Ch. 5, A Different Perspective

James watched from the skate park as pure fear and worry filled Lily's face. He was close enough to hear what Lily was saying.

"Oh s---."

But that was all James could hear, because the roar of the fancy-wancy car (which was going very slowly) was very loud. But he did see Lily run off like someone had just shouted fire. His fellow Marauders gathered around him as Jane stepped onto a podium the boys hadn't noticed before.

"Listen up everyone! Lily has asked me a personal favor! Absolutely no one is to go to Lily's house! Her parents are home unexpectedly and there may be trouble. No one to Lily's house, understood?" she shouted.

Shouts of consent were heard and Sirius mock-saluted and shouted "Understood sir!" Jane glared at him.

But James was a Marauder. While others continued with their own business (in the Marauders' case, flirting and making a fool of themselves) James wanted to go and see Lily. But not before Sirius tried on his band-aid hat, and then tried to take it off. Meanwhile, Remus was out of sight, earlier he had said he wanted to do some pranking.

Jane tried desperately to make things go on as normal, but every ten minutes someone would come up and ask about Lily.

Unfortunately for James, he never got a chance to get his cloak from his back-pack. The girls were all over him, and wouldn't let him get away. He saw Remus come back, a satisfied smirk on his face. The reason was proved as the next person to go and rent one of the for-rent skateboards, and it bucked and then tossed the poor soul off.

But then a scream was heard. The Marauders rushed forward and saw that someone had fallen off of one of the tall expert ramps, and fallen into a patch of some sort of plants.

Jane rushed over, saw the plants and shouted, "Vera!"

James and Sirius were quite distracted by teasing Remus, whose mouth had dropped open at the sight of a petite girl, that, if they were wearing the same clothes, would have been an exact twin to Jane.

Remus, however, was oblivious to his friends, as he was watching as the girl, Vera, take a look at the plants, and then to the itching victim. He sneaked forward to catch what she was saying.

"What I'm wondering is how Poison Ivy got here! Up you get. Now don't itch it, it'll only get worse. Put some of this on it and the itch should subside." she said, taking a small jar of a creamy substance out of a fanny pack and handing it to the twelve year old girl. Remus saw the girl had a large rash on her legs and arms, (im not sure if poison ivy works this fast) and that she was blushing at being humiliated.

But as quickly as she had appeared, she disappeared. Remus spent the rest of the day looking around for her. And, the subject of Lily far from his mind, James spent the rest of the day with Sirius, who was teasing the life out of Remus. He even went so far to ask Jane where she was.

Jane giggled. "Sorry, but Vera's a really shy. You won't find her unless she wants to be found."

Only when James was walking to his own house that evening around 9:30, did he remember Lily. He looked over to her house just in time to hear shouting. James cringed as he heard Lily's shrill voice, he had been at the receiving point of her temper just too many times. He couldn't quite make out what she was saying though, it sounded sad. He waited for a few more minutes, and saw a trunk that was obviously Lily's, float down from the second story window. After a few more minutes, Lily herself climbed down, and shrunk her trunk. As she put it in her pocket, the moonlight shone on her face. James was taken back to see a solitary tear roll down her cheek as she got onto her bike. James guessed that as she rode down the driveway, she was headed to Jane's place.

Over the next few days, Lily was a wreck. Jane and Vera spent time with their friend, (Lily and Vera had gotten quite close) and asked her stuff about Hogwarts. And, Unfortunately for Lily, the name 'Lilsy" stuck.

One day, Jane was asking about the teachers, and who to watch out for.

Lily laughed. "Well, Professor McGonnagle is the first teacher you'll see probably, she teaches transfiguration. But the students don't call it that, we call it transfig. Then theres the caretaker, Mr. Filch, and no one noes how old he is. He hates we students, and the feeling is mutual. Probably because he found out the age-old nickname the students have bestowed on him. 'Mr. Filth', which is quite ironic, as he never lets a speck of dirt in the school go un-punished."

"Anyone else? Like students or Prefects?" Vera asked.

Lily smiled. "Well, stay clear of the Slytherins. They hate and hex anyone who isn't in their house. If I got sorted into Slytherin, I'd leave. Then, there are Prefects, but there are also the Head Girl and Head Boy. Watch out for the Head Girl this year, I heard she's really strict, crashes parties and everything." she said. Quite the contrary, she intended to be herself this year, because of what Genevive had said to her.

