Up and Down
James awoke on Saturday morning. His head drifted heavily in between dreaming and consciousness as he struggled to keep his eyes open. The events of the previous night started to mix together with other things and then suddenly, they were all silenced by one thought: Detention with McGonagall.
Immediately springing his eyes wide open at this thought, he pulled back his covers and jumped to dress himself. Glancing over at Sirius’s bed, he noticed that it was vacant. Peter was still snoring loudly, and Remus seemed to be catching up on some much needed sleep. Digging through his bed-side table while pulling on a grey sock, he pulled out a small mirror and closed the drawer soundlessly. On his way out, James flicked his wand to silence Peter’s snoring and headed down the stairs while fixing his scarlet tie.
Not surprisingly, the common room was already quite full of students, which all seemed to carry noticeable bags under their eyes. James assumed that they were all cramming in on the huge homework load assigned for this weekend before they headed to Hogsmeade. He guessed that the only thing keeping them going (other than espressos) was the upcoming Christmas party and the desperately needed Christmas break. Peering around the room, he finally spotted Sirius with his arms crossed, gazing into the burning flames in the fireplace. James tactfully avoided a pile of books, and a group of whining students as he made his way toward the fireplace.
“Thanks for waiting, Padfoot,” greeted James as he came up next to Sirius.
Sirius turned to him with a distinct frown placed firmly across his face.
“Where have you been?” he asked rather curiously.
“Studying, just like everybody else,” replied James lightly as if he were expecting the question.
“You sure you haven’t been up to anything else that you want to tell me about?”
James raised an eyebrow skeptically, unsure about Sirius’s intonation. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“OK, just making sure you aren’t doing gallant Death Eater acts,” stated Sirius changing dramatically from an unsure expression to a joking one.
James punched him in the arm. “No thanks to you.”
By the time both of them made their way to Professor McGonagall’s office on the first floor, it was already quarter past ten. When they knocked on her door, she held a displeased expression at their tardiness.
“I said ten sharp, boys,” stated Professor McGonagall edgily.
“Sorry Professor, will you ever forgive us?” they asked at the same time with puppy dog eyes in an attempt to appear lovable and angel-like.
She sighed.
“Alright, since the two of you are coming back tomorrow, you have a choice. One of you cleans today, and the other writes lines. It will reverse tomorrow.”
“Ooh! I call cleaning!” announced James while putting up his hand like an eager student answering a teacher’s question.
“Damnit!” cursed Sirius playfully. “I wanted that!”
“Mr. Black! Language!”
“Sorry Professor,” he said apologetically.
“Since you are so eager to clean, Mr. Potter, proceed to the Trophy Room where you will clean with this.” She produced a bucket full of soap and a sponge.
“By hand?!” yelped James over exaggeratedly.
Sirius chuckled. “Tough luck, Prongs.”
“And, Mr. Black, you will write lines with this.” She flicked her wand again and gave him an extremely short piece of chalk.
“I can’t write with this!” whined Sirius as James had a chance to laugh.
“You get these back after you are finished today,” stated Professor McGonagall as she took James’s and Sirius’s wands.
They both groaned and headed to their respective places.
Cleaning the Trophy Room was something James had done so many times he felt that Filch, the caretaker, didn’t need to. He had to admit that he didn’t mind at all cleaning the Trophy Room. Sometimes he would stare interestedly at the names of previous House Cup and Quidditch Cup winners.
James recalled fondly how last year the Quidditch Cup was awarded to Gryffindor. He stared at it admiringly and then glanced at his own name etched in gold under the word “Chaser”. Gazing into space wistfully, he thought about the match he had had a few days before running into Lily in the last week of October. It was a tight one against Slytherin but luckily Jennifer Wood, the somewhat Quidditch obsessed captain, had caught the snitch just in time to close out the match.
James dipped the sponge in the bucket full of soapy water to rinse it out, and he started to scrub the gold Quidditch Cup when suddenly, something in his pocket began to vibrate. Throwing the sponge over his shoulder without looking, it landed directly into the bucket as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the mirror he had grasped from his bed-side drawer previously. On it, he saw Sirius resting against a black chalk board.
