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Chapter 1: That Deeper Meaning:
The sun was turning into a rich golden shaded sphere, as dusk settled upon the exorbitant houses of Godric’s Hollow. The inhabitants started to retreat into their abodes as weak beams of sunlight illuminated the well-mowed lawns, and the orderly commorancies of the small neighbourhood.
In the middle of the entire hustle bustle lay a finely furnished house. It belonged to Mr. Evans, who was, by far, a very well thought of man in the vicinity. He was rich, but still very generous with his money.
The household included four people. Mr. and Mrs. Evans and their daughters, Lily and Petunia. All of them were held in great esteem (except Petunia perhaps), for they were modest, polite and, most of all, kind-hearted.
To and fro, to and fro. The pendulum kept swinging as if there were no end. With it went the eyes of a certain redhead. She was in deep thought … not really focused on the present.
Isn’t it funny that fate, after so many twists and turns, takes us exactly where we’re destined to be? Lily Evans, tired of Muggle school, accepted at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Quidditch, Herbology, the huge and comforting castle itself, Hogsmeade and … a certain someone?
Cool down, it won’t happen.
No, it would never happen. She was sure of that. She pushed the thought at the back of her head and instead focused on the fact that this was her last year at Hogwarts.
The castle was dear to her, with its many turrets and towers, the deep blue lake, and the warmth and comfort of reality. She sometimes preferred it to even her own home. It wasn’t that her parents didn’t love her. They supported her in everything, actually. But it was kind of hard to forget the castle; it was too perfect for that.
She held her chin her in hands, elbows resting against her thighs. At seventeen, Lily had a slender yet athletic figure. She appeared to have little resemblance to any other of the people in her family. She had startlingly green eyes, which held a bright spark, and a mane of smooth dark red hair, which reached her shoulders.
A slight tapping at the window made her snap out of a reverie. She looked up.
Two owls, a snowy white one and a barn owl, were looking up mulishly at her.
“Kevin!” she exclaimed, as she opened the window to let in the snowy white owl, which belonged to her friend, Irianne, and the barn one (probably from Hogwarts) followed.
Kevin stuck out his leg so that Lily could remove the letter, and he flew to the bedside table to get himself a drink from the bowl. The other owl followed suit.
Lily picked up the first letter and opened it, to find Irianne’s small and neat handwriting.
Dear Lily,
Hope you’re all right and having a good time. Venice just beats being a place for vacation. Honestly Lily, you get all kinds of strange people here. There’re lots of weirdoes in boats, selling really weird stuff. You mostly get to eat fish and I’m sick of them. I’m going to Diagon Alley for the school supplies, next week. Can you make it? I asked Kieran and she said she probably could. I really hope you can. If not, then I’ll see on the train. Send an answer back with Kev.
Irianne.
P.S. I think Friday would be the best day. Really hope you make it!
I do too. But I’ll have to ask Dad, Lily thought as she picked up the second letter, which looked unusually thick.
She flipped it, to find the Hogwarts crest, a lion, a serpent, a badger and a hawk stamped upon it. She slid it open, and “
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
BANG!!!
“What the hell happened Lily!” cried her father, who was standing in the doorway, looking irked.
For an answer, Lily flung herself onto her father. “Would you explain, already? What is it? Are you hurt?” he asked, in a concerned tone.
“No!” Lily said loudly “Look at this!” she added picking up a badge, with HG inscribed on it, and shoving it under her father’s nose.
“HG?” he said, “You’ve been made Head Girl!”
“Yes, Dad! Yes!”
“WoW, Lily! That’s wonderful!
Lily beamed.
“Wait till your mother hears about this … She’ll be trilled!”
“Hear about … what?”
Tall, seductive, and attractive, Mrs. Evans was standing in the doorway, looking amused.
“Hear what, dear?” she repeated.
“Lily’s been made Head Girl!”
“You’re joking, right?” she said, a disbelieving look on her face, as she looked at Lily for confirmation.
“No Mum … here, look!” She held up the badge in her palm for her mum. “Now, believe me?”
“Oh, Lily! That’s so wonderful!” Mrs. Evans said in a felicitous tone, and as her husband before her, she took Lily in her arms and added “Lily … we’re so proud, honey!”
Lily smiled.
“Being made queen of a school, where freaks like her study, and are likely to do nothing but taint and contaminate the atmosphere, is not much to boost about.”
For a third person, Petunia, Lily’s sister, was standing in the doorway. She and Lily never got along after Lily had first received a letter inviting her Hogwarts, and she had not. As far Lily knew and was concerned, Petunia was jealous.
“Mind your language, Petunia,” Mr. Evans said, in a heated tone.
“Whatever,” Petunia echoed, and, turning on her heel, she disappeared.
