The Marauders walked into the library, sitting at a large table in the back. They were preparing to study for their Latin classes. All of them were still taking it, despite it not being a requirement for those who weren't first years. The only Marauder who was a first year student was Lyanna. They were now just waiting for her to arrive.
"Where do you think she is?" Remus asked. They looked at Capella, thinking she would know.
"Why are you looking at me as if I would know where my sister is?" Capella asked. "I'm in Ravenclaw. She's in Hufflepuff. I don't keep tabs on her every second of every day!" Sirius held in a grin that was threatening to appear. He knew what was coming.
Out of the shadows, Lyanna snuck up to Capella, and said in an evil-sounding tone of voice, "I'm here...!"
"Aaaahhh!" Capella shrieked, startled. After getting a glare from Madam Pince, Capella quieted down. She narrowed her eyes, and asked, "What do you think you're doing, Lyanna Elysia Black?! You are a Hufflepuff! You're supposed to be a kind, gentle person, ESPECIALLY because I'm your sister!"
Lyanna laughed. "Oh, Capella, just because I'm a Hufflepuff doesn't automatically mean I'm the kindest human on Earth," she teased.
Next to Lyanna, a boy, clearly a Hufflepuff, laughed. "I can definitely tell that's your sister, Lyanna," he commented.
"Oh, right, this is my friend, Yeoman Piché. He's a first year student as well," Lyanna introduced him to the others. "Yeoman, these are my friends, and some of them are my family."
"Ooh, Lyanna, is there something you would like to tell me?" Capella teased. Lyanna glared at her sister.
"Shut up, Capella! He's a FRIEND! Can I not have friends or something?" Lyanna asked, clearly irritated.
"It was just a joke!" Capella snapped.
Everyone started laughing. Capella and Lyanna were very similar, both very vocal about everything.
Yeoman grinned. "Sisters through and through!" he exclaimed. "I was just going to go back to my common room when Lyanna decided to scare Capella. Well, I'll leave you all to study, then."
"No, come join us," Alice offered.
Yeoman was pleasantly surprised. "Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly.
"Of course," Lily said with a smile.
"Yes, come join us," Sirius offered. "I'm sure Lyanna would appreciate not being the only Hufflepuff." Yeoman smiled and nodded. He sat between Sirius and Lyanna.
As they started working through different Latin words and phrases, Severus was first to notice something off about Yeoman. He had his flashcards right up to his eyes, and each time he put them on the table, Severus noticed that the print was larger than usual. He exchanged a look with Sirius and Regulus. They noticed it as well.
No one said anything about it for a while, but then, James noticed, and he couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Why is the print SO BIG?" James asked, staring at the flashcards on the table. "It's way too big!"
Lyanna glared at James, and before Yeoman could say anything, she said, "James, that was not very nice. You really should think before you speak."
"No, it's alright," Yeoman said with a gentle smile. "It's alright to wonder. I figured you would notice eventually. I have Albinism, which affects skin, hair, and the development of eyes."
"Wait, your eyes didn't develop correctly?" Regulus asked curiously.
"That's correct," Yeoman confirmed. "I have a visual impairment. I can still read print, but it has to be in a bigger font size."
"Wow," Mary whispered. "I'm so sorry..."
"No, don't be," Yeoman stated. "I'm used to my visual impairment. My sister, Maple, has Albinism as well. She's in her fourth year here right now."
"Wait, I think I remember Maple," Sirius said after a moment. "I think she was at one of the events we had last year. I think it was for game night."
Yeoman nodded. "Yes, she was at that event," he confirmed. "We're a part of the group that strives for house unity."
"So, you know Jeremiah?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, I do," Yeoman replied.
"So, your visual impairment... Do you have any trouble... oh, you know, with daily tasks, like, magic, er, you know, your aim or anything?" Remus asked nervously.
"Not too much," Yeoman responded. "I always have to sit up front in all my classes in order to see the professor showing us the spells, and sometimes they'll show me one-on-one if I don't catch it, but for the most part, I don't have too many problems."
"You said that skin has something to do with Albinism too?" Lily asked.
"Yes," Yeoman answered. "You see, my skin is sensitive to the sun, so technically, that increases the chances of me getting skin cancer in the future."
Lily, Capella, Lyanna, Mary, and Severus looked horrified while the others looked confused.
"Cancer? What's that?" James asked.
Yeoman looked surprised. "You don't know what cancer is?" he asked, thinking that everyone knew what that was.
