be silenced without leaving one final notion:

You know, it said matter of factly, I've always had a soft spot for gold.

--- --- ---

I know, I know. I said the pace would start picking up. I lied. I hate writing this chapter, but I didn't want to just jump into the action so soon. Damn my uncertainty.

If anyone was wondering, no, I will probably not be paring Leah with Remus, though I will be developing her personality further, or attempting to. Giving her to him would just be way too cliché, and I've already got enough of that without having to pile on more.

I am considering, however, if there is a possibility that I could delve into Salina and Sirius' relationship as a kind of side plot. If I decide to, however, it'll have some sort of twist to it, so no worries. Sirius is too awesome to be dumped with another one of my fluffy relationships.

I wish Rowling had left us with some mention of Lily's friend's names and characters, though, since I absolutely despise original characters. Hypocrite, aren't I?

Finally, according to HP lexicon, a diricawl is a large flightless bird, also known as the dodo, that muggles believe to be extinct because they possess the ability to vanish.

Yay for long Author's Notes, ne:D