There was a momentary silence, with Mr. Evans staring after his daughter. Petunia was the one who always created problems. Why couldn’t she be just like Lily? Nice and polite? Good-humoured?
Mrs. Evans ruffled Lily’s hair affectionately. “ Lily, you should know, that apart from whatever she says, we will always be there for you”
“Thanks, Mum” Lily mumbled. She truly meant it, and it truly meant a lot to her.
“Oy Prongs, what do you reckon this year’s going to be like?”
Sirius Black, famous prankster and marauder, lay on a mattress, looking up at James for an answer.
James, who was on the bed, didn’t reply.
“Prongs?”
Still, no answer. James seemed to be lost in his own world.
“Prongsie?” Sirius said a little loudly, “Last chance”
… No answer.
“That’s it!” Sirius muttered. Rising up he gripped his wand in his hand. James, who looked far away by now, didn’t even notice.
“Laveshio!”
A fountain of water seemed to emit from Sirus’s wand, right onto James’s head, quickly soaking his front.
“Sirius, you moron!” James yelled, “Couldn’t you just have given a shout?”
“Tried mate,” Sirius said, grinning, “More then a dozen times.”
James muttered something about ‘inadequate manners.’
“So what kind of story am I supposed to tell your mother?” he added batting his eyes eyelashes annoyingly and adopting a mock panicked voice. “Hey, Mrs. Potter! … Jamesie did the unthinkable!”
“What was that Sirius?” came the voice of the real Mrs. Potter from the hallway.
“Uh…” Sirius said, as James glared at him. “He wetted his bed … again.”
“YOU DID NOT!” Mrs. Potter screamed, rushing into the room.
“Right here”, said Sirius, gesturing at the covers, which of course looked more then just peed upon.
“Honestly, James,” she said in an exasperated voice “You’re seventeen years old!”
“But Mum “”
“Do you really think this looks civilized? A boy your age? Take Sirius here for an example. He’s remains as clean as they come”.
“My point exactly,” said Sirius, nodding his head vigorously.
“But Mum “,” James said.
“It’s not his fault, Mrs. Potter,” said Sirius, and for a moment it seemed to James that Sirius was about to admit his mistake. Sirius however continued, “I mean … it’s not his fault that he can’t … er … keep all the contents in.”
“Still Sirius, it doesn’t look right for a boy his “,”
“MUM!” James had enough; and at last recognizing defeat, Sirius brust into laughter.
“Wait a moment, …” said Mrs. Potter, catching on. “It wasn’t you, was it?”
“No … It wasn’t,” James echoed.
Sirius, who was wiping tears of mirth from his eye, said “Sorry, Mrs. Potter … couldn’t resist.”
“I daresay you couldn’t,” said Mrs. Potter, now smiling “But, please, don’t scare me like that again,”
“WHAT!” James said loudly, “My bed-wetting scares you?”
“Umm … ” said Mrs. Potter, retreating from the room, and calling over her shoulder, “Yeah … it does. At least, the diaper-changing part definitely does.”
Sirius burst into laughter again, as the door shut with a snap.
“Oh, shut up, Padfoot,” James said, as he got up to change.
"By the by," said Sirius, turning towards James, "Evans still on your mind, is she? You looked like you were already dressing up your kid for school there”.
James threw Sirius a dirty look before saying, “She’s not just some girl Padfoot” “ his eyes took upon a misted look “ “She’s the most gorgeous girl alive.”
“Yeah, Yeah … whatever,” Sirius said.
James cast another annoyed look his way. “What about Irianne then?”
“What about her?” said Sirius, but his face gave him away.
“Every one knows you like her Padfoot,” said James, rolling his eyes.
“I do not!” Sirius said indignantly “We’re just “”
But what they really were, James never really found out, as at the precise moment there was a slight tapping at the window, which cut Sirius’s remarks short. An owl, a Hogwarts owl by the looks of it, stood eyeing them outside the window.
“Oy it’s “,” said Sirius, screwing up his face in mock concentration. Just for starting Marauders, James and Sirius, in their very first years, had seen it fit to give each and every inhabitant of the Hogwarts Owlery a name. Remus had thought this idea ridiculous, but as Sirius had reminded him, ‘My dear Moonikins, A Marauder is all about being ridiculous’.
“I think its “,” Sirius said, resuming his thread, “Santa Claus … er … naw … Santa had white dots on his forehead … this one’s got black … who was that one?”
“Dung Head?” James said.
“We didn’t name anyone Dung Head,” said Sirius, throwing James a nauseated look. “It’s Chicken Chow …”.
“Nope … looks more to me like … The Black Ninja …”
“Didn’t we change that name to Taliban?”
“Who’s he?”
