Chapter Five
I was the first one to wake up again and the morning pretty much exactly the same way it had the day before. I did my stretching routine, wondering if I was allowed to run in the mornings - I could see being allowed too as well as not being allowed. The only place truly big enough to run would be outside, on the grounds, but I wasn't sure what time we were allowed to go out onto the grounds. They locked the doors at night, I knew that from reading the books, but it never mentioned what time they unlocked the doors in the morning. I made a mental note to ask Lily about it when I saw her later and got up to go take a shower and brush my teeth. When I left the bathroom, Remus was once again the one who brushed past me to claim the shower first and James stubbed his toe on his trunk as he blearily tried to find wherever his glasses had fallen off his bedside table last night. Figuring it would be the friendly thing to do, I volunteered to look under his bed for him, and reached under to see if I could feel anything.
"Are you guys wizards or not?" I heard Sirius ask, causing me to cautiously removed my head from underneath James bed just as he summoned the glasses into his waiting hand. As I got out from underneath, I turned and came face to face with Sirius' pajama covered crotch. The pajamas had brooms all over them that actually flew a little bit, making one dizzy if they stared too long, and there was quite a sizeable lump directly eye level with me. I swallowed nervously, feeling my cheeks heat up instantly and my eyes traveled up from his lower half, stopping only for a second on those well formed abdominal muscles, all the way up to his face which was twisted into a victorious smirk as he held James glasses in one hand.
Once I processed that information, I stopped ogling the boy in front of me and stood up, roughly thanking him. I don't think anyone noticed the red on my cheeks because when Sirius had been holding the glasses, his eyes were looking at James, so I quickly went over to my own bed and grabbed my bag, placing it strategically to hide any embarrassing indications of my lingering excitement, and made my way downstairs. I called to the guys on my way out that I would see them in the morning and left just as Peter was getting kicked up by Sirius. I knew they had stayed up late last night, they would have had to sneak out in order to pull of the prank they had wanted, so I wasn't going to wait for them on the off chance they were late for breakfast. Not to mention, knowing Lily, she would be down soon so I could just go with her.
I opened the door to the common room and scanned it, not noticing any red heads, so I sat down and began reading the book about Transfiguration I had started yesterday. I only got through a couple of pages when Lily arrived, looking a little annoyed, and it didn't take long to figure out why she was.
"Hi, Jasper, my name is Celia Williams." A girl, who had been behind Lily, introduced herself and extended her hand towards me. I shook it politely, smiling at her, while exchanging a look with Lily that basically said 'who the hell is this?'. Lily's response face told me that I didn't want to know, but unfortunately for me, I was going to regardless. As soon as I let go of the Celia's hand she giggled in an obnoxious way that some girls thought was cute but honestly just sounded fake and ducked behind some of her long, black hair.
"Your hands are really rough." Celia said, still giggling as she fluttered her eyelashes at me. I raised an unimpressed eyebrow at her, wondering what the hell she was doing, but decided to ignore the weird behavior for now.
"Thanks, I use sandpaper as lotion." I replied sarcastically, making Lily let out a snort.
"Good one!" Celia said, smiling at me and doing that obnoxious fake giggling.
"Thanks." I said dryly, not offering any more to the conversation. "Are you ready to leave, Lily? I was hoping to get to breakfast early."
"Yeah, sure." Lily said casually, looking towards Celia. "Amy probably wanted to head down with you, we'll catch up with you later?"
"Absolutely!" Celia replied, not even looking at Lily but at me instead, before flouncing away to head back up to the girls dormitory.
"Okay, what the holy hell was that?" I asked, turning to Lily abruptly with my arms crossed.
"She wand some of the girls saw us talking yesterday and wanted to meet you." Lily said, sighing in an irritated way and already making her way towards the portrait hole. "I tried to tell them you were still trying to adjust to Hogwarts so we could avoid it, but she wouldn't take no for an answer."
"Why did she want to meet me anyway?" I asked, confused. It's not like I was famous or even from a foreign country or something cool. In my old life, people usually treated kids who came from homeschooling as socially awkward weirdo's with family issues.
"You're joking, right?" Lily asked, an incredulous expression on her face as we descended the stairs.
"No?" I replied, some of my impatience seeping through into my voice.
"She, and most of the girls in my dorm, think you're hot. Plus your new, pretty smart, and did I mention your new?" Lily said, rolling her eyes.
"I-uh-what?" I said stupidly, blinking as her words got processed.
"I mean, you are pretty fit, but they are only being weird about it because like I said, you are someone new and mysterious to them for now and because most of these guys, we saw go through puberty or they saw us go through puberty. Which, in a lot of cases, was not a pretty sight to behold." Lily explained matter of factly
"I honestly don't know what to say to that." I said in return, thinking about my reflection that I had seen only about fifteen minutes ago. I mean, I guess my blonde hair was a nice shade and went really well with my weirdly royal blue eyes, and I was in decent shape from exercise, but I hadn't really thought much beyond that. It was nice, in a way, to be told I was attractive and for that girl to want to meet me, but I had a sneaking suspicion it would get annoying rather quickly. Well, that Celia would get really annoying rather quickly, at least.
"Just please don't go out with her." Lily said, catching me off guard with the request. "I honestly can't stand her, I don't think I could be around you two if you started dating."
