Disclaimer: Hogwarts etc belongs to JKR.
Second Year
-
"And why, Mr Potter, have you not done your homework?"
"Well," the boy grinned, light glinting off his glasses and his teeth, "you see, there was this horrible accident," sincerity practically oozed from his being while Sirius Black elbowed a giggling Peter Pettigrew, "and a little first year's cat got caught in a tree. We," he gestured to Sirius, "went and got our brooms and bought it down for her, but then a stick fell from the tree and knocked the cat unconscious. It was terrible," he added a look of sadness. "We took the cat to Madam Pomfrey and she healed it but it lost its tail and we had to comfort the little girl and help her find her way back to Ravenclaw 'cause she'd never been around the castle at night and she was scared, and then we were going back to Gryffindor and there was this sudden creak and the staircases shifted and we ended up in the North Tower and we were just coming back down when there was a scream, and we followed it but it was only a painting and then we had to get back to the common room and when we did it was far to late to do our homework." He looked at Sirius who nodded with the same wide eyes, "see, we're really sorry, Professor McGonagall, but there was really nothing we could have done about it."
The professor blinked, lips almost twitching into a bemused smile. "Right. I expect you to get it to me by lunchtime, understood?"
"Of course, professor, wouldn't miss it for the world."
-It was week five of their second year at Hogwarts and Sirius Black and James Potter were no longer a pair of stubborn, arrogant eleven year olds, wary of each other's surnames, but the school's fastest rising legends. Together with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew they formed the most infamous group of boys the grace Hogwarts' hallways: the Marauders.
It was only one month into term and they had already managed to charm everything bearing the Slytherin crest magenta, flood the male teachers' washrooms, set a box of nifflers loose in the Great Hall at meal time and bewitch every chandelier in the school to plunge all into darkness at precisely nine minutes after every hour.
Three quarters of the school regarded them as heroes.
The faculty disagreed with this assessment.
The teachers had taken to drawing straws before each Marauder detention (now frighteningly regular events), little Professor Flitwick in particular found the boys very difficult to handle and lessons with them were regarded with great trepidation. One main rising issue was the building feud between the Marauders and Lily Evans.
Well, perhaps feud was not the best way to put it. For her part Lily was subdued and avoided the boys wherever possible, sticking firmly to her own group of friends and staying out of trouble, but James however had apparently never learnt how to take no for an answer. Poor Lily was harassed at every possible moment. His attempts to impress her throughout first year and failed miserably and he had decided to try out something new: shamelessly fighting for her attention.
The teachers would look on in horror as they saw the plan unfolding and predicted the result it would get. They would then stop abruptly and shake all such notions from their head, horrified to find themselves hoping James would do something right just this time. Most adults could not help feeling somewhat ashamed to discover they were rooting to James in his constant trial at getting Lily Evans to like him, but the more they thought on it the more sense it made, plus he was such a charismatic little boy.
Third Year
-
It was a week before Valentines Day and she was curled up in a soft red armchair in a dark room lit only by the glow of the fire. She wasn't a big fan of Divination but it certainly had its upsides, right now Alice would be traipsing through the Forbidden Forest with the snow lashing down around her searching for whatever magical creature they were required to care for this lesson. Lily smiled. Up here they even gave you tea.
Admittedly the lesson wasn't exactly gripping and she imagined that in summer months it would be hell on earth in this stuffy little chamber, but right now, in the coldest week Scotland had experienced in quite some time, it was an absolute godsend. Even if she had to share a table with James Potter.
She wasn't quite sure how she managed it but she had every lesson this year the same as him bar one (he had Care for Magical Creatures while she was in Arithmancy). Alice had suggested that perhaps he'd looked at her options before choosing his own, it seemed like the sort of thing he'd do, but Lily doubted it as all four of the Marauders had identical timetables and she couldn't see Sirius Black obliging to match lessons around her.
This was all fine and well in most classes, she sat at the front and he sat at the back so she wasn't even required to look at the back of his scruffy head, but Divination was somewhat different to most. The very first lesson had consisted of their teacher, Professor Magdalene, assessing their auras (a process she'd had to bite her lip to stop herself giggling at) and pairing them with people who'd most compliment their inner glow.
