So, this is my new story, a collection of one-shots. They aren't really in any particular order. I hope you enjoy, please leave a review.
"So then, we ran for it and flung the dung bombs right back at Filch! They were exploding everywhere! You should have seen his face, priceless!" James Potter boasted of his evening adventures with the Marauders. He sat on the comfiest armchair in the common room, surrounded by his usual fan club. "Thirty points deducted and detention when McGonagall caught us," he mused, a smile still plastered on his face, "but it was well worth it," he crossed his hands behind his head and leaned back nonchalantly.
Lily Evans, who could hear the story from her spot in front of the fire, rolled her eyes to her friend, Alice.
"Problem Evans?" James asked, having glanced her way. Alice looked quickly at Lily. Alice was a timid person; she wasn't one for confrontation, especially in front of all the people in the common room. Lily was not bothered though, she had already had her fair share of confrontations with James Potter since their first year. She took a deep breath and stood, facing towards James, who was still lounging on the armchair, smirking.
"Actually yes," she answered definitively.
"And what would that be?" He asked mockingly.
"Don't you remember what Professor McGonagall told us on our first night here?"
"Evans, it's the middle of our third year here, so no, I don't remember what Professor McGonagall said our first night here," he said matter-of-factly.
"She said, 'I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours,'" James clearly didn't understand why Lily was repeating this message.
"Be a credit to your house, Potter," Lily snapped. "As in, do things that are valuable to your house. Oddly enough, losing house points at every turn is not how one should go about it."
"Valuable to my house?" James seemed amused.
"Yes, Potter, valuable to your house. You obviously aren't very familiar with that since you're so selfish, running around with your friends every night, losing house points for everyone with your stupid schemes. You don't care either. At least Remus," she pointed to Remus Lupin who was sitting on another chair reading a book and looking rather guilty, "seems to feel bad about it, but not you…"
"Leave Remus out of this, Evans!" Sirius Black, James's best friend, yelled as he stood from his current position of lying on the couch. Sirius was even more arrogant than James, he would argue just for the sake of arguing, and one of his, like James's, favorite activities was torturing Lily. Remus, remained still on the couch, book now placed in his lap. The other Marauder, Peter, sat timidly on the floor next to James's armchair, not moving and not speaking. He was the least confrontational, but his eyes were glued to the scene.
"I'm not talking to you, Black," Lily shouted back at him. "Anyway, Potter," she said with disdain, "you asked what was wrong and I told you. You're obviously no credit to your house, and you're so arrogant and selfish that you're actually proud of it."
"No credit to my house?" James actually sounded slightly angry, rather amused as he was at first. "Do you have any idea how many Quidditch games Gryffindor's won because of all of the goals I've scored? I'm more valuable to this house than half the people in it put together!" Peter nodded his head vigorously.
"Oh yes, Potter," Lily shouted back mockingly, "because everything's always about Quidditch!
"Yes, Evans, everything is about Quidditch!" James yelled back. "It's the point of going to school at all!"
"Only if you're too thick to succeed in academics, but I guess we all know why that applies to you!"
"I am top of the class in Transfiguration, Evans! Ask McGonagall, and she'll tell you!"
"Joking around and trying to transform other students in the back of the room with your stupid friends does not count as being good at Transfiguration!" Lily felt bad for calling Remus stupid, he was the least horrible of the Marauders, and he was definitely one of the brightest students in their year, but she moved past her slightly guilty conscience for the sake of the argument.
"You're just jealous Evans because I'm more of a credit to this house than you'll ever hope to be!"
"Yes, Potter, you figured it out! I secretly long to be an arrogant prat who loses house points on a whim and tries to make up for it with my mediocre performance on the Quidditch field!" Lily was finished arguing, she turned, grabbed her book from the floor, and stomped up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.
James didn't have time to respond before Lily went stomping up the stairs. He was stunned; no one had ever called his Quidditch performance mediocre. Everyone, even people who didn't like him, praised his Quidditch performance. He was one of the best players in the school, certainly the best chaser. Did Lily really think he was a mediocre player? James tried to brush the thought from his mind, obviously Lily was just jealous and she was trying to get a rise out of him.
"Evans has lost her mind, saying Quidditch doesn't matter, and that you're a mediocre player. Insane. She's just mad because you lost her those ten bonus points she got in Potions the other day. 'Professor, Professor'" Sirius bounced on the balls of his feet looking eager, imitating Lily, "'I know what the next ingredient is in draught of the living death, I know it! I read it last night," pathetic," he said lounging back on the couch.
Remus, ever the insightful one, must have noticed that James looked a little odd. "Padfoot," he said, "I'm sure that she was just frustrated and that's why she said those things. Everyone knows that you're a fantastic Quidditch player, there's no contesting that."
"Yeah," Peter shadowed. "You're the best Quidditch player on the team, everyone knows that!"
"Of course I know that," James said arrogantly. "I'm not worried about what Evans has to say, and she's mad if she thinks she would have any effect on me." The friends were silent.
"Although, she is quite wrong about Quidditch," Remus said, "one can see her point. We have lost an awful lot of points for Gryffindor in the past few weeks."
"Whose side are you on, Moony?" Sirius snapped.
"No one's," Remus said calmly, and he went back to reading.
That night James lay in bed. It was quite late, but he couldn't sleep. Despite his best efforts, he kept thinking about what Lily had said about not being a credit to his house. Was she right? Of course not. He was James Potter. He was the best chaser in the school, and probably the best Quidditch player in the school. He was excellent at school without even trying, especially in Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He was a part of the Marauders who had discovered secrets of Hogwarts that none of the other students had ever dreamed about. So what if he lost a couple of measly house points every now and then? No one cared. He gained them all back and then some with Quidditch. Lily was mad. He was definitely a credit to his house.
So, that was the first chapter. I might revisit James later in life, I haven't decided yet.
On a side note, I am a grammar freak, and it killed me to end a sentence with "about," but since it was James's thoughts, I kept it that way. I just wanted to inform fellow grammar freaks why I made that decision. The fact that I felt the need to share this gives a little insight into how much of a grammar freak I am. I've probably skipped over grammatical errors while writing this, but hopefully not too many. Please forgive me, if you see any.
Please leave a review! Thanks for reading! :]