I snorted rather loudly, causing one of the portraits we were walking past as we made it to the fourth floor to send me a dirty look. "Don't worry, she's not my type."
"Thank Merlin for that." Lily said, letting out a breath of relief.
We made it to the Great Hall without anything else important coming up and pretty soon we were eating breakfast. I had Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology today, which was sure to be an interesting lesson, but mostly I was just glad that I was going to be able to be outside for most of the day. Lily was telling me how excited she was for her Arithmancy class, which was basically Math, when my roommates finally made it down for breakfast.
"Good morning." I greeted them, lifting my goblet of water in greeting. Remus was the only one who replied with a good morning, while James just grunted, Sirius smirked, and Peter was still asleep with his eyes open but somehow managing to walk. "What classes do you all have this morning?"
"James and I both have Arithmancy." Remus said, raising an eyebrow when Lily let out a groan of despair. Honestly, she was probably being a little dramatic.
"She has Arithmancy as well." I said, and Remus nodded in understanding. James, however, seemed as though he had just drank three cups of coffee with how awake he was suddenly.
"Lily-flower! This means we can study together!" James exclaimed cheerfully, now piling eggs and bacon onto his plate.
Then again, maybe she wasn't being as dramatic as she could be. I watched as she looked up to the ceiling, obviously asking whatever beings were out there to give her the patience to deal with James for the rest of the year. I looked at Sirius and Peter, and when they both just ignored me, I looked back to Remus, who sighed at his friend's behavior. Obviously the Marauders didn't do so well with a lack of sleep, which made me wonder how they got through Full Moon's without arousing any suspicion.
"Peter has Divination and Sirius has Care of Magical Creatures." Remus told me, making me brighten considerably. At least I knew someone in my class now, that was always better than no one.
"We have class together." I informed Sirius, to which he grinned lazily in return before continuing to load his plate up. I was going to ask if he knew who the teacher was but I was distracted by loud noises coming from the Entrance Hall. It sounded like a myriad of voices were yelling things, but it was not distinct enough to tell what they were saying until the doors were opened and a couple of Slytherin fifth years walked in.
"Your mother thinks you are so ugly, when she sees a Boggart, it turns into you!"
"You'll never be the man your mother is!"
"Your family tree must be a cactus, because everyone on it is a prick!"
"I didn't realize when I you wanted to introduce me to your father and uncle they were the same person!"
These were only some of the insults that the suits of armor were jeering at the Slytherins in their disembodied voices. Once people realized what was going on, the laughter started up and the Slytherin's instantly began glaring at the four boys who were sitting beside Lily and I. James, Peter, and Sirius all looked extraordinarily happy with themselves while Remus only had a small, satisfied smile on his face at seeing their plan come together. I stifled a snort when I caught Lily's glare, which she had shifted to me when I started to laugh. I would ask her about it later, but I had to admit it was an impressive bit of magic - and the insults they had come up with hilarious by themselves. Dumbledore stood up from his chair, wand extended, and quieted down the suits of armor with a casual wave before projecting his voice across the hall.
"Any teachers or prefects who come across the suits of armor that are insulting one of our houses students are required to make the stop if they are capable." Dumbledore said, a small frown on his face as he looked at the Marauders. "I understand these are dark times and humor is often a wonderful reprieve, but some jokes are in bad taste and this is one of them. Anyone who is aware of who has done this and has proof is encouraged to come forward. I also encourage the guilty party to come forward as well and I may be more lenient. Thank you, enjoy your breakfast and morning classes."
The Marauders had sobered up during Dumbledore's speech but it was only for show. They were slapping each other on the back as soon as we left the Great Hall. Lily was fuming, mostly at Remus because of his prefect status and James for being..alive. Lily said she would see me after class and pointedly marched away from the two Gryffindor's, determined not to talk to them during the class most likely. I would be surprised if she talked to either of them besides to yell by the end of the day to be honest. Sirius and I walked towards the front door, cutting through the courtyard to meet the rest of our class by the Forbidden Forest.
"So why do you guys hate Slytherin so much?" I asked Sirius casually as we walked along the stone path.
"Well, you nailed it the first time we talked didn't you? They're a bunch of future death eaters." Sirius said, disdain as clear as the sky above us in his voice.
"That was a joke, maybe one in poor taste, but it accurately described how I wouldn't have wanted to be in Slytherin. Don't you think it's a little harsh to target them all, though?" I asked, raising an eyebrow
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked
"Well, if they weren't evil gits before, being ostracized and antagonized by the other houses may push them into believing that they have to be that way, therefore continuing the cycle of violence." I said, stopping for a moment and gripping his arm as I spoke seriously. "I'm not saying it wasn't funny, because I think it was, but I think you should've directed it towards those who really deserve it. It's not like the future Death Eaters are exactly quiet about their opinion."
"Now you sound like Remus." Sirius complained, but from the thoughtful look on his face and the way he was quiet for the first part of our lesson, I think I may have given him something to think about.
Care of Magical Creatures was taught by Professor Kettleburn, who had unremarkable features and straight, brown hair. The most interesting thing about the man was that he only had one arm and half of one of his legs left. I vaguely remember this was the guy that Hagrid takes over for and if I remember correctly, he had a reputation for being pretty reckless so hopefully this would be a fun class. The NEWT level students in this class was a mix of all four houses, considering there hadn't been enough people who had the marks and/or the interest to pursue the subject. There were ten of us all together; Two Gryffindors, Two Ravenclaws, Five Hufflepuffs, and one Slytherin.
"Alright, gather 'round you lot." Professor Kettleburn said, gesturing for us to come to where he was sitting on a tree stump. "Now, I don't give a damn what house you're in. Leave it outside my teaching time. We are all here to learn. One of you idiot's do something wrong, I'm going to deduct points from all four houses. Okay?"
"That's not fair!" One of the Ravenclaws protested
"Sweetheart, if I wanted to be fair I would have become a judge. I don't care. Don't do anything stupid and you'll be fine." Professor Kettleburn said gruffly, and I suppressed a smile when he looked pointedly at Sirius, who gave him an innocent grin in return. "Alright, we are going into the Forest a bit. Wands out and watch eachothers backs, we aren't going far."
We travelled in relative silence, the only ones talking were the group of Hufflepuff's in the back, and it wasn't long before we came upon a paddock that had two big, black skeletal looking horses inside. They had glowing red eyes and smelled almost musty, two pairs of intelligent eyes watched us warily as we approached. I could see Professor Kettleburn doing a mental count of which of us could see them and which of us could not.
"Who knows what these creatures are?" Professor Kettleburn asked, and my hand went up into the air along with one of the Ravenclaw students.
"There's nothing there." One of the Hufflepuff boys exclaimed, looking around the paddock as though he expected a creature to pop into existence.
"If you can't see it and since you obviously don't know that it's even there, let alone what it is, then keep your mouth shut, boy." Professor Kettleburn said impatiently, looking between the Ravenclaw boy and I before finally pointing one of his fingers, he only had four, at me. "You. What's your name and what are they?"
"Jasper Tatham, Professor. They are Thestrals." I replied, making the Hufflepuff's back away.
"Why can't everyone see them?" Professor Kettleburn asked, picking up some kind of meat carcass and tossing it to the Thestrals who picked it apart in a couple of minutes.
"Only those who have seen death may look upon a Thestral." I recited a line of a book from memory, my eyes never leaving the two tall skeletal horses.
"Some of you may recognize them as the things that draw the carriages from Hogsmeade. They get a bad rep for being unlucky because of the whole death thing, but quite frankly, they are gentle creatures unless threatened." Professor Kettleburn explained, looking at us thoughtfully. The rest of the class we were supposed to draw the horse, anyone who couldn't see one had to get help from someone who could. Sirius and I paired off, working diligently and finishing the picture fifteen minutes prior to class ending. Once we had handed the picture in, Professor Kettleburn said we could leave. We walked in silence for a moment and just as I was about to ask what was wrong with Sirius, he opened his mouth instead.
"Who did you see die?" Sirius asked, his voice oddly somber.
"My parents." I replied quietly
"I saw my baby cousin die. She had some kind of birth defect where she reacted badly to magic, it's extraordinarily rare, more rare than being a squib." Sirius said, a far off look in his eye. "I asked the medi-wizard when I was young and had just seen it what caused it, and since my parents weren't around, he told me the truth. It comes from inbreeding; marrying your own family and having offspring from them. He said it's a disease that only purebloods really see, and since it is so rare, it's not well known. That was when I first thought that my parents might not be right about 'pureblood'."
"It takes a brave person to stand up their family." I commented, watching as Sirius lips quirked up into a small smile.
"Thanks." Sirius said
I made a noncommittal noise and the silence was a little easier after that. Sirius and I split up as soon as we reached the Great Hall, with me going to the library and I wasn't sure what he was up too. I had an hour until Lunch and then afterwards was Herbology and then Defense against the Dark Arts. We were going to be the first Defense class of the year, which was strange considering it was the second day of the school starting, but I was definitely eager to find out who our Defense teacher was going to be. I spent the hour in the library reading my Transfiguration book, taking notes about things I needed clarification on and hoping Lily would be able to answer the questions I had. Transfiguration wasn't her strongest subject either though so I might have to go to Professor McGonagall.
When the bell rang, I packed up my things and headed to the Great Hall to meet the others. I was the first one to arrive so I sat at the table and ate a turkey sandwich while waiting. It wasn't long before Lily slid in next to me, looking flustered, and began piling food onto her plate with a gusto.
"How was Arithmancy?" I asked curiously
"It was interesting." Lily said as she put chips on her plate. "I made sure Remus was between James and I, so he kept the disruptions down to a minimum. I don't know how I'm going to get through the class all year with him though."
"You'll survive." I said dryly, wondering when they would begin to get along again. James ego definitely needed to deflate a little bit beforehand but maybe I could speed up the process just a little. I was going to tell her about Care of Magical Creatures when I felt someone slide into the sea next to me, uncomfortably close.
"Hi, Jasper." Celia said, fluttering her eyelashes at me again.
"Hey, Celia." I said, smiling uncomfortably and taking a bite of my sandwich to avoid having to talk to her.
"So I heard from someone you are trying out for the Quidditch team." Celia said in a sickly sweet tone of voice. "I bet you'll be great."
