In Their Own Words

In Their Own Words

Sirius Black

Bloody hell. You dragged me out of bed at eight in the morning - on a Sunday, no less! - in order to talk about my best mate and his bit of skirt?

Oh, all right. Prongs, I mean, Potter, is, well, as I've already mentioned, my best mate. And I suppose that Evans isn't an ordinary bit of skirt; if she were ordinary, Prongs would've been done with her ages ago, but he's still chasing her, far as I know. So. That's an important fact.

Erm…another important fact is that he wasn't always madly obsessed with her. I mean, other students at Hogwarts seem to be laboring under the impression that he's always fancied her. Thing is, first time he saw her, well, you have to understand, she was with Snivellus, after all. In our compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Poor girl, obviously a Mugglebor, hair up in pleats and everything. Didn't know a thing about Houses. What she did know, though, was that she was just too good to sit with the likes of us for hours and hours. Said something and stalked out, trailing Snivvy by the hand. Greasy bastard.

But back to her. Right. Prongs disliked her at the start, actually. Thing is, she stuck with Snivellus. Despite being sorted into different Houses. Bit of a House traitor, that one. Up to a point anyway.

But I think House ties are thicker than blood, and so I forgot the whole “Train Incident” when we were all sorted into Gryffindor. Busy wondering what my parents would think, actually. And she eventually came back to the fold, recognized House loyalty. But Prongs can hold a grudge like no other, and his grudge against Snivellus is pretty deep. She was just kind of attached. Part of the “Grudge Package.”

In fact, I'm not sure if it wasn't because of this grudge that he got to chasing after her like she was a prize to be won away from Snivellus. See, Prongs has a thing about competitions - he likes to win.

Lily Evans

A List of Reasons that Potter is Utterly, Utterly Mad

(found crumpled up on her bedspread while she was at the library)

1. There are so many less public ways to get a girl's attention. Like...oh, I don't know, it's a boy's job to figure that out.

2. I hate roses. Particularly the long stemmed and red variety. Doesn't he know that roses have thorns? To have them rain down on you is hardly pleasant. (As a result, I have a good deal of salve and Concealment Charms plastered to my forehead. And my scalp itches) You would think that Potter, after all these years, would know about my hatred for roses.

3. And signs. Did I mention the signs? Lining the common room with signs advertising a date with HIM this weekend. Very distracting. And public. But highly unamusing.

4. It's Monday. I ought to get a break on Mondays. I mean, bad enough that the rest of the week stretches in front of you, with all those dreadfully long classes and homework assignments, etc. This on top of it all!

5. How many times do I have to say no? Or not dignify his actions with a response? My patience is fraying thin. You'd think he'd get the idea.

6. He's James Potter. He leads the Marauders. Being the head of such a ridiculous group is a position reserved for utter lunatics.

Rhia Mitchell

Lily's a bit neurotic, if you want the truth. She's my best friend - I can say that, can't I? She's always making these lists and claiming to be unorganized, even though she totally is. Organized, I mean. Who writes down to remember to eat the dessert that Mum sent? (And Mrs. Evans is a divine baker. Muggles are so blessed to have her as a baker, I swear to Merlin.) Honestly. Lily's actually got her life planned down to the minute. Knows what she wants.

And they're everywhere, these lists! Every once in awhile they're unearthed from the cushions in our common room, or found lurking under my bed, or Alyss's bed. Okay, so that's a bit messy. It's like, she writes out these lists and then moves on, forgetting the physical paper when it's all burned into her brain.

James likes to steal these lists. I think he thinks it'll help him figure her out. I've told him that's sure to be difficult -

Lily Evans is a complex phenomenon.

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Part II

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Lily Evans

Tuesday evening, Library, surrounded by lists and other pieces of parchment

Nobody really understands my relationship to Damian. Not even me, really. I mean, he was my best friend (after the whole Severus affair) in sixth year (well, his seventh - he was a prefect). One thing led to the next and then…we started dating. Except it wasn't dating. It was more like an exercise in manipulation. And then we ended it. And that was that.

So technically we dated for four months, since we started in May and ended in August. But in actuality, it was more like a month and a week, since he graduated in June and I spent a week at his house in August.

To everyone else (including Rhia and Alyss) it looks like we just kind of went from fighting/being close to suddenly dating. Probably because I never fully explained anything to Rhia or Alyss, both of whom were preoccupied with their blokes. And then we were over. Actually, as far as I know, Alyss is still dating that boy-genius, that Caradoc Dearborn. And Rhia with Fenwick were never anything serious, so she doesn't seem to be so upset.

