The Marauders sat at Gryffindor table one evening after classes, acting the same as they always did. James was talking to Peter about Quidditch, trying to coax him to overcome his ‘girly fear of heights.’ Remus was reading something that he called The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Sirius had been listening into James’ conversation, but soon got bored and looked around the Great Hall, his Girl Radar buzzing and whirling. Suddenly his eyes widened, and he motioned to the rest of the Marauders. He pointed to the place where Lily sat, and they all heard James’ sigh of longing.
“No, not her,” Sirius said impatiently, “That girl… I hadn’t seen her before… The one talking to Evans.”
Lupin looked over at her. The fair-skinned girl was laughing with Lily.
“You know, mate,” Sirius said to James, “Adrienne got on my nerves over the summer… This new girl could be a nice replacement.”
Remus, who thought the trivial dating of Sirius was disgraceful, normally tried his best to ignore the many conversations. But he always felt sorry for the many girls who fell for Sirius’ charms. They were swept off their feet, then left broken-hearted.
“These girls aren’t sheep, Sirius. When one gets lost you can’t just go out and buy another,” he finally said.
“Really, Moony? I tend to not associate these lovely ladies with fat livestock… After all, I’m known for my charm…”
Lupin sighed exasperatedly. He stared back down the table at Lily and the new girl.
James smirked at Sirius.
“Perhaps you’d prefer bidding on her, Moony? After all, a sheep and a werewolf… there's possibilities…”
Lupin, blushing, shot a nasty but semi-amused look at James.
“Really? You don’t seem to have the best experience yourself with relationships, Prongs…”
James smirked.
“I’ll get her some day, eh, Padfoot?” he said, raising his eyebrows repeatedly.
Lupin looked back; Lily and the Ravenclaw had disappeared.
When the Marauders finally went up to Gryffindor Tower, Lily was sitting, writing an essay. Sirius sidled over to her.
“Who was the precious Ravenclaw?” he asked.
She pursed her lips, studying him, as though to see if he were worthy of such information.
“Why should I tell you?” she said disgustedly.
“Because, love, I thrive on curiosity.”
She sighed, setting her quill down.
“Elisabeth Wenham.”
__(,, ,, * >
The next few days were without sight of the Ravenclaw, but Remus did a double take when he saw her in his Muggle studies class later that week, for he had never noticed before. She sat, actually, just beside him, but he noted that he paid so much attention in his studies that he barely ever knew anyone who sat near him.
As he looked at her in realization, she caught his eye and gave him a quick smile. He blushed, smiled, and then turned back to his textbook. Professor Sarisbury then entered, a bright smile on her face.
"Class, we're doing something I've wanted to do for years... You've had 5 years of learning about Muggle Psychology, Electricity, and all of that, but Professor Dumbledore has given me glorious permission to teach you... Literature."
Lupin gasped; he heard a few others, too, but most had looks of disgust upon their faces.
“We took this to learn about elctitcelty, not books!” a Hufflepuff argued.
Many other words of agreement followed. Lupin looked back at the Professor. Her face was slowly dropping; she had obviously figured that the class would jump at the idea. He felt rather sorry, for he hoped that she wouldn’t change her mind.
“I feel, Professor, that we might profit from a bit of free reading,” Elisabeth piped, “I do rather enjoy it, and it also reduces grammatical error.”
Professor Sarisbury smiled yet again, her eyes full of pride. Elisabeth smiled back.
“Now… I have taken the liberty of getting each of you a copy of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, which we will be reading over and discussing.”
She then proceeded to pass out the books.
__(,, ,, * >
Class went well, but Lupin had more than literature on his mind.
I don’t like her, he thought, trying to concentrate fully on the lesson, What is the sense in falling for someone just because of her looks?
But you don’t like her just because of her looks, his mind battled with him, you saw it yourself, she sounds like everything you’ve ever dreamed of…
This continued until the students emptied out into the corridor.
As he walked to Transfiguration he caught a glance at the girl, but she was walking in the opposite direction towards the Great Hall.
__(,, , * >
We saw your girl today, Moony, Sirius’ note said as he passed it to Lupin in class.
Yeah, James had added, that idiot third year from Hufflepuff seemed to be stalking her. Sure she could use a bodyguard…
Lupin shook his head as he disgustedly wrote, Finished?
He then ignored all extra notes passed in that period.
___(,, ,, * >
“Moony,” Sirius said as they exited McGonagall’s class, “we didn’t mean that about the stalking bit; just wanted to see how you’d react.”
Peter’s eyes grew large.
“Somebody’s being stalked?” he said, panicking and looking all around.
“Shut up, Wormtail!” James said, “We’re joking.”
Author's Note: I have several other fictions on this site. Please review.