Chapter 4- Full Moons and (Innocent) Morning Afters
When did I start liking Lily Evans? Well, believe it or not, I've fancied her since first year. Yes, first year. Only the Marauders know that, and I really wouldn't blame you if you didn't believe me. No one else does. She definitely doesn't.
I noticed her the first time I saw her. Yes, I know we were only eleven and most people believe it isn't possible to know that young, but I had a crush on her the first time I saw her on the platform in first year. Before she had her braces (summer between second and third year), before she got her glasses (summer between third and fourth year), and before any of the girls had… well, you know.
Why does everyone always think it's just for the challenge? To get the unreachable. To finally melt the `Ice Queen.' Well, no one really calls her the Ice Queen, but she really is untouchable. Seriously. She's only had one boyfriend and I don't think she's ever been kissed ("Ahem."). Oh, only joking. Of course she's been kissed, and I'm sure she's had more than one boyfriend. But she is definitely still a virgin, regardless of whether or not the vast majority of the upper-Hogwarts students are. ("You say that like it's a bad thing," Rye says, sounding amused. "Want to tell your story, James?") Nah, I'll save that for another day. It's not important at the moment. Anyway.
But I really do like her, honest. I'm not that much of a prick to just go after a girl because I can't have her (do I look like Padfoot to you? No, just kidding, he's not that big a prick either. You all know his motto).
Of course, she doesn't know that. She thinks that I only looked at her as a prank victim until fifth year. All because Padfoot pranked her the first night. I didn't even have anything to do with that prank. I just mentioned to Sirius that I thought she was cute, so he decided to prank her. He just put peas in her hair. If she hadn't screamed, she was Marauder worthy. If she did… Well, let's just say that eleven year old Sirius Black had very little respect for the opposite gender when we were eleven (except for Ryan, but by then she had been gone for three years and we didn't even consider her a girl half of the time).
Well, Lily obviously screamed (as most eleven year old girls would), and I was the first one she saw, and I got blamed. Okay, so maybe I was sitting closest to her, and so maybe I laughed a bit, but she didn't have to blame me! I was innocent-that time. And so maybe I pranked her a few times over the next four years, but that didn't mean she had to hate me.
A lot of things changed in fifth year. The first thing was Ryan's return. The second thing was that was the year we all learned how to be Animagi. The third thing was Miss Lily Evans.
She came back from the summer between fourth and fifth year looking… different. More grown up, I guess is the word for it. The `nerd' with braces had perfectly straight, white teeth. The `geek' with glasses had gotten contacts. The dorky girl that had left at the end of fourth year cam back with curves in all the right places.
The only reason I started asking her out in fifth year was because I suddenly realized I might not be the only one that fancied her. Yes, even though we never got a long. Even though we called each other by our surnames (I made the mistake of calling her Evans the first time I asked her out; never call a girl by her surname if you want positive results). Even though she hated me and she thought I hated her. And even when she turned me down, I was persistent. Persistent enough to ask her out eighteen times in one week (Moony counted one time for "blackmail when you either move on or get married," as he put it). But that was an extreme case. Usually it was only three times a week, tops.
And what did I get for my troubles over the past two years? About a dozen slaps in the face and a girl that hates me more than the entire Slytherin house combined.
But I digress. I deserved it. I was a bit… arrogant in the way I asked her out. ("A bit arrogant!" Ryan exclaims in disbelief. "Your bloody head wouldn't fit through the door, you were so arrogant!") Okay, very arrogant. ("Hark, a grain of truth!" Padfoot yells, grinning. Not that he's one to bloody talk.) But I'm working on it. Ryan and Remus agreed to help me.
She'll say yes, just you wait.
-James Potter
&-&-&-&-&
"She's late," Peter grumbled.
"She'll be here," Sirius said easily, leaning against the statue of Cassandra the Calm. "Give her a bit of a break, Wormtail."
There was a sudden burst of flames two steps to the right of Peter and he jumped back, toppling over. "Oh, I'm sorry, Peter," Ryan said quickly, reaching out to give him a hand up. He pulled himself up and glared at her. "I always manage to land by you, don't I?" she asked, looking apologetic.
"Usually," Peter said darkly. "Why were you late?"
"They nearly put an anti-disapparation jinx on me," Ryan said, smiling slightly.
"Who would've cast it?" Sirius asked, sounding surprised that one of the three other girls would even threaten anyone.
"Morgan," Ryan said easily. "She does all the threatening. I thought you knew that. It wouldn't've worked anyway. You can't really apparate in here. We'd better get going."
"Yeah, Prongs said he'd meet us down there," Sirius said. "Has it cleared up?"
"A bit," Ryan said, shrugging. "Not enough for the moon to show. It will clear up though. I know it will."
"Because you have such wonderful powers that make you all powerful and knowing," Sirius said jokingly, throwing James' invisibility cloak over himself.
"Of course," Ryan replied, grinning.
"We'd better get down there before it does clear up, then," Sirius said. "Come on, Pete, Ryan can get down there on her own."