"You know her then?" Jane asked.

Lily smiled again. "Yep. She goes by the name of Lily Evans."

Jane and Vera's mouths dropped. "YOU? Your Head Girl!" Jane exclaimed.

"That doesn't seem like you Lilsy." Vera said calmly.

"Of course not!" Lily said, lounging on the bed, "It's just an act, I thought it would get anyone away from me! I'm known as the Perfect Prefect!" she ranted.

"Still," Vera said, changing the subject. She didn't know much about Lily's acts, but was smart enough not to ask, "any other students?"

Lily snorted. "Yes. There are three boys in my house, they call themselves The Marauders. They are all pranking, womanizing, arrogant, bullying, annoying, imbeciles!"

Vera and Jane looked a little surprised at her outburst. "Really?" Vera said tentatively.

"Yep. You know them, I think. They are James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. They moved in the house a few away from my old one, and it was James that saved my life at the beach that day." Lily explained.

"Oh! There was this one person who asked about ickle Veralyn here after she helped that girl in the poison ivy!" Vera blushed at the use of her full name, "he introduced himself as Remus Lupin!" Jane said worriedly, putting an arm over her blushing twin.

"And you say he's a womanizer?" Jane asked once more, worried about her younger twin.

Lily shook her head. "He's not as bad as the other two, but he's still had more girlfriends than most boys in the school. And he has never had a serious relationship. At least, not that I know of, and it's impossible not to keep up with the MG."

"MG?" Vera asked, trying to get off the subject that the first person to ever be crushing on her was a womanizer.

"Marauder Grapevine." Lily explained.

"And the others?" Jane asked, wanting to get back onto the subject.

"James Potter has never had a serious relationship. He's a skirt chaser, flirt, but to busy running after yours truly to keep a girlfriend." as Lily said this Jane laughed, "And Sirius Black is the worst. He has a different girl in his bed every other week, and he brags about it." Lily said exasperatedly.

"And I take it you four have a bad history?" Vera asked.

"You bet. James Potter is so annoying, every time he sees me, he asks me out. No one Black used to humiliate me by turning my hair different colors, and making my robes shrink. Lupin is to sneaky for his own good. Not to mention he's smart. The staircase for the girls' dorms at Hogwarts has a charm to literally repel boys, and he found the counter-charm. I've had to charm my own bed so that I can't hear what's going on in my own room. Sirius Black visits nightly, you see." Lily said with an annoyed air.

"So," Jane started, "What's your favorite subject?"

Lily smiled. "Oh charms, definitely. From the sound of the ones I've described, what about you guys?"

"I'm pretty sure I'll like Ancient Runes, and DADA." Jane said immediately.

"Um, I'll probably enjoy Herbology, I've always wanted to open my own Apothecary." Vera said quietly.

This didn't surprise Lily, as Vera seemed to be the outdoorsy type. She got excited about COMC, too.

"Oh, I know what we should do! Who's up for twenty questions!" Jane said excitedly. She seemed the only one into the idea, because Lily didn't like her past, and who knows why Vera didn't play. The two opposers smiled as Jane was over ruled.

"Lets go outside, theres a wood not far from here." Vera suggested. You learn a lot about someone when you live with them, and Lily had learned a lot about Vera. When in doubt, go outside!

Jane shrugged. "Just as long as you don't lecture us about plants." she said as she got up. Lily got her things ready, while Vera strapped on a little pouch to her leg.

"Why do you always take that thing when you go outside! It looks hideous!" Jane said, and she wasn't too far off. The small leather pouch was very old looking a frayed. It clashed horribly with the hiking shorts and t-shirt she had chosen.

"Well what if I find something useful! The pouch is magically enlarged inside, look!" Vera defended. She opened the pouch and showed the other girls. It did indeed have a ton of room. There were several plastic bags filled with different leaves, and some were labeled things like "Malorean" or as simple as "Mint". Lily stared at the pouch, and at it's size. It was basically an apothecary in a pouch.

So, after a little complaining from Jane, the girls decided to take a hike from the bottom of a small mountain (Oakville was at the base of a small mountain) to whenever they got tired.

Vera led, and she was in her element. Lily heard Jane muttering about wasting time, when Vera went off the long route. She plainly wanted to spend as much time on the mountain as possible. So many times Lily and Jane stumbled and tripped, but Vera, not once. Little did they know, there were a few pairs of eyes watching them.