I choked, and as I was getting a drink of water, I heard stifled laughter coming from down the table. Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter were watching as Celia almost clung to my side and I could just guess who had been the 'someone' who told her I was going to be trying out for Quidditch. "Um, thanks. Yeah, I was thinking about it."
"Have you played Quidditch a lot?" Celia asked, scooting just a little closer. I, in turn, scooted closer to Lily who shot me a disgruntled look but I could see thin traces of amusement in her green eyes. "Maybe you could teach me to throw a quaffle sometime?"
"Uh, I'm honestly not that good." I replied, rubbing the back of my neck and wondering how in the hell I was going to get this girl away from me without making her cry.
"Well, I'll be cheering for you in the stands when you try out." Celia said, leaning in a little bit closer to say the rest in a low tone. "I might even have a surprise for you if you make it on the team."
"Oh, okay." I said nervously, clearing my throat a little and smiling uneasily.
"Alright, well I better get going. Take care, Jasper." Celia said, winking at me and then getting up to move further down the bench to where her friends were sitting. The group of girls immediately broke out into giggles and I groaned, sinking my face into my hands.
"Well, that was painful to watch." Lily said, smirking at me as she ate.
"You could have helped." I shot back, still hiding my face.
"That wouldn't have been any fun at all." Lily said, cackling a little bit at my discomfort. "Although, you would think she could take a hint. Either she's more obtuse than I thought or maybe she thinks you are just shy.."
"Lily, I need her to stop." I said, voice pained. "I have no interest in her."
"Get a girlfriend?" Lily suggested after she thought about it for a moment. "Mary McDonald is single. She's the brunette over there, way more down to earth. I've heard she's pretty smart and she's one of the Chaser's on the team."
"No." I said dismissively. "She's-"
"Not your type, yeah yeah." Lily finished my sentence, waving her hand. She thought for a moment before snapping her fingers. "Lara Ward! She's the Ravenclaw prefect, blonde, really witty and uses a lot of sarcasm. She's cute, wears glasses."
"No." I said, shaking my head.
"I'd say I would pretend to be your girlfriend, but James would blow a gasket. If we told him it was fake, no one would believe we were dating because no way would James stay friends with you." Lily said, adopting the same annoyed tone she always did whenever James name was brought up. "He hates every guy I date."
"I don't know what to do." I said, letting my head hit the table with a solid thunk. This wasn't supposed to be part of the plan. I just wanted a few friends and to be left alone.
"Well, what's your type?" Lily asked, curiosity tinging her voice.
"I don't want to talk about it." I replied
"Oh come on, it's fine, I won't mind." Lily reasoned, patting me on the shoulder. "Do you like girls with dark hair or light hair?"
"It doesn't matter." I said dully
"Okay, how about girls who are smart?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow
"Intelligence is attractive on anyone." I said neutrally
"Girls with big boobs?" Lily guessed, exasperated
"Lily!" I exclaimed, shocked and feeling my face heat up.
"What?" Lily asked, nonplussed "I'm just asking. You're making this difficult."
"I don't want to talk about it." I said, rolling my eyes.
"Just tell me." Lily needled and I felt my temper steadily rising "Are you picky?"
"Lily." I said warningly
"Jasper." She mocked "It's not like I'll judge you. Do you like athletic girls?"
"Fine!" I all but shouted, drawing the attention of people nearby. I grabbed Lily's wrist, pulling her from her seat, and she followed with a shocked expression plastered on her face. I frog marched us both out of the Great Hall, turning a few corridors at random until I saw a door, opened it, and pushed her into the empty classroom. I whipped out my wand, cast a silencing charm on the room and made sure that the door was locked before I turned around to face Lily.
"Well this is dramatic." Lily commented, one eyebrow up in silent question.
"If I tell you, will you please stop talking about it?" I hissed, annoyance and fear surging up in me unchecked. "Since you are so damn curious, I like cock. As in boys. So no, I don't have a type of girl I fancy because I would prefer to take it up the arse any day of the week. Are you happy now?"
Lily was stunned into silence. I saw shock, then confusion, and then understanding all on her face in that order. I expected her to look at me with disgust or loathing next so I lowered my eyes, silently berating myself for telling someone I had just met. It was probably going to be all over school by dinner that I was a poof, so what the hell was I going to do now. Oh god, what if I had to move out of my dorm? I felt like I was going to be sick and that's when I felt arms wrap around me.
"I'm sorry." Lily murmured into my shoulder, pulling back and looking at my face. She was smiling sadly now and it was my turn to be surprised. "I shouldn't have been pushing you like that. It wasn't fair."
"Yo-You don't hate me?" I asked unsurely, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"No!" Lily exclaimed, outrage written all over her face. "Why would you think that? Absolutely not."
"It's just that.. Everyone I told, they didn't want anything to do with me after that. My parents, they were okay with it I guess, but we just never talked about it again. Like it was the family shameful secret." I said quietly, thinking of my past life. I had no idea how the magical world viewed people liking the same gender, I had just assumed that it was exactly like my previous life, so I didn't want to tell anyone at all. I know that Jasper was a lot closer with his parents than I had been with my own, so I know they would have probably accepted it, but they weren't my parents. My parents who had looked at me with disdain, fear, disgust, and shock on their face when I had told them. The parents who had told me I should never tell anyone because it would make me a target.