"I'm glad you have so much faith in me," she said, smirking. She mock saluted the spot where Sirius and Peter had disappeared. "See you in a minute." There was another burst of flames and she disappeared.
"How does she do that?" Peter asked as they started down the hallway.
Sirius shrugged. "She just does. Powers of the Phoenix, or something."
The two of them got to the doors of the Entrance Hall about the same time as James. "How was patrolling?" Peter asked as Sirius threw off the cloak of them.
"I don't have any hand prints on the side of my face, do I?" James asked dryly.
"That good, huh?" Sirius asked, grinning.
"That good."
By the time they got to the tree, Ryan was leaning up against it calmly, her foot on the lump that would hold the tree still. Every full moon, Remus went down a tunnel to a place called the Shrieking Shack. The villagers of Hogsmeade thought it was haunted, but it was really just Remus they heard. The entrance to the tunnel was guarded by a tree that was affectionately called the Whomping Willow.
"I thought you three would never get here," she said when she saw them.
"Oh, shut it," James snapped.
Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Have fun patrolling, Jimmy?" He just motioned for her to climb down the tunnel first.
Instead of going, she pointed up. They all looked up just as the clouds moved aside, revealing a full moon. "We might want to transform before we go down there." About ten seconds later, a rat raced past her, closely followed by a dog. "Alrighty, then," she said, looking at the stag in front of her. "My turn then."
A few minutes later, a phoenix gracefully landed on a werewolf's head. The werewolf seemed to calm down a little bit. At least until a dog playfully bit his tail. The werewolf turned around, tackling the dog just as playfully. The phoenix chirped and flew over the railing on the staircase to watch as a stag joined the game and a rat weaved in and out between the others legs.
Idiots, she thought, smiling inwardly. Very adorable, loveable idiots. But still… Idiots.
&-&-&-&-&
"Up!" Ryan felt herself be whacked with a pillow and muttered a swear word. "Hey, that's a new one. What language was that in?"
"Portuguese."
"I thought you hated Portuguese."
"Not as much as I hate mornings," Ryan said, putting a pillow over her head.
Lily laughed from the other side of the room. "And I thought I was tired."
"Not nearly as Miss Marauder, I'd say," Morgan said. "I'll pull you off the bed." Ryan didn't answer. "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." She grabbed her friend's legs and yanked. Ryan tumbled off the bed and onto the floor.
"Ow. That kind of hurt."
"I warned you."
"Yeah, I know." Ryan got up off the floor and walked over to the bathroom. She turned back to the others. "For the record, I'm always tired. Happens when you're best friends with the Marauders." She grinned. "At least I'm not hung over."
Morgan laughed as Lily and Alice tried to look disapproving. "That's not funny, Ryan."
"Yes, it is," Morgan said, still laughing slightly. "I'd like to see Ryan hung over on the first day of school. It would be interesting. No, wait, I think it would be interesting to see Ryan hung over any day."
"I'm sorry, dear, but I don't get hung over," Ryan said, smiling sweetly.
Morgan laughed again. "I doubt that. I bet the guys could tell me."
"Ask `em, if you don't believe me."
"I will." Ryan grinned again before going into the bathroom.
Alice smiled slightly and shook her head. "I will never understand her."
"She's not a morning person, by any stretch," Lily said. "That much I know for sure. I think she gets out all her… unpleasantness in the morning. I'm glad she's not like that all the time."
"Amen to that," Morgan agreed. "Imagine surviving OWLs with the morning Ryan." She pretended to shudder. "Don't know if I would've made it without the stress relief." Lily and Alice laughed.
"Should we leave her?" Lily asked.
"Yeah," Morgan said. "She can manage." She walked over to the closed bathroom door. "Hey, Rye? We're going on down, alright?" A muffled sound came through and Morgan turned to the others. "That's a yes, I'd say."
&-&-&-&-&
"Time tables coming down," Ryan said, passing down a stack of papers.
"'Shame that Aurors have to take Potions," James said, sighing.
"'Shame that we have to have it with Slytherins again," Ryan added, making a face.
"Not a shame, my dear Wheat," Sirius said, smirking. "Absolutely fantastic. We have a class to play pranks on them in."
"That's what Care of Magical Creatures is for, Si," Ryan replied. "Although it might not be such a good idea," she added thoughtfully, "considering the last time we did that, Kettleburn jumped so much he got another finger bit off but," she shrugged, "that can't be helped. Besides, you can't interrupt Potions, I need to pass that class."
"We all need to pass that class," Remus said.
"Not me," Peter piped up. The others looked at him. "What? I don't. You don't need Potions to work as a Code-breaker."
"And if you pull pranks in Potions, Peter will miss them," Ryan added, smiling slightly.
"Can't have that," Sirius said, mock-seriously. "Okay, just for you, Wormy, all pranks will be in Care of Magical Creatures."
"And I do believe that would be my notice to leave," Ryan said, bowing. "I'll see you in Transfiguration, right?"