She'd put Lily with Potter.
She'd tried to talk herself out of it but the teacher told her to stop being so cruel (that's right, she, Lily Evans, was told to stop being cruel to JamesPotter). From then on they'd read each other's palms, sat in silence watching their empty crystal ball, glared at their feet while the teacher proclaimed their undying love for one another, read each other's tea leaves and had prophecies spouted about their combined power to save the world. For some reason the woman was convincedthey were soul mates and spent every possible moment attempting to demonstrate the grounding of this theory. Even Potter admitted it was disturbing and they were actually working together to avoid the teacher's attention.
But, all this taken into account, she was still glad of the warn incense filled shrine to the future. For all its magic and wonder the castle had no central heating and the stone walls practically radiated frostbite in late winter.
Somewhere in her peripheral vision she saw Black whisper something to Remus, the smaller boy biting his lip and looking deliberately at the floor in an attempt to quell his laughter. Beside her Potter shifted restlessly.
This lesson they were supposed to be developing the art of cartomancy and he had been shuffling the plain muggle pack of cards for the past fifteen minutes as the professor droned on at the front of the class. With a bored sigh he offered her the deck, spread in his hands, and idly she pulled out a card at random.
Two of hearts.
Another glance found Professor Magdalene rambling at great length about the muggle con-artists you were likely to find, pretending to see the future when all they saw was dishonesty and lack of devotion to the inner eye blah, blah, blah… Rolling his eyes he flicked through the charts in chapter six of 'Unfogging the Future', then with a raised eyebrow he looked from the card to the book and then back to her.
Leaning forward with the amused expression of someone who knew too much, he whispered, "attraction and devotion?"
"What?" she squeaked, somewhat louder than intended.
The class turned as one to look at her. She blushed.
"What is it?" inquired their resident possessor of the inner-eye.
"Nothing," Lily snapped hurriedly, glancing over to Potter's book to read that the two of hearts did most definitely correspond with attraction and devotion.
Beside her Potter laughed and nodded, "Nothing at all."
Sadly the professor didn't believe either of them and stalked forward, pouncing on the card laid face up between them.
"The two of hearts!" she exclaimed dramatically.
A dejected sigh and Potter slipped further down into his seat, "Here we go…" she heard him mutter.
It was almost ten minutes later, saved by the bell, that Lily exited the classroom, certain she would never be able to look Potter or any of his friends in the face ever again.
Blushing madly she winced, some of the things that woman had said…
-
James hurled the quaffle through the middle hoop, nearly de-brooming Michael in the process.
"Nice shot," hollered the captain from the other end of the pitch.
James grinned.
He'd been on the team for just over a year now and he absolutely loved it. Sirius had passed the trials earlier that season and was now filling the place of second beater, making quidditch just about the most enjoyable pastime James had.
He idly dodged a bludger and flashed a grin at his best friend. "You'll have to try hard than that."
Sirius's bark of laughter echoed around the pitch, the early morning frost leaving the air crisp and quiet. "Will do," he yelled back.
Another few shots at goal and several drills of various formations later and James had seen the snitch four times. Their seeker was yet to see it once.
He'd spoken to Chris, sixth year beater and team captain, about it so many times but the boy refused to give Adam up. He caught the snitch quicker than the other three sides; there was no reason to kick him off the team just because James could do it quicker still. Each time James huffed that they could just swap roles but Chris would have none of it, James was by far the best chaser they had and the thought of sacrificing that when they already had a perfectly decent seeker didn't appeal to the captain at all.
"Four," he mouthed at the older boy, pointing to himself, then nodding towards Adam, "Zero."
Chris rolled his eyes, "Maybe next year, yeah? Now piss off. You've got a job to do."
James laughed and spun a couple of barrel rolls before chasing after the quaffle again; the captain said that every time.
"Valentine's day next week," he commented to Sirius as they exited the changing rooms half an hour later.
The other boy raised an eyebrow, "And?"
"Well… I was thinking." He paused, raking his hand through his hair. "You know Evans?"
Sirius stopped walking abruptly.
"What?" asked James.
"You're not serious are you?"
"No, you are." Sirius rolled his eyes, James laughed, the joke was so overdone, "And about what? I didn't even finish what I was saying."