"You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are, Jasper." Lily said, pulling me against her tighter. I was on the shorter side, so Lily and I were about the same height which made for an easy hug. "I don't care who you find attractive. In fact, I think it's kind of brilliant because now we can talk about guys together! I also now know for a fact you would never check me out or date me, which makes having a guy best friend a lot less complicated!"
"I guess.." I mumbled, still surprised by how easy going she was being about the whole thing. I felt hope begin to spread throughout my body - hope that maybe this time, my life would be different and I could allow myself to be with someone like that.
"So, any boys caught your fancy?" Lily asked teasingly as we broke apart.
"I've been here two days." I said flatly, moving the blonde hair out of my eyes and wondering if I should get it cut.
"Oh come on, you must have thought someone was cute." Lily said, nudging my side with her elbow.
"Well.." I said, trailing off but getting a little confidence when I saw Lily's expectant look. "I don't know. I guess."
"Who?" Lily asked excitedly, her almond shaped green eyes almost sparkling as she leaned forward.
"Sirius has a nice body." I admitted, feeling my face flush when I said it out loud. I was surprised to hear Lily start giggling, clapping a hand over her mouth.
"Have you seen him.. Y'know?" Lil asked conspiratorially
"No!" I all but shouted, causing her to start giggling again. "He sleeps without a shirt on, I just saw him in pajama pants."
"He does have a nice arse." Lily mused, making me snort. If James ever heard her talk that way about Sirius, he would have a conniption.
"So does James." I shot at her, enjoying the way the tips of her ears turned red.
"I'm woman enough to admit Potter does have some fine.. Assets." Lily said, making me snort at the intended pun. "His personality his still worse than a mountain troll though."
"Maybe he just gets stupid around you." I said, smiling a little at how easy the conversation was flowing between us.
"Maybe." Lily said, and then I got worried when I saw the mischievous look in her eye. "I wonder if all the rumors about Sirius are true?"
"Rumors?" I asked, frowning
"Well, he's a bit of a manwhore." Lily said, frowning a little but it smoothed away almost instantly. "He snogs a lot of girls in a lot of broom cupboards, but he's only gone all the way a couple of times, at least that's what they say."
"Is that the rumor you wonder is true?" I asked curiously
"Not exactly." Lily said with a devious smile. "They say he's really big."
"Big?" I asked,confused before it dawned on me what she was talking about and I flushed bright red again. "Oh. I don't know."
"Let me know if you find out." Lily said, nuding my shoulder again before slipping off the desk she had sat down on while we were talking. "Now, unlock these doors, it's almost time for herbology and I can't be late."
"Yes ma'am." I said, fake saluting and casting the counter spell to undo the enchantments I had put on the door so no one could eavesdrop on us. Lily and I joked the entire way to the greenhouses, the conversation light and funny, and I myself felt a lot more carefree than I had in a long time. It was almost like sharing that part of Lily had brought us closer together, which was strange because normally that was what had driven people away. I wondered if this was what it felt like to really have a best friend, and if it was, it was an amazing feeling.
Herbology was with the Hufflepuff's and we were working the Greenhouse Four today, which contained the most dangerous plants like devil's snare inside of it. Professor Sprout was an extremely young looking witch, and I found out from Lily she had only taken up as the Herbology teacher last year, but she really knew what she was doing. She gave us a lecture about how this year we would be working with things a lot more dangerous than we ever had, that there should be no horseplaying in the classroom, and immaturity would result in ejection from the course. We all listened to her speech and took notes, but unfortunately, that was all we did today. She said to come prepared the next lesson because we would be dealing with Devil's Snare in a practical sense instead of just taking notes on it like we did now.
Lily and I headed up to the Defense class even though it wasn't due to start in twenty minutes, partly so we could try and see who the professor was and to get good seats as well. We were not the only ones who had this idea, apparently, because there were quite a few students already waiting outside the door when we got there and the entire class was in the hall five minutes before the lesson was due to start; even the Marauders. We all loitered around, some people making wild guesses as to who the teacher might be or what they might look like, until with only two minutes left for the class to start, the door of the class opened up on its own. We all filed in cautiously, scanning the empty classroom with curiosity, before taking our seats and pulling our books out. We waited with bated breath as the bell rang, signalling the beginning of class, and it was a little anti climactic when nothing happened.
"Where's our teacher?" One of the Ravenclaws complained from the back.
"Ah, sorry I'm late Mr. Goldstein. I will do my best to be as punctual as you all managed to be in the future." said a very familiar voice from the classroom door.
"Professor Dumbledore?" James asked out loud, surprised "You're our teacher?"
"Indeed, Mr. Potter. An astute observation." Professor Dumbledore said merrily, approaching the head of the class with a bit of a bounce in his step. Despite his cheerful attitude and demeanor, I could tell he was working overtime based on the dark circles under his eyes and the worry lines on his face. The war was certainly taking its toll on our Headmaster, even as young as it was. "I will be filling in as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher until we find someone more permanent. I admit, it was difficult to find someone willing to take the position this year, but I am hopeful we will find someone before Christmas. Now, I have read what you have done in previous years, but I thought that we should begin with an assessment of your skills. So, wands out everyone and please stand towards the back of the room."
Dumbledore brought his own wand out as we all filed into the back, lining up against the back of the wall and watching as he caused the desks to all go to one side of the room or another. With another twist and flourish, there was a long platform in the center of the room in front of where he was standing. Exciting muttering filled the room as people began to guess what he wanted us to do.
"How many of you have been in a duel before?" Professor Dumbledore asked, looking out as a lot of us raised our hands. Honestly, I was surprised to find out how few of us had been. Sirius, James, Remus, and I were the only Gryffindor sixth years and only a few of the Ravenclaws had as well. "Ah, well no matter. I will explain the rules to you all and then we will do this in a tournament style, with the winner getting a prize of my choosing. Now, you will bow before and after the duel. We will not be using lethal force. The match is over when your opponent is either unable to proceed, surrenders, or I call the match. Does everyone understand?"
We all nodded, a few people saying 'Yes, Professor', and without further ado he called out two names that I didn't recognize. They were both Ravenclaws, one was a dark skinned boy and the other a girl with soft looking brown hair. I could see how the girl's wand was subtly shaking and I guessed it would be the boy who won, especially considering he was one of the people who had said they had been in a duel before.
After Dumbledore told them to begin, the match was disappointingly fast. The girl shot out a stupefy first, which the boy blocked, and then he countered with his own that shattered the weak shield she had formed, blasting her out of the ring. Dumbledore revived the girl and declared the boy the victor before going to a sheet of parchment and calling out the next two names.
"Remus Lupin and Jasper Tatham." He said clearly, looking at us. I sent Remus a quick smile, which he returned, and felt Lily clap my back supportively on my way up to the dueling platform.
"Remus has got this." I hear Sirius proclaim loudly, which I ignored in favor of watching Remus. He was right handed, so I filed that information away in case in became useful. Remus sent me a another friendly grin as we both bowed, and I returned it as I felt the adrenaline beginning to flood my body.
"Begin." Dumbledore called out, shooting sparks from his wand like he had in the previous match.
"Expelliarmus." Remus called out quickly, causing me to use the shield charm and rebound the curse back to him. My classmates hadn't had enough practice using non verbal spells to use them during a duel, but I had been so it gave me the split second advantage. I cast a stupefy at him, which he hastily blocked before sending one back at me. I had surprised him with not using the incantations but he wasn't down yet.
'Incarcerous.' I thought, casting the spell to make ropes appear and bind around the opponent. Remus used the cutting curse to get the ropes away, as I had expected, but it had made him take a step back as well. When he did so, his foot fell into the quicksand I had turned that part of the platform into while he was distracted by the ropes, and I quickly stunned him when he was caught off guard and looking down at the sand.
Dumbledore made his way over to Remus, with me close behind, and revived him. I held out my hand to lift him up, which he accepted, and we both bowed to one another before Dumbledore called me as the winner.
"That was a good move." Remus said, smiling to show he had no ill feelings. "You are a really good opponent. How long have you been using non verbals?"
"About a year." I admitted, shrugging a little. "I just started using them all the time to get into the habit, so now I don't even really think about saying it anymore."
"Brilliant, we should definitely duel again together sometime." Remus proposed
"Absolutely." I agreed. It never hurt to practice more and a live opponent was a lot better than the dummies I had at home or the ones I could probably make the Room of Requirement make.
"Now, before we move onto the next duel, I'd like to point out how Mr. Tatham used non verbals and the edge it gave him to win that match. He distracted Mr. Lupin with the ropes and used Transfiguration to change the battlefield to suit his purposes, which was quite ingenious, and Mr. Lupin was none the wiser of the danger behind him because of the non verbal spell." Dumbledore said, nodding his head at me when he brought my name up, which made me turn red. "Ten points to Gryffindor for taking so well to your lessons, Mr. Tatham, and applying them so creatively."
"Thank you, Professor." I mumbled almost inaudibly, but he winked at me from behind his half moon spectacles to indicate he had heard me.
"Next, Sirius Black and Lily Evans." Dumbledore said, using his wand to get rid of my quicksand so the platform was once again smooth.
"You got this, Lily." I said, clapping her on the back.
"You can do it, Evans!" James cheered, which Lily ignored after rolling her eyes.
"Thanks, James." Sirius drawled, almost swaggering up to the platform.
"Aw, come on Padfoot." James said, messing his hair up in the front to make it look as though he had just gotten off a broomstick.
"You c-can do it, Sirius!" Peter said, uncharacteristically loud for him.
"Thanks, Wormtail." Sirius said, grinning at him. "At least one of my friends has confidence in me."
"Alright, Alright." Dumbledore said chuckling, getting their attention. Lily and Sirius both bowed to one another and Professor Dumbledore started the match.
I could tell right off the bat that Lily, as much as I wanted her to win, was clearly outmatched. They were both aggressive duelers, but Sirius was extraordinarily fast. He focused on offense, firing spell after spell at Lily, and she was instantly put on the defensive. I think if she had been able to move around more she would have done better, but Sirius was not letting her get an attack in, forcing her to consistently use shield charms and forcing her backwards. It was over after a couple of minutes, with Lily being graceful about her loss and Sirius smirking in victory.
The next match was a pair of Ravenclaws, then James against a Ravenclaw. James style was a lot like Sirius', except slightly more controlled. He used basic spells that packed a pretty big punch, overwhelming his opponent with speed, until he saw an opening where he could end it with a simple stunner. Peter was against another Ravenclaw, a blonde haired girl who looked a little familiar to me but I couldn't place why. She was not aggressive at all, letting Peter fire off the first shot, but she had a great control over herself. Peter lost pretty quickly, which I pinned down to a lack of confidence, and made a note to myself to try and help him with that later. It was funny how, now that they were real people, I was forgetting that I knew what they would come to face in the future. I wondered, for instance, what would happen if I helped Peter with his dueling: would he be confident enough in his friends, and more importantly in himself, and decline to help them? I wasn't sure, but it was absolutely something to mull over. After a Ravenclaw won his round against Mary McDonald, flirting with her at the end of it I might add, it was time for me to go again.
"Jasper Tatham and Sirius Black." Dumbledore called, looking interested. Our styles were definitely different; he was a bit wild and aggressive, where I was more controlled and passive. I'm sure he came up with plans on the fly while I like to think things through. He was still extraordinarily good, though, so I had my guard up.
"Nervous?" Sirius asked cockily, smirking at me.
"You wish." I scoffed, ignoring how hot that smirk made him look and not thinking about what he would look like on top of me with that same smirk on his face. Absolutely not thinking about it at all.
"Begin." Dumbledore said casually, shooting off the sparks from his wand and stepping back to watch us.
Sirius was predictable, to an extent, because he did the exact same thing to me that he did with Lily. I assumed he went with the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' outlook. The thing is, I'm not Lily and I had been dueling (or at least this body had, which gave me it's muscle memory, and I had the memories of it as well. Which was basically the same thing as experiencing it, in my book) since I was twelve with adult wizards. So, I could hold my own against a barrage of spells. I mostly deflected them, careful not to direct them towards the crowd of students, and observed Sirius to see if I could see a pattern in his movements. That was when I saw that he threw spells in groups of three basically. For instance, a stunner, disarming, and then tickle charm, a brief pause, and then repeat with a mixed variety of spells and curses. I smirked, waited until he was casting the third spell, and then performed a spell I had only done a few times before but thought would be useful enough in the future. I had planned to save it for a real duel, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to let anyone here see what I could do, so I conjured up an actual steel shield that rebounded his curse back at him. The thing about the shield was it sped the spell up before it sent it back, so it came back much quicker than the original. Not wasting time to see what he did to counter it, I rolled from behind the shield and sent a couple of stunners at him. His face was one of shock, but it quickly was covered by a grin. His eyes seemed to say challenge accepted and then he came at me with a renewed vigor. What threw me off, however, was that he had switched to non verbal spells. I had, wrongly, assumed he had to say them to do so and I was paying for that mistake. I was put on the defensive, casting protego over and over as he steadily pushed me back. I needed to come up with something drastic or he was going to win, because I just wasn't as fast as he was. I could barely get a spell in edgewise.
Sirius's eyes were narrowed in concentration and we were both sweating bullets. This had been the longest duel so far and we seemed to be about even except he was slowly making me retreat. Thinking quickly, I summoned a chair from behind him and cast the spell as it knocked into his legs. He didn't react like I had wanted him too, though, merely blasting the chair away before blocking the curse I had sent his way. I used a charm my mother had taught me to disorient opponents; I compared it to a flashbang, but what it did was mess with the vestibular system by emitting a loud, high pitched noise. Basically, it cause people to get dizzy, their spatial awareness to mess up, and sometimes people would puke if it was cast especially strong. The entire class, excluding Dumbledore I noticed offhandedly, covered their ears - which was a normal reaction and exactly what I wanted Sirius to do. I sent the stunner, but I had been too confident and had obviously not cast the spell strong enough, because he sent one towards me as well that I overlooked. I saw a red light and the next thing I saw was Dumbledore looming over me, Sirius standing behind his shoulder grinning at me even as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Who won?" I asked, my words only a tiny bit slurred.
"Of course that's the first thing he asks." I heard Lily complain, and I saw Dumbledore's lips twitch which I took to mean he had heard her as well.
"It was a draw, you both knocked one another out instantaneously." Dumbledore told me as Sirius helped me up. "You both used quite a lot of force in your stunners, and flew backwards to hit your heads against the wall, so I advise you both to go see Madam Elantra in the Hospital Wing. That was, however, a very impressive display of dueling prowess from you both."
"That was brilliant!" James crowded, clapping Sirius on the shoulder. "You guys were casting left and right, I could barely keep up!"
"Thanks mate." Sirius said, chuckling and then wincing when it caused his head to move the wrong way. I was a little dizzy but felt fine for the most part. I can imagine Sirius's was hurting more because of the concussive spell I used to mess with his hearing, which hurt a lot more on the focus than it did bystanders unless you used a general area as the focus.
"And you!" James exclaimed, laughing a little at the most likely cross eyed look on my face as I blinked my eyes to try and make the room stop slowly spinning. "Those were some amazing spells! You have got to teach me that!"
"Yeah, yeah." I agreed absentmindedly
"Off to the Hospital Wing then boys, class is almost over anyway so you won't be missing much. Homework is how to incorporate non verbal spellwork into your duels but I think you both have a firm grasp on that, so no need." Dumbledore said, waving us off. I walked over to Lily, who was beaming at me and handed my bag after telling me she would catch up with me later.