“What’s up, Prongs?” asked Sirius with a smirk. “Professor McGonagall has left to do some errands, she said she’d be back to ‘watch me’ soon.”
“Not much, I’m just cleaning, oh, but wait! Whose name is that?!” James turned the face of the mirror to his name engraved on the Quidditch Cup last year in order to brag about his abilities on the field.
Sirius rolled his eyes with a smirk. “Oh, Prongs, you bore me.”
James opened the glass door of one of the trophy cases, grasped the moldy sponge again, and placed the mirror neatly on a shelf so he could clean and talk to Sirius at the same time.
“Shouldn’t you be writing with that tiny piece of chalk?” he asked as he wiped off a dusty trophy.
“Yeah, but I’m taking a break.”
“A break?”
“I need to relax my wrists. Don’t want them to catch fire,” said Sirius as he flopped his limp wrists around jokingly.
“Rrrrright.”
“Sucks we aren’t in Hogsmeade right now, eh?”
“Yeah, but I told Moony and Wormtail before to bring us back some butterbeer.”
“Good thinking, I think I’ll need one after this.” Sirius showed James his white, chalk covered hands.
James raised an eyebrow comically at the mirror as he finished wiping off a silver trophy.
“So, tell me, who are you going to ask to the Christmas party?” asked Sirius as he squinted oddly at a chalk eraser near him.
“What are you doing?” asked James un-amused as he peered at Sirius waving his hands awkwardly in the direction of the chalk eraser.
“I’m practicing my non-verbal spells!” retorted Sirius slightly offended at James asking such a “dumb” question.
“You can’t do non-verbal spells without your wand, genius,” replied James smartly as he wiped a small, brass trophy.
“If Moony can do it, so can I,” stated Sirius confidently as he shook his dark hair out of his pale eyes.
James rolled his eyes and plunged his yellow sponge (which now possessed a brownish tinge) into the scum filled water.
“So tell me mate, who are you bringing, honestly?” questioned Sirius again, his tone seemingly more interested this time around.
“Tsk, tsk, Padfoot, do you even have to ask?” responded James confidently and instantly.
He realized he had developed a habit for blurting things out without thinking when they were about Lily. This time around, he had said smoothly that he was going to ask Lily, but after he had said it, the scene with Lily meeting some guy named ”Jamie” early in the morning came stabbing back to his brain causing him to re-think his disposition on asking her to the party.
“How do you think I should ask her though?” continued James as he ruffled the back of his hair, desperately trying to conceal the disappointment at the thought of Lily going out with somebody other than him.
Luckily for him, Sirius seemed too caught up in what looked like relief from James’s answer to notice any change of mood from his end.
“What about the ‘I’ve-changed-take-me-I’m-cute’ routine?” offered Sirius sarcastically in a helpful tone.
“No, I think I’ll try the ‘I’m-a-sad-heart-broken-sap-so-please-go-out-with-me-so-I-don’t-die-of-heartache’ method.”
Sirius nodded agreeably. “Wow, you’re smooth.”
“You really think so?”
Suddenly, there was the noise of a door opening.
“Got to go! Talk to you later,” said Sirius quickly, and he vanished, leaving the mirror blank.
James shoved it into his back pocket and continued to clean the rest of the musty trophies while at the same time keeping the idea of “Lily” out of his mind. As the silence of the room set in once again, the one other thought he managed to keep out of his mind this morning came bulging back in as a replacement.
He wandered back to last night where he contemplated his thoughts for an hour before heading to bed. He seemed to struggle with the concept of “talent”, and no matter what reasoning he tried to persuade himself to forget it, it didn’t work.
Alright, so what if I’m taking my talent for granted? It’s not being wasted! I’ve had some really great fun with it! exclaimed his mischievous devil side forcefully.
Fine, it’s OK to have fun every so often, but shouldn’t you still be doing something a bit more productive? Like helping other people with your talent? Hmm? argued his considerate angel side calmly.
Oh, just shut up, spat the mischief side. Both sides of his mind stopped as James knocked on Professor McGonagall’s door with dirt-filled bucket and rotting sponge in tow.
She opened her door, made the bucket and sponge disappear with a simple flick of her wand, gave James back his wand, and told him that Sirius had finished earlier and had already left.
“Thanks, Professor,” said James appreciatively as he turned to leave.
“See you tomorrow, Mr. Potter.” And she closed the door quietly behind her with a slight smile.
He strolled down a corridor on the third floor where there were many windows in succession. Beams of bright sunshine shot through them revealing bits of dust particles dancing through the air. There was barely anybody in the hall because the majority were visiting Hogsmeade. Only the first and second years that were not eligible to go were left behind.
James glanced through the windows to catch site of the snow covered grounds outside sparkling and glittering vibrantly. Gazing at the soft blue and white colours filling the sky he exhaled gently at the beauty before him.
Turning a corner briskly, he glanced down the hall to notice a familiar dark-violet haired girl. He instinctively quickened his pace until he was walking right beside her. She gaped at him, and her pace slowed noticeably.
“Hey,” he greeted with a friendly tone.
“James,” she said with a familiar shyness. “Hi.”
“I’m surprised you’re not in Hogsmeade.”
“Well, I didn’t feel like it because it’s kind of cold outside, and a lot of my friends are going with their new boyfriends, so I didn’t want to be in the way of anything,” she blurted. Her tone was still extremely fast. “Besides, there isn’t really too much that interests me over there.”
“Oh, yeah?” replied James casually as he nodded.
He knew that she wanted to go but had no one to go with.
“Why aren’t you at Hogsmeade?” asked Audrey.
Her cheeks were now a bright crimson colour.
“I got detention with Professor McGonagall for doubling the size of some people’s heads.”
She giggled sweetly. “That’s horribly mean, but funny at the same time.”
James stopped, and so did Audrey. He peered around to make sure no one else was in ear shot and looked at her.
“Listen,” he started, “I was wondering since you said you are having a hard time with Transfiguration if maybe you’d like me to help you, sort of tutor, I guess.”
The words seemed to spill out of his mouth, and he had no idea where they had come from.
Her mouth opened slightly in astonishment, and it was quite a bit of time before she responded with, “Yes! I’d love to! Well, of course if that isn’t too much trouble or anything.”
James smiled. “No trouble at all.”
She beamed at him appreciatively.
“How does 6:00 PM in the Astronomy Tower on Monday and Wednesday sound?” he inquired while starting to walk again.
“It sounds great!” she agreed joyfully as she followed him.
“I guess I’ll see you there, then,” he replied and waved “bye” to her as he turned the next corner.
The angel on his shoulder shined brightly and triumphantly.
That’s how you are supposed to use your talent, it said smartly.
James rumpled his hair. Amazingly, volunteering to help Audrey felt good. All the guilt he had about making a fool of defenseless students in the past and “abusing” his talent vanished immediately. He felt like he had another stride in his step and couldn’t quite pry off the smile he wore into the common room.
He didn’t even plan to ask her until the moment he talked to her, but once he did, the words just came out. Audrey was so different from what James was accustomed to, that she seemed to set off a different part of him; a part that was not conceited and self-centered.
When James went up to his dormitory, Sirius was already practicing non-verbal spells (with a wand this time around) by trying to re-organize a pile of Peter’s clothing.
“Decided to stick to the wand this time, eh?” questioned James teasingly as he walked in with a huge smile plastered on his face.
“Shut-up, Prongs,” answered Sirius jokingly. He gave James an odd face. “Why are you smirking like that?”
“No reason.”
He was grinning uncontrollably.
“Prongs? Did Evans kiss you or something?” questioned Sirius with a quizzical expression pasted on his face.
After a bit of an interrogation session that led Sirius nowhere, the two of them worked on what they called “The Marauder’s Map”. It was a map the Marauders were designing to show all passageways through Hogwarts, and it also was suppose to indicate where each and every person at Hogwarts was present. The main purpose of the map though was to avoid being caught in the halls late at night by Filch or another teacher.