They started off toward the castle again, "I've known you long enough to know exactly where you're heading with this, and I promise you, the results will not be pretty."
"I just thought a bunch of flowers or something. Nothing much."
"James, mate, she hates you," said Sirius in his best 'breaking-it-to-him-gently' voice.
"So?"
He looked at James' blank expression and shook his head with a laugh, "Well, if that's you attitude, go for it. S'not like you've got anything to lose."
-
For the Marauders the following week was hectic. Their dorm looked like a bomb had hit it, a pink and white bomb that showered glittery hearts.
"It's not working," hissed Peter clutching his wand with white knuckles as he attempted to charm the glitter to dance. The pile just bubbled lazily.
"Hey, look at this," laughed Sirius in absolute glee. A small owl fluttered up from the stack of valentine themed ribbons at his feet, made entirely of heart shaped sequins and cooing like a dove.
"That's brilliant," exclaimed James, laughing as the bird settled on Remus's shoulder. "D'you think you could manage more?"
"Sure. What, to line them up on the rafters?"
"Yeah, and then when Dumbledore sits down they all swoop over the tables and shower glitter and stuff."
Remus laughed as the owl pecked at his ear, "You're all insane."
"Ah, come on Moony, this is gonna be so much fun!"
They'd been planning their big Valentine's prank for a fortnight now and everything was just about falling into place. It turned out to be just the break they needed from their extensive research into Lycanthropy and Animagus transformations, and Remus in particular was relaxing well in the absence of such topics.
They weren't sure how it happened but this prank, originally intended to demonstrate their absolute abhorrence of the holiday, had morphed into one very big glitter fest. Peter was seemingly the only one aware of this transformation of views, it had happened so naturally the other three continued like it was the most logical train of thought ever, and he had a sneaking suspicion the root of the switch was James's decision to buy Lily Evans some flowers. The four of them had always been funny like that, the tiniest of events throwing them off on a tangent that erupted into magical glitter owls that showered the floor with scented rose petals and confetti hearts as they flew.
Remus laughed, "We just need them to explode like pink fireworks at the end and then we're all set."
Sirius face lit up, "That's such a great idea!"
-
He'd settled on roses.
Red roses.
He'd thought long and hard about it the whole journey through the tunnel under the humpbacked witch and he'd decided that roses were safest. Lilies would be nice but perhaps a little too personal and he didn't want to look like he was committing to anything, because he wasn't. Not at all. He just thought she was pretty and that it would be nice to give her flowers on Valentines Day. It wasn't even big enough to be considered a crush. Just flowers.
But yes. Roses. Nice and pretty and all girls were supposed to like them and they were so perfectly cliché they wouldn't make it look like he'd put a great deal of thought into something as meaningless as flowers. And he wouldn't be offended one bit if she didn't like them. Because it didn't mean anything. Not one bit.
This decided he crept out of Honeydukes shrouded in his invisibility cloak, Sirius half a step behind him.
"You got the list?" Sirius asked when they threw the cloak off in the shelter of a small alley, "I'll go to Zonko's and get everything we need while you… do your shopping."
James grinned nervously. "Yeah. Madam Petals, right?"
"Madam Petals," Sirius confirmed, his lips twisting into an amused expression. "I'll see you back here in five." And with that he'd dashed out into the snow towards the joke shop.
James sighed and headed in the other direction to the small florist near Madam Puddifoots tearooms.
The overwhelmingly strong smell of pollen and greenhouses hit him as he entered the dark little shop. Nervously he stood at the counter cleared his throat.
The woman who appeared out of the backroom smiled all sugary at him. He resisted the urge to cringe and she nattered away to him about the joys of 'young love' and how nice it was that nice young gentlemen like him were willing to make the effort and just roses? Did he not know every single silly little detail about the horticultural, spiritual and mythological significance of these natural artistic masterpieces? No? Well then, she would have to tell him as she wrapped the de-thorned stems in this piece of ribbon and then this piece and here's a little bag for it and there you go, put this in the water and they'll last for weeks and for an extra charge she could make them everlasting for him and was he sure? Well, she wouldn't tell his teachers as he was such a nice young man but yes it was probably best he got back to school and oh. You're leaving so soon. That will be one galleon, please. Thank you! Happy Valenti-
James shut the door on his way out.