“Dunno … Name just came to my mind.”
The owl, tired of waiting let out a loud screech, giving them both a very venomous look at the same time.
“Forget the names,” said James. “Let it in already!”
“Er… good point.”
“Sirius Black at your service, Mr. who-ever owl,” said Sirius, sliding the window open as the owl jumped in.
Sirius undid the letter from the owl’s leg and reached a hand to stroke its head, but it very frantically took flight, nipping Sirius hard on the ear before shooting out the window.
“HEY!” Sirius yelled after it, shaking his fist in the air, “I’M GONNA MURDER YOU AT SCHOOL, FOR THAT, YOU SON OF OWL-MAN, NEPHEW OF SUPERMAN!”
“Who the hell is he?” James said as Sirius turned his back on the window, looking disgruntled.
“Dunno … name came to my mind again, I guess,”
James gave Sirius a you’re-mental look.
“Hey … give me mine already,” he said, stretching out his hand to take the letter.
“Hey look … there’re just two new books,” said Sirius, skimming through his booklist “The Standard Book Of Spells Grade 7 by Miranda Gawshawk and Advance Defense The Dark Arts by “,”
He stopped abruptly, a disbelieving look on his face.
“Augustus Norman ‘Taliban’.”
“Hey you right!” said James, laughing, reading his booklist “No other “,”
He stopped suddenly; he had turned his letter-pack upside down, and out fell something, something very like a badge.
“So tomorrow’s Diagon Alley day?” said Sirius, as if from a distance, to James, who was still checking his booklist; he hadn’t noticed James’ abrupt silence “Isn’t it, Prongsie?”
“Uh …” James said, looking dumbstruck at the badge in his hand. His words seemed to be stuck in his throat.
“What’s up with you,” said Sirius, finally looking at James. “Jamesie … Lily Evans wrote you a letter, did she?”
“N-No,” James stammered at last.
“So what “?” said Sirius.
Sirius bounded towards James, and stopped dead, in mid sentence.
“JAMEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”
BANG!
“For Pete’s sake!” cried Mrs. Potter, dashing into the room. “Can’t a person get a moment’s peace? What is it now? Did he wet his bed again?”
“Wouldn’t be surprised if he does,” said Sirius, cockily.
“Wha “ What do you mean?”
“Six words,” said Sirius dramatically, holding as many fingers overhead, hoping to have full impact on Mrs. Potter. “No, seven.”
“What?”
“HE’S HEAD BOY, OFCOURSE, WHAT ELSE!”
“You’re JOKING!”
She stared, transfixed, at James. “Y-You’re not, are you, James?”
Sirius snatched the badge from James’s hand, holding it in his hand so Mrs. Potter could get a good look; “This is a practical joke, in a very bad taste, isn’t it?”
“Oh, James!” she said, bounding towards him, seizing him, and kissing him from his cheeks to forehead’ “Your father will be so proud when he hears this!”
Mr. Potter was currently out of the house, on a secret Auror mission. He was very rarely at home.
“You must receive something … something special … anything … I’ll buy it for you” said Mrs. Potter ruffling, James’s already unkempt hair, in an affectionate way “Just name it.”
“I want nothing, Mum,” said James. His eyes softened, as he looked in his mother’s, teary-by-mirth eyes. “Just your love and affection are enough for me and Sirius here,”
The Potters were not poor. They had quite a large house. A mansion, to say the least. But James was happy as he was. James only did this for his mother. Both his parents were Aurors, and therefore Mrs. Potter remained rather worried about her husband, as he did for her. James didn’t want to add anything to her worrying, however small it may be.
“No dear,” she said, hugging James, “You must get something.”
“No … Mum …honestly, I’m completely happy as I am.”
“Well, if that’s what your decision is,” said Mrs. Potter fondly, “then let me tell you … you’ve grown mature, James. You’re a man.”
“Apart from bed-wetting, that is,” Sirius said, in a somber voice.
“Sirius!” said Mrs. Potter in a tone, which was anything but annoyed. “You’re my son, too. Don’t you ever forget that. You’re just as dear as James to me.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Potter,” said Sirius, for the first time in his life, seriously.
“It’s Mum to you,” she said.
“Thanks Mum,”
“Well … I must get going dears,” said Mrs. Potter, giving James a last hug and following suit for Sirius (he beamed). “Lots to do,”
With that, she was gone.
James looked at Sirius, a smile forming on his face.
“What?” said Sirius. “Want kiss from me too?”
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Hey everyone, R&R. Waiting for at least ten good reviews before I update. Should update Chapter 2 if I’m satisfied with the reviews. I know this all sounds way too formal, but that’s the way it is.
Review with your favourite quote!
and please, please, please Sirius-ly review