Title: What Do You Think?
Beta-ed: No
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. Keep them coming so I know I should continue the story.
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"You haven't ever been inside Zonko's yet!"
"Well that's a shame," James said, frowning. "That should have been the first place they went."
"At least Harry's got a friend to tell him these things," Sirius pointed out. "Unlike Hermione," he added. Sirius had agreed with Ron for cutting off ties with Hermione, since he always took the rat's side after his adventures with Wormtail.
"Okay," he said. "But I'm taking the Invisibility Cloak this time."
"Smart idea," James encouraged. "Never leave your dormitory without it."
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(Near the Shrieking Shack. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Ron, and invisible Harry)
SPLAT.
Malfoy's head jerked forward as the mud hit him; his silver-blond hair was suddenly dripping with muck.
"Go, Harry," James cheered, grinning. "I can't believe he did that."
"Let's hope he does it again," Sirius said.
SPLATTER.
Crabbe and Goyle caught some this time.
"Thank you, Harry," James said while laughing. "I haven't laughed so hard since Snape… told that funny joke," he finished, spotting Lily.
"How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter,"
"Say thank you when someone compliments you, Harry," James said.
"Preaching morals now, James?" Remus asked.
"Well it was a nice compliment, he could at least say thanks."
(Snape trying to open the Marauder's Map)
"Reveal your secret!"
"Like that's going to work," Sirius said.
"Show yourself!"
"He doesn't think that we'd safeguard against those kinds of feeble attempts to open the map?" James asked.
"Guess not," Sirius replied.
"Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!"
"All right, lying to the map isn't going to help," Remus said to the book, as if Snape could hear him.
"Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."
"Good man, Remus," Sirius said, smiling.
"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git."
"See, the map doesn't lie to you, does it?" James asked the book.
"Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever become a professor."
"Yes, I would," Sirius agreed with himself.
"Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape a good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball."
"Way to go, Wormtail," James said. "Wish he was here to see this."
Lily's mouth had immediately dropped when she had first heard the comments, but as she continued to listen, her mouth slowly formed a slight smile.
"Lupin!" Snape called into the fire. "I want a word!"
"The perfect person to call," James said, his smile growing even bigger.
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(Malfoy talking about Hagrid crying over Buckbeak's sentence)
"Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic?" said Malfoy.
"Yeah, you," James replied.
"Ooh, good one," Remus said sarcastically.
"See, Moony? I told you I could still think of some of my own insults."
Harry and Ron both made furious moves toward Malfoy, but Hermione got there first – SMACK!
"Wow," James breathed. "Hermione's finally learning how to deal with the Slytherins."
"Took her long enough, too," Sirius agreed.
"You don't think she shouldn't have slapped him?" Remus asked.
"Actually, I think she should have done more than that."
Hermione pulled out her wand.
"Like that."
Harry and Ron hurried to a desk at the back and opened their bags. Ron looked behind him.
"Where's Hermione gone?"
"Probably to beat up Malfoy," Sirius commented.
"I wish," James said.
"She wishes," Sirius corrected.
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(Divination)
Glowing on every little table was a crystal ball full of pearly white mist.
Lily started to nervously look at Remus, as if she was expecting him to react abnormally. He noticed this and began to mutter under his breath. James caught a few words, and was disappointed to hear about plans of his own death. Obviously Remus was still a little mad about the whole lie he had told Lily.
"I don't need help," Ron whispered. "It's obvious what this means. There's going to be loads of fog tonight."
Sirius and James immediately began to laugh, forgetting to breathe in the process. Even Remus managed a small chuckle, used to this type of humor after his days as a marauder. Lily had tried very hard in Divination, so this wasn't the first thought that had run through her head during crystal ball gazing, but she wasn't about to admit this to the marauders.
"Fine!" said Hermione suddenly, getting up and cramming Unfogging the Future back into her bag. "Fine!" she repeated, swinging the bag over her shoulder and almost knocking Ron off his chair. "I give up! I'm leaving!"
"Good. Can you take Harry and Ron with you, too? Because I'm kinda tired of hearing about his stupid subject," Sirius yawned. "All of us would really appreciate it."
And to the whole class's amazement, Hermione strode over to the trapdoor, kicked it open, and climbed down the ladder out of sight.
"Thanks anyway."
"You saw her leaving, didn't you? 'Around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever!' You said it ages ago, Professor!"
Professor Trelawney gave her a dewy smile.
"Yes, my dear, I did indeed know that Miss Granger would be leaving us."
"Fraud," James accused. "She's just really lucky."
"…The Inner Eye can be a burden, you know…"
"Well it would be if you had it," Sirius said.
Had Professor Trelawney really seen the Grim again? Would he? The last thing he needed was another near-fatal accident, with the Quidditch final drawing ever nearer.
"Harry, why are you listening to a fraud like Trelawney?" James asked. "You know she's lying and just likes to pretend you're going to die. There's nothing to worry about."
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Slytherin was leading the tournament by exactly two hundred points.
"So that means that Harry has to catch the Snitch only when they are up by more than fifty points," Sirius explained in his best imitation of James talking about Quidditch. James glared, but didn't say anything because the logic was correct.
"So you must catch it only if we're more than fifty points up," Wood told Harry constantly.
"Wow, Sirius, you care as much about Quidditch as Wood does," Remus remarked. James smirked as Sirius' grin immediately fell off of his face.
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Quietly as he could, he got out of his four-poster and went to pour himself some water from the silver jug beneath the window.
"Ah, the silver jug beneath the window," James sighed as he remembered something. "They took that away from us in our third year."
"What could you possibly do to have that taken away," Lily asked.
"You don't want to know."
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"Good luck, Harry!" called Cho. Harry felt himself blushing.
James opened his mouth to say something, but was scolded before he said anything.
"Don't you dare say anything, Potter," Lily threatened. Her reverting back to calling him by his last name was enough to make him hold his tongue, but that didn't stop him from sharing a grin with Sirius.
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(Quidditch match: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin)
"-THAT WAS DELIBERATE!"
"What was deliberate?" James asked, sitting on the edge of his seat. "Come on, Lee, what was deliberate?"
"THIRTY-ZERO!"
"Wow, that Slytherin keeper is pretty bad," Sirius said.
"TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING-"
"Jordan, if you can't commentate in an unbiased-!"
"I'm telling it like it is, Professor!"
"It's true, he is," James agreed. "That's the kind of commentator you want. One that will call the Slytherins the cheats that they are."
"No, that's the kind of commentator that you want," Lily corrected.
"Fair point."
He turned the Firebolt upward at the last second, and Bole and Derrick collided with a sickening crunch.
"Way to go, Harry," James cheered.
Malfoy had thrown himself forward, grabbed hold of the Firebolt's tail, and was pulling it back.
"WHAT!" James roared. "How could he do that?! That cheating-"
The tiny golden ball was held tight in his fist, beating it wings hopelessly against his fingers.
"YES!" James yelled, jumping into the air. "HE DID IT!"
Thrust into the light, he saw Hagrid, plastered with crimson rosettes –"Yeh beat 'em, Harry, yeh beat 'em!"
"Yes he did," James sighed, falling back into the chair.
As a sobbing Wood passed Harry the Cup, as he lifted it into the air, Harry felt that he could have produced the world's best Patronus.
"Glad to hear he's so happy," James said.
Lily secretly confessed to herself that she kind of liked this James, the one that wasn't so arrogant and actually cared about someone else. Suddenly a much undesired thought forced its way into Lily's head. She tried to shake it off, but it kept returning.
"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she did end up marrying James."