"Unless you're a complete idiot and somehow managed to not make it into the NEWT level class," James said.
"Practice not being so pricky, James," she added with a smirk before walking off.
"I can be pricky to you!" James called after her.
"Moony disagrees," Sirius said, earning him a hit in the back of the head. "Ow!"
"Besides, that wasn't pricky," James said, turning to the others. "Was it?"
"It would have been if you said it to Lily," Remus said.
"Yeah, but to Ryan, it's not. At least no more than usual. Right?"
"My opinion, mate," Sirius said as seriously as he could, "is that you give it up and stop trying to figure out if that was pricky or not."
"And my advice is that you just try to be her friend," Remus said. "Prove to her you actually want to get to know her and not-"
"Just the inside of her," Sirius said, winking at James. Remus smacked him again. "Hey!"
"It's at the top of my list, Moony," James promised. "The very top."
&-&-&-&-&
"Good morning, Sunshine," Morgan teased as Ryan sat down. Ryan stuck her tongue out at her.
"What classes do we have?" Alice asked, ignoring them.
"Transfiguration," Lily read off. She groaned. "What a wonderful way to start the year."
"At least it's every Thursday and not every Monday," Alice said consolingly. "And we do have Charms today too." Transfiguration was Lily's worst subject. As much as she loved Professor McGongall (who was actually pretty nice once she liked you), she hated Transfiguration. Ryan, Alice, and Morgan told her she just needed to be more confident when it came to transfiguring things and she wouldn't have any trouble. Lily claimed she just needed to not have it with the Marauders.
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but how was patrolling?" Ryan asked.
"Honestly?" Lily said. "Not as bad as I thought it would be, but still horrible."
Ryan smiled sympathetically as the bell rang. The four got up and headed towards Transfiguration. "Is it going to be a good day or a bad day?" Morgan teased. Ever since Morgan found out about her powers, she had teased Ryan to no end about them. Mostly Ryan's tiny knack for being able to predict the future. Ryan usually just brushed off her comments for reasons she didn't want to talk about.
"Will be for me," Ryan replied, grinning. "Maybe not so much for the rest of you." Morgan laughed slightly, shaking her head. The four of them sat near the front on one side. McGongall stood by her desk, waiting for everyone to come in. When everyone was seated, she called their attention.
"It is my belief that some of you are not nearly as open to the ideas of others as you should be," she said sternly. Her eyes rested on moment on the Marauders and rested again on Lily, who was looking at the Marauders and rolling her eyes. "Because of this, I will be putting all of you into pairs. You and your partner will be doing a term paper on the subject of your choice, with my approval, which will be due at the last class before the holidays."
Everyone looked at each other uncertainly. Not open to ideas? Pairs? Term paper? This didn't sound good. Didn't she know they had NEWTs to worry about?!
"Yes, Pettigrew, I will be choosing the pairs." Peter put his arm back down. "The pairs will be a boy and a girl." Half the room groaned, about a quarter of the room whispered excitedly (all of them girls in the Marauder fan club), and the last quarter of the room rolled their eyes at the other three quarters. McGongall's glare shut them up fast enough. "You will also be sitting next to your partner during my classes. Most importantly, I do not want to hear of any complaints about your partner. The two of you must work together on this project. Understood?"
"At least we don't have this class with Slytherin," Ryan muttered.
"Miller? Is there something you would like to say?"
Ryan smiled innocently. "No, Professor. Just commenting on how happy I am that we have this class with Ravenclaw." Sirius and James coughed loudly to cover up their laughter and Morgan gave a false cough that sounded oddly like, "Marauder." Ryan tried hard not to grin.
"I see," McGongall said, her mouth pressed into a thin line. "I'm sorry to say you won't be working with a Ravenclaw."
"I won't?" Ryan asked, a little surprised. It wasn't exactly a secret that she was friends with the Marauders. In fact, it wasn't a secret that she was a Marauder. And McGongall wouldn't willingly pair up the Marauders, would she? Which meant, Ryan assumed, that she was either working with a Ravenclaw or Shane West or Brandon Smitch, the two other Gryffindor boys in their year
"No, you won't. Interrupt me again, and I'll give you a detention." Ryan kept her mouth shut and tried to look as innocent as she could. McGongall wasn't fooled. "Unfortunately for you, Miller, I have already decided the pairs. Otherwise I would see to it that you were working with a Ravenclaw." She picked a piece of parchment up off her desk.
"Carter and Smitch, come and sit in the front desk please." Alice and Brandon both shrugged and picked up their stuff before moving to the desk where she had pointed. "Miller and Lupin, next to them." Ryan and Remus exchanged a surprised look as they sat down. "Watson and Harding." Morgan sat next to a Ravenclaw named John Harding.
Ryan had almost decided that it really wouldn't be too horrible when McGongall said it. They all knew she was, but hoped she wouldn't. Especially Ryan. But, no, she just had to say it (AN- because it just wouldn't be cliché if she didn't :P).
"Evans and Potter, middle desk in the second row."
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