"Pure-bloods don't tend to know what cancer is," Lily said quietly. "It's something that I don't think we need to get into too much here. I will have Mum mail some books on it, so you guys can read them. There aren't any books here about cancer."
"Why would you be looking for books on that here when you have some at home?" James asked, confused.
"Yeah, I agree with James," Sirius said.
Lily hesitated. "My mother's side of the family has had cancer through several generations," she admitted. "When I came to Hogwarts, I looked to see how the Wizarding World treats cancer, only to find that there are zero books about it here. I even asked Madam Pince, and she gave me a look that told me she had no idea what I was talking about." She paused before addressing Yeoman directly. "I think there might be a potion that could help your sensitive skin, but I am no expert, so I don't know if it would help in your situation or not."
Yeoman smiled. "Thanks for the offer, but no, it wouldn't help me. Madam Pomfrey already had Maple use it for her first year, and it didn't do much, if anything."
Sirius hesitated before asking a question that had been on his mind. "Yeoman, I know you said that you pretty much don't have problems with casting spells, but what about navigating around the castle?" he asked. "Do you ever, oh, I don't know, have trouble seeing the stairs or anything like that?"
Yeoman sighed. "Maple has slightly better vision than I do, and she does fine for the most part, so I thought I'd be fine too, since I can see large print," he explained. "But I have found that I've tripped on the stairs probably seven or eight times now. Maple has already gone to speak to the staff on my behalf to try to figure out if there's something that can help, but we're waiting on that."
"It sounds like Maple advocates for you," Capella commented.
"Yes, and the funny thing is, she's kind of shy, but when it comes to me, she's very protective, sometimes overly so," Yeoman said.
Lily turned to Sirius. "Do you think the Black Family Library at Grimmauld Place would have something that could help Yeoman figure out how to navigate without tripping?" she asked. Sirius snorted.
"Lily, I haven't been to Grimmauld Place since before I started my first year here, and I'm not going back there, especially because I can already promise you that there would be no book about that there," Sirius explained. "Pure-blood families usually don't keep books like that in their libraries, and because the Blacks have never had anyone with an impairment, or, whatever you call it..."
"A disability," Severus offered.
"Right, a disability," Sirius continued. "Since there's never been a Black with a disability before, they wouldn't have anything in the Black Family Library. I think that Muggle libraries would be best for this."
"What about Aunt Cassie? She loves research! I'm sure she could find something," Regulus reminded him.
"That's true, but she doesn't know Muggle resources," Sirius said. "So she wouldn't find much."
Lily looked at Yeoman. "During Christmas, I will go to the library in my town, and I'll try to find something," she promised. "There must be something that can help you navigate safely."
Yeoman smiled. "Thank you, Lily. That's so kind of you."
"We'll also talk to our parents," Lyanna added. "Capella and I grew up around Muggles, and our parents are Squibs, so maybe they'll know something."
"I think it's just so sad that the Wizarding World is not up to date with illnesses, disabilities, and things like that," Mary said with a frown. "The Muggle World is much more modern. I may be a pure-blood, but I was adopted by Muggles, so I know both worlds. I'll write to my parents and see if they know something that could help you, Yeoman."
"Thank you, all of you," Yeoman said, relieved. "Jeremiah and the other members of the group are helping as well, and of course, like I said before, the staff are looking into it, but to have all of you offering to help, that's very kind of you. That's more than I could ever ask for."
"No thanks are needed," Sirius said.
"Yeah, the Marauders are here to help," James added. It was one of the rare moments where James wasn't joking.
They went back to their studying after that, but now, the Marauders had a new mission, to help a fellow student in need. They would use whatever resources they could to do just that.
Author's notes: Firstly, I would like to remind everyone that this is 1973, so many people truly did not know about different disabilities. Muggle-borns are sent off to Hogwarts before they would even know a lot of people outside of their primary school. Back in those days, people with a visual impairment would usually be in a different class in school, like a Special Education class, or they would go to a school for the blind. So in this instance, Muggle-borns, more likely than not, would not know about visual impairments, due to not meeting someone with one. Half-bloods may or may not go to primary school, so they are in the same boat as Muggle-borns. And as it was mentioned in the chapter, pure-bloods don't usually have people with disabilities in their families, so they are also clueless. This is why witches and wizards have little to no experience with people with a visual impairment.
Also, I did some research on Albinism before I wrote this chapter. If you would like to understand Albinism better, to understand what Yeoman has, you can Google "What is Albinism?" and Mayo Clinic has very useful information on it. There are also other sources that will give you information on Albinism.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate!