A Sneak into the Night
“This is much better,” commented James encouragingly as he edited Audrey’s essay she had written.
It was already the second week of December, on a Monday. Audrey and James had already had their “private” lessons in the Astronomy Tower six times, and this was their seventh. The first time that Audrey had shyly come up and politely knocked on the Astronomy Tower door, James was uneasy. He didn’t know what it was, but she made him just as skittish as she.
For God’s sake! I’m a sixth year already, and I’m in Gryffindor! Why the hell am I nervous?! James constantly thought to himself through the first session where he looked through Audrey’s poorly written Transfiguration essay on transforming still objects to living ones and back again.
Fortunately for the both of them, as the lessons went on they began to have tiny bits of small talk, which developed into full-length conversations about life, love, dreams, reality, and much more that neither would ever talk about in front of any other person.
James clearly remembered one conversation where he had asked her somewhat sheepishly why her hair was a dark violet colour.
“My hair?” asked Audrey with a hint of embarrassment as crimson flooded into both of her cheeks.
“Well, I was just wondering, it’s very- er- interesting,” said James as he smiled comfortingly at her.
She covered her face momentarily and laughed. “Last summer, my older sister was trying out spells because she just turned seventeen, and she became rather restless with the lack of things to do magic on. I told her rather stupidly that I wanted to change my hair colour from the normal, boring, dark brown it always was to something with a bit of flair.”
“Uh-huh,” James nodded as he listened with amusement.
“You’re going to laugh,” Audrey stated immediately as she smiled at his gratified expression.
“I’m not!” retorted James playfully.
“Promise?” she asked innocently as she eyed him questioningly.
“I promise.”
“Fine,” started Audrey again. “I told her not to do anything rash and asked for it to be very lightly tinted red. It ended up the colour of a yellow school bus.”
James strongly suppressed a laugh but couldn’t help but grin ear-to-ear.
“Then, she tried to fix it, but it turned a pasty green. Finally, she changed it to this and for some reason it won’t change to any other colour. No one has any idea why.”
James bit his bottom lip as Audrey glanced at him.
“Fine, go ahead and laugh,” said Audrey with a smile, but James just kept his grin.
“I promised I wouldn’t laugh, and I won’t. That story, I have to admit, is quite amusing though,” replied James as he bit into his bottom lip even harder.
Audrey covered her face with both hands as she erupted into giggling fits not only from the hilarity of her own story, but also in gratitude of his subtle kindness.
The two had no idea the reason they could easily share so much with each other, but the both of them never questioned it. They would never know that because they didn’t really “know” each other, they could converse freely about what was on each of their minds.
Amazingly enough, the homework load was still non-stop for every student at Hogwarts. The professors seemed to be cramming in every single bit of information that each student could handle before the winter break. No one had time to suspect where James Potter or Audrey Filendale went, and from the way they acted to each other in the halls (also known as basically not acknowledging each other at all) no one in their right mind would guess that they were having tutoring/study lessons together.
James had finished scanning over her essay and looked up at her expecting face.
“It’s pretty good,” he announced with a grin, and her inquiring face turned into an expression of joyful relief.
He immediately went into places where she needed to make a stronger statement, or get her point across better. James also explained to her various spells or definitions she didn’t understand, and where she should perhaps elaborate a certain term. She listened intently, and after he had finished explaining, she grasped her quill instinctively to correct it in front of him as fast as possible.
As Audrey scribbled away at her essay, James peered up to see the balcony fully covered with a thick sheet of soft, white snow. The sky was covered with dark clouds, and the moon seemed to be a minuscule, pasty blotch in the black night. Inside the classroom there were lit many candles to warm the room and to provide sufficient lighting.
“I hope this is OK,” Audrey told James as she handed him the paper.
He instantly tore his attention away from the winter wonderland outside and grasped the piece of parchment to browse over it.
Transforming a living animal’s body part into something else is rather difficult and complex, read James in his head as he glanced over line four.
So immersed in spotting errors in the essay, James had not noticed Audrey shift in her seat uncomfortably and clear her throat.
After reading through the essay a second time minutes later, he peered up at her and stated, “I think this is really good. I’m sure Professor McGonagall will love- “
“Why do you like Lily Evans?” asked Audrey so suddenly that James’s eyes widened immediately.
There was a slight hesitant pause from James’s side where he didn’t know what to say.
“I- I’m sorry,” Audrey apologized quickly as she looked away from his astonished expression. “I didn’t mean to touch on a sensitive subject for you.”
James rumpled the back of his hair and leaned back on his chair while setting the essay down on the desk. “I like Lily Evans because…” he trailed off, because he had no idea what to say.
The scene with Lily rejecting him to go to the Christmas party came back, poking his brain tauntingly.
“I just- “ he began, but was caught off almost immediately.
“You don’t think, well…” Audrey hesitated at first, and it was overly obvious that she was being cautious on what to say next. “Do you ever think you like her just because of her appearance?”
The question seemed so odd to James. He had never thought of it himself.
“I don’t think so,” James replied with a weak smile. “There are other pretty girls in this school, and if I liked girls for their looks I would have dated more of them by this time and forgot about Lily.”
“I know, but do you ever feel like maybe you like her because everybody thinks she is one of the prettiest?”
James shrugged with a sigh, “I’d tell you Audrey, but I really have no idea.”
It was evident Audrey wanted to ask more questions, but she felt that it was too touchy a subject to talk a lot about let alone pursue further with James. She smiled back kindly and then turned her attention back to her essay.
“You think it’s good?” she inquired, changing the subject rather abruptly.
Slightly relieved, James answered, “I bet Professor McGonagall will love it.”
