Chapter #3: The First Follower

Not sure where this is leading, but we'll see how it goes…

Chapter #3: The Follower

James walked back to his group of friends, feeling discouraged but not upset. Evans always acted this way toward him, ever since their first year at Hogwarts. But now that it was their fifth year, he wanted things to be different.

He always had an interest in girls of all kind, but this one seemed to spark him in the forehead. James had always thought of Evans as the girl who he could always tease without shame, for she was headstrong and didn't seem to care what others thought. Especially not him.

James returned to the tree that Peter, Remus, and Sirius were lounging under, their heads bowed and hands over their faces. Obviously, they were chuckling at what they just saw.

"That, my friend," Sirius said, smacking James on the back, "is what I call an epic fail." The rest roared with laughter when James punched Sirius in the arm.

"Don't worry," said Peter, "she'll probably say yes to you sometime or other. I mean, every other witch in this school would die to be in her place."

"Yeah…" James said absentmindedly. But somehow or other, he figured this girl would be different than the others and not so easy to obtain.

Sirius had just finished naming James' attempt an "epic fail," laughing with the rest. But inside, his thoughts were complete confusion.

When Sirius had seen Lily Evans a moment ago, it was shock at first. Had that small lanky girl with no boobs really transformed into this wondrous woman of red hair and curvy hips? Even he himself wished he wouldn't think such things; in their younger years he had often thought Lily as a sort of clumsy potion brewer of a witch. Always mixing something in her cauldron, she never needed a textbook to create anything—a genius by all means. Just the instructions, her ingredients, and her cauldron: that's all she needed.

But now…now was different. Lily was different. And Sirius had suddenly changed as well.

James had always been Sirius's first mate; or rather, it was the other way. Sirius had always been James' first mate, right-hand man. He supported everything James did, no matter what it was. His years at Hogwarts consisted of so many memories, all shared with James…

How they had almost gotten expelled in their first year for lighting a teacher on fire…

How they had both spent their second year trying to kill Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat and then both wounded up in detention…

How they had taken time in their third year to come up with plans for their monthly outings with Peter and Remus, turning into Animagi…

How they had stolen food from the kitchen underneath James' Invisibility Cloak their fourth year…

James was Sirius's brother. They were always together and never let the other down. So why was it that now Sirius felt like his mortal enemy?

But secretly, inside, he knew.

That uncomfortable, squirming feeling he experienced when he saw Lily just moments ago confirmed it.

And now an internal battle seemed to be taking place within Sirius. His desire versus his right mind: two opposing forces like fire and ice fighting against each other, never ending.

That's James' witch, you know you can't have her.

Who said I wanted her at all?

You know you do. And you also know you can't.

Who says I can't? Wait—who said she was James' witch in the first place? She's

nobody's witch…which makes it even more appropriate for me.

No it does not! James is your best mate!

Exactly, he'll understand perfectly.

If he does, that makes it all the more worse for you to even think about it!

Lily...Lily Evans…how could she have become so beautiful in the course of three

months?

Stop that! Stop that, I tell you. You have NO right to think those thoughts.

Neither does James.

That's none of your business.

Lily Evans…

In the end, Sirius convinced himself that these thoughts were harmless, that they were just normal wishes of getting a girl himself for once, not necessarily Lily. He promised that he would stop thinking about her, that he would think of any other witch but her. After all, James had liked, perhaps even loved, Lily for all these years even if he hadn't admitted it. And now James was showing his feelings more than ever. And Sirius honestly didn't want to interfere with that either.

Still, he glanced one more time towards the direction in which Lily and her friend were walking away. And he couldn't help but see the way her dark red hair rippled in the wind, so bright under the sunlight. And in an instant, Sirius wished so badly to hold the person who owned that beautiful mane, to bury his face in those strands.