Panting and huffing, Lily and Jane reached the place where Vera, amused, was waiting for them.

"Can we go back now?" Jane asked her twin, who fell to the ground laughing. But then, she stopped laughing right away, as a growl was heard from directly behind her.

All three girls paled. Lily and Jane, who were standing right behind Vera, could see the (rare in Oakville) mountain lioness as she came up behind Vera, who still had her back turned, growling.

The lioness took one sniff of Vera, turned away, and walked menacingly toward Lily and Jane, who were petrified to the spot.

Lily could still think, but she knew that cats could run much faster than humans. Lily saw Vera slowly reaching for her little pouch. What was she thinking!

But then, Vera did the most stupid thing she could have done. She whistled like a bird. Lily glanced to her side, and saw the look of pure and utter terror written on Jane's face, worried about the safety of her twin. Since she was the older one, Jane felt responsible for Vera's safety.

The cat turned, saw Vera, made an annoyed snort, but then saw that she was holding something in her hand. Thinking it was the lion version of catnip, she went forward, and sniffed it. The cat got a pained expression, and scampered off, meowing. (im not sure if lions do that)

Vera stood up, replaced the small green grass-like things in a bag labeled "Stinkweed". She sighed with relief.

"What was that?" Jane asked.

Vera smiled. "Ever wonder what stink pellets are made of? Stinkweed, of course. But animals have such a sensitive nose, it's un-bearable for them.," she smiled at Jane, "I don't want to hear you complaining about my pouch again."

Jane nodded meekly.

At much protest from Vera, the girls decided to head back. Jane got annoyed at the third time that Vera stopped, crouched at the ground, and picked some flowers or leaves.

"Why must you do that? You're half of the room is filled with nothing but plants!" Jane complained.

"What have I told you about complaining about my plants?" Vera countered, to angry to notice that she wasn't being shy. "Besides, this stuff is the perfect prank material." she said, took out a plastic jar, and put the pollen into it.

Lily didn't complain. And once she heard it's use, Jane stopped as well.

Finally (in Jane's opinion) they reached the city. The girls were passing the skate park, which had been elected their next destination, when a shout was heard.

"Lily! Over here! How are ya PG?" Jason asked. He was waving, and once Lily's name was heard, a crowd gathered.

Lily walked over and burst out laughing. Again. It was so funny that neither Jane nor Lily noticed Vera shyly slipping away.

James and Remus (while flirting, much to Jane's annoyance) were trying vainly to get a band-aid hat off of Sirius. Who was screaming like there was no tomorrow, because the band-aids were stuck to his hair.

The other two boys noticed the girls walking in their direction, and let go of their friend. Who happened to be pulling back at the time, and fell on his behind. Hard.

"Owwie!" he shouted. The crowd laughed at this. Then, Sirius started whimpering that he needed more band-aids.

But when Jason handed the four-year old boy a band-aid (still in the wrapper) neither person would (or could) let go. Whenever they would try to, a strange yellow gum-like substance seemed to have stuck the wrapper to their fingers. Jason and Sirius were joined at the hand.

As Lily and Jane rushed forward, Jane's mouth fell open.

"I-I recognize this stuff." she said, then, called out, "Veraline Parker, get over here now!"

Lily fell over laughing now, as the shy girl (Remus had gotten very attentive) did not come forward. Jane grabbed both boys, and stomped off towards the mountain that they had just come from, muttering, "She will do anything to get me to the top of that mountain..."

James and Remus rushed forward to help their friend. Lily did not complain. When someone saves your life, you learn to put up with them.

"I thought you said that no one can find her unless she wants to be found?" Remus asked.

Jane glared at him. "Anyone except me. I'm her twin, I know practically everything about her." she snapped, making Remus take a step back.

"Okay, okay, just wondering..." he muttered.

The group spent hours looking for the girl, and got quite a work out.

"I thought you could find her." Sirius whined.

Lily noticed something on the ground. Again, she burst out laughing and showed the note to Jane.

Dear Jane,

If you've found this, then this means that you indeed thought I would go up the mountain. Well, too bad for you. I went somewhere else, just to bug you and get you up the mountain. You got a good work out, didn't you?

Remember that pollen I got on the way down earlier today? Well, that is currently what is sticking whoever touched the next band-aid to the wrapper. Just find the same flower, take a leaf from it, and make a broth from it. That'll dissolve the glue.