Never again, hissed the little voice in his head.
-
They'd decided that the best way to deliver the monstrous bunch of roses would be by glittery owl at dinner. They were all quite taken with the idea and spent the rest of the evening working out which teachers they could set up. McGonagall would have to send Dumbledore sherbet lemons they concluded, and Slughorn would make an excellent couple with Magdalene.
"This is so much better than those tacky cherubs they had in Hogsmeade last year," said Peter, swishing his wand and watching with owl follow the exact path he drew out.
Behind him Sirius and Remus were huddled around what appeared to be a blueprint of the Great Hall. "Nah," said Sirius, "You want it to come round like this, behind that statue and then down over Hufflepuff," he marked out the line, "See?"
Remus laughed, "I can't believe we're sitting here choreographing flight patterns for Valentine's owls…"
"You guys?" called James from somewhere behind a huge bunch of roses. "What should I write on this card? Everything just sounds sappy and silly."
They put their heads together on it for ten or so minutes, Sirius making awful jokes and Remus suggesting stuff that implied more than James was entirely comfortable with (he didn't want her to think he liked her. Not like that).
In the end they settled for:
Happy Valentine's Day.
From James.
Remus inspected the boys rough scrawl on the little cream and gold scrap of card, "It's not very…" James glared, "Well, it's not very anything at all… But I'm sure it'll do the job," he added quickly at James's look. "They're very nice flowers."
"Yeah," mumbled James, looking uncomfortably at the bundle of romantic clichés. "Maybe I should have stuck with orange lilies," he mumbled.
-
This was turning out to be the best Valentine's Day Alice had ever had. Ever!
Lessons had been insane, the Marauders cracking jokes and charming chalk to pair up various members of staff in little hearts on the blackboards. Slughorn had allowed them to all have a go at making love potions and though he had to confiscate them at the end of the lesson the fumes alone were enough to make most of the class go all starry eyed and smiley.
The Great Hall was buzzing with happy couples and she'd received an anonymous valentine over breakfast (she hardly cared who it was from at the moment, it was the fact that it was addressed to her and it was for valentines that got her so excited). Now it was dinner and the Marauders were looking suspicious in a way that could only mean the rest of the school were in for a hell of a lot of fun.
Dumbledore greeted them, eyed the Gryffindor table and smiled with twinkling eyes, then sat down.
And BANG!
Suddenly there was candyfloss coloured pink smoke drifting up from the flaming torches and owls came sweeping down from the ceiling, swooping and diving in perfect synchronisation – it looked like a dance! One of them landed on Dumbledore's hat and dropped a bag of sweets onto his plate and with a smile he thanked a shocked Professor McGonagall as she stared at the box of chocolates delivered to her. Slughorn's booming laugh mingled with the chattering of children and some of the girls had stood up to try and catch the petals and confetti the owls were trailing after them.
And then one slightly bigger owl, made of deep red and gold ribbons landed right in front of her with the biggest bunch of roses she had ever seen. Alice gasped and grabbed a shocked Lily's arm, "It's for you!"
Hands shaking Lily had lifted up the flowers and turned over the little card.
Alice watched her friends eyes widen, grinning expectantly in wait to find out who the admirer was, but then Lily's jaw stiffened and the grin faltered.
"Lily?" she asked, but her friend was already on her feet, running out of the Great Hall, looking absolutely horrified and blushing so much she looked ready to spontaneously combust.
She'd taken the card with her but further down the table Alice heard Sirius Black mumble, "Shit," and pat James on the back. The pieces clicking together in her mind Alice's eyes widened in amazement that she hadn't spotted it before, James liked Lily. And that was the reason for all his strange behaviour around her, and that behaviour was the very reason Lily didn't like him. He really had shot himself in the foot, she thought.
Above them the owls all exploded in an incredible display of pink and silver and gold and red and while everyone else oohed and ahhed the Marauders sat in silence, James looking miserably towards the door.
AN: Behold! Not a single drop of angst – I never would have thought it possible.
If you've read it please review it (and yes, that includes all you meanies who've got me on alert but never so much as utter a word of opinion. Go on, live a little - press that little lavenderish button…).