"You were holding back against Remus." Sirius accused in a friendly sort of way.
"You were holding back against Lily." I replied, using the wall as a prop as I went along the empty corridor. God, how hard had I hit my head?
"Fair enough." Sirius said, smiling at me in a way that reminded me eerily of a dog, although that could be my mind coming up with the comparison because I knew about his Animagus form. "You were still holding back in there."
"You were too." I said, not denying it. Of course I was, what idiot shows all of his tricks in one go? Granted, I had done more than I had originally wanted too but Sirius was also a much harder opponent that I had thought he would be.
"Yeah." Sirius agreed, nodding his head carefully so he didn't jostle it unnecessarily. "You're really good. My Dad made me and my brother practice a lot, and I've never had someone be able to keep up with me like that who was my own age."
"I've practiced a lot as well." I commented, thinking about the kind of 'training' the head of the Black household had probably made his two children go through. I internally shivered; Realistically, I'm not sure I would win against Sirius as I am right now because I was almost positive he knew spells that would make me sick to my stomach. Spells that his father probably taught him to get him used to and even enjoy the dark arts. It gave me a newfound respect for Sirius if that was the case. I knew first hand what it was like to be a disappointment to your parents because of the way you were born, and I'm sure I had not had it nearly as bad as he did prior to running away to the Potter's.
"Yeah, well, it was a good duel. I wouldn't mind fighting with you some day." Sirius said, roguish grin directed at me. I forced myself not to let myself blush. This was the most attention Sirius had paid me since I had met him two days ago; normally, he looked at me and everyone who wasn't a Marauder with a polite disinterest, not really finding any of them worth getting to know besides as a casual acquaintance. He was looking at me with interest now and I wasn't so sure that was a good thing. It wasn't in a romantic way, I knew that because he was way too much of a ladies man, but more like I was a puzzle he wanted to figure out. I thought about what he said, my brain finally processing the last sentence, and it confused the hell out of me.
"What do you mean fighting with me?" I asked
"I heard from Celia you want to be an Auror, right?" Sirius said, smirking just a little when he said Celia's name.
"Oh god, how does she even know that?" I asked, throwing my hands up in exasperation. The movement made me even more dizzy and I wobbled until Sirius slipped an arm around my shoulder, steadying me.
"Girl's find out everything about boys they fancy." Sirius said, the tiny smirk still on his face.
"I wish she would go fancy someone else." I grumbled, wondering what I could do to get her to stop coming on to me.
"She's not the only one who's got their eye on you." Sirius said teasingly, causing my heart to jump for a moment. "You're making it hard to find a girl who wants to find a broom cupboard! None of them want you to think they're a slut."
"You can have them all." I said seriously, internally wincing when I saw his eyebrows go up in surprise. That was stupid, what straight guy says another one can have all of the girls? I am such an idiot.
"I don't even think I could handle them all, mate." Sirius joked, making me breathe a little easier.
"I don't understand why, I'm not that interesting and they don't even know me." I said, rolling my eyes.
"That's just it, mate. They don't know you, so your 'mysterious', you're obviously smart, and you're a good looking bloke, even if you are on the short side." Sirius said, unfurling a finger with each point he made.
"I don't hold a candle to you, James, or even Remus." I objected, ignoring the short comment. It wasn't my fault this body was tiny compared to most of the other guys - James and Sirius were both at least six feet tall, Remus not far behind. Even Peter was taller than me! Now, I didn't think I was ugly by any stretch of the imagination, but I didn't think I was handsome enough to get the attention he's saying I am. Granted, he could be exaggerating for some reason - the only girl who had made an kind of advances were Celia.
"I actually asked a girl about that." Sirius admitted, scratching his head and -is he blushing? It was faint, but there was a tiny amount of red on his cheeks.
"Exactly!" I said, feeling like my point was proven. Even Sirius didn't get what was with all of the attention.
"She's the one who pointed out all the other stuff. When I asked why they thought you were attractive, she said you weren't handsome in the way that I was." Sirius said, a cocky grin coming over his lips as he talked before he got semi-serious again. "She said you really pretty for a boy and that some girls liked that."
"Oh. Awesome. I'm 'pretty'." I complained, and Sirius held up his hands defensively.
"You asked!" He said, grinning
"Well, then what did she say?" I asked, curious
"Not much." Sirius said, that grin coming over her face. "That was when I realized how stupid it was to be talking about another bloke when I could be ravaging a bird in a nearby broom cupboard."
"Classy." I said dryly, as we climbed some stairs. My head was beginning to feel better, the corridor was no longer spinning at least. So that was something. Sirius shrugged in response to my comment and I stayed silent, thinking about how to get rid of unwanted attention until we got to the Hospital Wing. Sirius had gotten a concussion from his impact with the wall, and I had just knocked my head pretty well. She made Sirius stay but gave me a clean bill of health and told me I could head down to dinner; she wanted Sirius to stay for a few hours so she could monitor him. I saw his disappointed look and stuck my tongue out, which made him honest to god pout a little bit, but I consoled him by telling him I would let the other guys know where he was and make them bring him some dessert. He seemed happier when I left after giving him that information so I went down to Dinner, planning on talking to Lily about those Transfiguration questions I had never gotten a chance to ask her.