Good Luck! (you'll need it, because I know you weren't paying attention)

Vera

PS: Try asking Lily! She was probably paying attention!

Little did they know, that Vera was in the branches of the tree right above them, laughing her shoes off. (with a silencing charm)

"Two can play this game." Jane said, "She didn't go somewhere else. She's probably watching us right now. Vera wouldn't let a joke this big go without watching."

So, the group kept looking for her. But no one, not even Jane, had the advantage that Remus had. As a werewolf, he had much better hearing than the others. He quickly looked up, just as a petite girl landed on the above tree branch.

Remus' POV

I heard something, so I decided it couldn't hurt to look up in the trees. We were having no headway at all with footprints or anything of the sort. Jane's theory had been proved by the fresh ink on the message, so she was still here.

And there she was. Her light blue eyes widened in surprise as she saw that I had spotted her. Luckily, I was able to stop my mouth from dropping open. She looked gorgeous, sitting up there in a tree, startled. A faded and frayed leather pouch was tied to her lower thigh, and she soon regained her composure.

She raised her finger to her lips, signifying silence. Then, she pointed to Jane, who was bent over in the mud, trying to find a trace of footprints.

I tried to see things from her point of view. She had just played a prank on her twin sister, who bragged about knowing everything about Vera. I smiled as I saw how much fun she must be having. I nodded, saying that I would keep quiet. She smiled, and walked onto the next tree branch so she would be right above Lily. She moved surprisingly silently. I stopped myself from laughing just in time as Jane fell face forward into the mud puddle.

Normal POV

Jane was having a wonderful time searching the mountain for her sister, but then she spotted something that would get Vera in her sights again indefinitely. A small, wounded, baby owl was chirping near the base of a very tall tree, and if you looked closely, in the uppermost branches, was a owl's nest.

(I know that owls don't nest in the tops of trees, but how else would the bird get injured?)

She pointed this out to Lily, who nodded, thinking that if a wounded animal needed help, Vera would appear almost instantly.

But whenever any of the group tried to get near the owl, it would snap, and it actually cut Jason.

"Oh no! A poor baby owl, hurt and lost! If only any of us had something that could help it!" Jane wailed, very fake.

The group heard a distant "humph!" then, without warning, Vera jumped down from a tree. She glared at her sister, then walked carefully towards the owl. To everyone's surprise, it let her pick it up.

Remus watched as Vera picked up the little owl gingerly, and gently prodded it's bent wing. The bird recoiled.

"Oh you poor thing." she cooed, while grabbing something out of her pouch. It turned out to be a greenish cream filled jar, and she smeared some cream on the owls wing.

"What is that stuff?" Jason asked.

"It'll numb the pain, that way I can take him home and put that wing to proper care." she said, before walking down the path, ignoring everything else but the injured owl in her hands. The group followed, every once and a while, Jane would make a comment about how she knew that Vera would come if there was an injured animal. She was completely ignored by both Vera, and Remus.

So, what do you think? Next chapie tomorrow, if I get a decent number of REVIEWs.

Okay, i wrote the above stuff in the summer, but this is Christmas.

A merry christmas to you all! Or whatever Holiday you celebrate! I'll post Chapter 6 later today, just some last minute editing. and i'm sorry i couldn't post the christmas chapters today...that's ten and eleven. Oh well.

I've also been fighting off Poster's Block, which is possible thanks to all of you! Now this story has 741 hits last time i checked, but for some UNKNOWN reason, i don't have 741 reviews! I have 14!

Now, i know that a lot of people are too lazy to get a fanfiction acount and so just read the story and try to annonymously review. i used to do that. But then, my computer started working properly and i could access the join up page!

The reason i don't allow annonymous reviews, is because once i got an annonymous review from someone who signed their name annon which is obviously short for annonymous, which means that he/she is just a random flamer with nothing else better to do in their life. The review was critisizing my failed forum. well, if ur reading this now annon, then u should know that it's none of ur beezwax!

Now, don't get me wrong. I have no (well actually i do, but i'm nicer than that, i hope) reason to purposely insult the person who did this. i am merely warning others about him/her. if u get an insulting flame review from someone called annon, don't take it to heart.

Now, for pointless drabble!

Ever wonder why it's called him/her or he/she? the men feel threatened by us...so they decide to downgrade us more, by putting their gender first all the time! it's a plot i tells ya... a plot.