“What would happen if we tried this?” inquired James as he flicked his wand at the piece of parchment they were working on.
Nothing happened, and Sirius sighed sarcastically at James’s failed attempt.
“I know!” announced James suddenly. “Try this!”
He waved his wand once again and again nothing appeared.
“Good job, Prongs,” stated Sirius dully at another failed try.
“I don’t see you trying anything better.”
“Well, at least I’m not doing- “ Sirius stopped suddenly.
“What?” asked James with an anticipating expression.
“Lo- Look at the map,” stammered Sirius, and James peered down at it.
On the piece of parchment (where there was a somewhat rough diagram of Hogwarts) there appeared a few tiny dots that seemed to be moving from Hogsmeade back to the castle.
“Is that- ?” implied Sirius curiously.
“It is!” shouted James in excitement as he leapt to his feet. “They are the people returning from Hogsmeade!”
“W- Where do you think you’re going?” questioned Sirius with surprise as James started to head out the door.
“I’m going to ask Evans to the Christmas Party,” he answered with a smirk and zoomed down the stairs, skipping steps as he went down to the main entrance.
When James had reached the entrance, he was greeted by rosy cheeked, winter bundled, chilly looking students. They all seemed to be carrying back a souvenir from Hogsmeade such as a couple butterbeers or an interesting trinket from Zonko’s Joke Shop.
James had made up his mind that he was going to ask Lily. What harm could it do? If she said ‘no’, then at least he wouldn’t be left wondering what would happen if he had asked her.
James quickly avoided a young couple holding hands lovingly as he made his way passed all the people coming in from the winter’s cold. After he abruptly bumped into a hostile group of third year boys, he finally caught site of a familiar red head in company with a chestnut haired girl, and he immediately slowed his pace and slipped behind a group of tall guys.
“Lily,” started the girl next to her, “that was very cruel of you, picking on him like that.”
“Well, what do you expect? I have to keep my image,” Lily replied matter-of-factly.
Picking on somebody? Evans, you hypocrite. thought James instantly as he continued to eavesdrop intently on the two’s conversation.
“I still can’t believe you keep teasing him about playing Quidditch! You know he loves the game!” said the girl informatively as her dark eyes surveyed Lily.
“Well, it’s so easy to tease him about it!” answered Lily while grinning.
“He really likes you,” giggled the girl with a smile.
“You really think so?” asked Lily turning toward her friend.
Her cheeks were turning a soft crimson colour.
“Well, it’s extremely obvious, plus, I think everybody knows it, especially since you flirt with him endlessly. Everyone I’ve talked to is surprised you haven’t made a move yet. I’m telling you, you don’t need to be so stressed out about him! You two are just SO perfect together!” stated the girl, and she crossed her arms triumphantly.
“Oh, Jamie, you’re truly ridiculous!”
James’s heart skipped a beat.
Jamie. Her name is Jamie! One of Lily’s friends is named Jamie! It wasn’t a guy after all! She was just meeting a friend that morning to talk! Wait a minute. Who is Evans talking about though? She did talk about flirting, picking on somebody, and Quidditch! She knows I love Quidditch, and she teases me all the time about it!…She does that to… She couldn’t possibly be talking about…me?
Suddenly, the crowd of third years James was hiding behind walked away, leaving him wide open to Lily’s eyes. Her brows furrowed instinctively, and she plunged her hand into her coat pocket to clutch her wand tightly.
Recollecting himself hastily, James walked over confidently toward Lily and Jamie. Lily rolled her eyes and sighed.
“What is it this time, Potter?” questioned Lily rather bluntly. “Oh, wait, let me guess. Let’s see, you’re here to ask me to Professor McGonagall’s Christmas party?”
James’s grin remained intact, amazingly enough.
“You bet. So, what do you say, Evans? Will you go with me?”
There was a pause from Lily’s side where she smirked with extreme satisfaction.
“No, and please, don’t beg.”
With that, she whipped her hair to the side, walked around James’s disappointed expression with Jamie, and exhaled with deep triumph.