But me? Sometimes I feel like I'm damaged goods, even though, technically, Damian and I were never much to one another. But he was my best friend. I mean, beyond Rhia. And that hurts, even if other people think you should just get over it and move on (ie. Rhia). But it's not that easy for me.

I guess I'm just melodramatic.

And for some reason, I can't bring myself to write out a list about Damian and tie up these loose ends that are flapping around wildly in my head.

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Remus Lupin

Wednesday, Potions class

It's Wednesday. I am beginning to think that Lily and Prongs are well-matched for each other, if only because they're both quite good at holding grudges - she's still upset about that Rose Debacle and despite the fact that they're Potions partners they're just glaring at each other and it's already Wednesday.

Merlin. Did I mention that Professor Slughorn grouped us in threes, and guess who the third wheel to this grudge match is?

I told James it was a bad idea, I really did. But then again, how was he to know that she was slightly allergic? He'd only been stalking her for a year or two now…

But leave it to James, in our seventh and final year, to man up (if you want to call it that) and take advice from Sirius and Peter. I think, looking back, that Peter was the one who suggested roses on that Sunday morning, while James was sitting cross-legged on his bed and demanding that we three pay attention to him (Over the years, I have vastly improved my ability to fake sleep, in order to avoid being forced into certain schemes that are much too outrageous for the likes of me). Whereas Sirius rolled over on his bed, mumbled about a “skirt” and “best mate,” and then there was something about “Hogsmeade.” Which James took to heart, unfortunately. I will never understand how he and Sirius, so utterly “debonair” and “suave” (their own words, not mine, though I must admit that they are quite good at chasing the ladies when they're inclined to), can so utterly fuck things up on a perfectly nice Monday of a perfectly nice week, and now it's Wednesday and I have to work with Lily and James.

I don't know why Sirius thinks of me as the mediator (when he says this, it's usually accompanied by a pat on the head and a snicker, though, so maybe I shouldn't take it so seriously) in our friendship, nor as the mediator for this pair. I'm failing to mediate. In fact, I'm failing to even try to control the situation. Because I'm so tired and the full moon is coming, which means my joints are aching, and I don't know how I'm going to get through the rest of Potions with Lily glaring at everyone and everything and James resorting to tossing the wrong ingredients into her cauldron in a pathetic attempt to get her attention.

This project is 25% of our grade and I think that, just this once, I'm going to fail Potions because of my best mate and his stupid need to impress a girl, and not because of my own ineptitude at the subject.

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Alyss Hawker

Three tables back and two to the left of where James Potter, Lily Evans, and Remus Lupin are working/fighting

Lily's hair seems to be green. I didn't even notice at first - I was in the middle of the tenth page of a letter to Caradoc, but I'm always doing that these days, it seems - but then Rhia elbowed me and gestured with her arm. It's more extreme than usual - I don't know why Slughorn puts the two of them together when he knows that they don't get along. Maybe he thought Lupin would calm them, like he always does with people.

And now Potter's hair seems to be missing, as a direct result of Lily tossing something into his cauldron and the bright blue smoke that erupted shortly afterwards. He appears to have an oddly shaped head, which is probably why he hides it under so much hair. Slughorn, in the back corner, has yet to notice anything. Of course not - when have professors ever had good timing?

I miss Caradoc. If he were here, things would just be so much better. He would have taken care of the current Lily/James problem (though they always seem to have new ones) Writing fifteen page letters to each other all the time isn't enough, and why did he have to graduate and go off to the Salem Institute for further training?

Oh dear; Lupin appears to have given up and has backed away from the table entirely, leaving no barrier between Lily and James. The shit's going to hit the ceiling now, I should think.

I should probably just finish this letter. Rhia and I are far enough away not to take any collateral damage from this argument, though Rhia and Sirius seem to be debating whether or not they should help their friends.

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Professor Horace Slughorn

Back corner, at his desk with a box of chocolate biscuits and the latest romance novel from Tricia Strumpet, cleverly concealed behind a Daily Prophet newspaper

There are so many star pupils in this class, I find it's the best time for me to catch up on my reading and eating. It's not like I read that many of them or anything…

Three books a week really isn't that bad, right?

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A/N: Sorry for the delay - I admit to being preoccupied with A Knack for Things. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed it, and drop me a review if you did!

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