She exhaled happily.
“This is really good work,” praised James as he played around with the back of his hair. “Transfiguration mid-terms will be a breeze for you.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” chuckled Audrey as she tucked the essay back into her bag as she packed up.
Just before they left, James made sure not a trace of them were left behind in the classroom, and he blew out all the candles with a simple flick of his wand. Walking down the many flights of stairs, the two of them casually talked about odd/funny subjects (such as why men didn’t shave their legs, and how women don’t always mean what they say) until they eventually and inevitably had to part.
“Where are you going?” asked Sirius as James was heading out of the common room.
James wheeled around on his heel and smirked at Sirius innocently.
It was Tuesday night, and James was dressed in his coat and scarf, invisibility cloak in hand, and wand tucked in at the back of his jeans. He was out to do a certain “errand” that he didn’t want the other Marauders to know about, so he made sure that none of them were in the common room. Unfortunately, he didn’t double check very carefully, for Sirius had caught him just as he was about to slip out of the portrait hole.
Damn. Should have worn the cloak. James thought, with regret at his stupidity.
“Somewhere,” answered James mischievously, grin still intact. “What about you?”
“Don’t play stupid with me, Prongs,” stated Sirius bluntly. “You’re up to something, and I want in.”
“Well,” started James, “how could you want ‘in’ on something, if there is nothing to be ‘in’ on?”
“Don’t you have a massive pile of homework to do?” inquired Sirius rather suspiciously as he raised one eyebrow at him.
James shrugged as he replied, “All ready finished it.”
Sirius’ mouth opened for half a second and then closed as fast as it opened. “You’re lying.”
“Check it yourself if you want, you’ll only find it handily done and ready to hand-in in my book bag.”
For a moment, Sirius and James stared at each other without a word. Sirius glared at James as if he were boring a hole into him while James replied by smiling teasingly. Finally, Sirius hastily raced up to their dormitory to check if James was telling the truth, and James dashed out of the portrait hole.
By the time Sirius would get down, he would already be long gone.
Turning a corner toward the third floor, James chuckled to himself about his homework. Oddly enough, because of the sessions with Audrey, he seemed to gain an organizational skill overnight. He used to cram for hours late at night on homework, but now he was doing it ahead so he could make space for other things on his agenda such as his lessons with Audrey.
As James reached the third floor, he threw the invisibility cloak over himself (first making sure no one was in site) and headed over toward a statue of a humpbacked, one-eyed witch. Once in front of the haggard, stone statue, James whispered, “Dissendium.” After, he lightly tapped the witch’s back with his wand, and the hump cracked open to reveal a winding stone slide.
Glancing around hastily, James jumped in and slid through the dark passageways until he came to a thud on the cold floor in the cellar of Honeydukes. Recollecting himself quickly, James peeked out from under the cellar to see if anybody was present. One of the owners seemed to be showing two people quite proudly a section of acid pops. James soundlessly crept out of the cellar, waited impatiently for the couple to leave, and when they did, he followed them out without the faintest trace.
James raced down to High Street where he spotted a small, cozy, dimly lit pub; The Three Broomsticks. Inside was Madam Rosmerta, who seemed to be cleaning up for the night as she wiped a few glasses with a white cloth. Throwing off his invisibility cloak and jamming it into his pocket, he entered to see Madam Rosmerta look up at him somewhat surprised.
“James?” she asked slightly stunned. “Is that you?”
James replied with a smile as he walked over to the edge of the bar counter.
“Good Heavens!” she cried. “What are you doing here, boy?”
“I’ve come to get a few butterbeers, to go,” answered James before ruffling the back of his hair.
“A bit late at night for a Christmas celebration isn’t it?” she asked as she bent down behind the counter to bring up four butterbeers.
“It’s not for tonight, and it’s a special exception,” he explained as Madam Rosmerta put the four butterbeers into a small box.
“'A special exception’, eh?” she questioned with amusement as James handed her some galleons.
He thanked her for her kindness and was about to leave with the case of four butterbeers when he turned to face Madam Rosmerta questioningly.
“Don’t worry your head off,” she acknowledged. “I won’t tell a soul.”
After James had left The Three Broomsticks, he threw on his invisibility cloak once again and headed hastily toward the Shrieking Shack. Once there, he entered narrowly through a small crack in the boards and slipped through the secret passageway that led to the Whomping Willow on the Hogwarts grounds. He ran through the dark passageway until he saw a bit of moonlight on the other side, and he touched the knot at the bottom of the tree to paralyze it temporarily. Tightening his grip on the case of butterbeers, James was about to head inside the entrance, when suddenly he saw Hagrid’s door open and someone step out. Pausing instantly, his curiosity got the better of him, and he found himself eavesdropping.
“Hagird,” reassured the person, who was a girl, “I’m sure Fang is fine. Don’t go looking for him now, it’s kind of late and could be dangerous.”
“But the cold…” Hagrid trailed off because he had to blow his large nose on what appeared to be an already tear drenched handkerchief.
“I know it’s cold, but I’m sure he will be fine. Trust me! He has a large coat of fur and amazing instincts. He should be fine in the forest for at least tonight,” replied the red-head. “Besides, Fang’s strong.”
“I- I know,” sobbed Hagrid worriedly. “I jus' wan' ter make sure he’s alrigh' is all.”
Lily patted Hagrid’s massive arm comfortingly. “Just get some sleep Hagrid. You’ll feel much better in the morning.”
Hagrid pulled her into a tight hug, said goodbye, and closed the door.
Lily walked until she was a fair distance from Hagrid’s hut and then exhaled sharply.
James glanced at her from the side of Hagrid’s hut, for he didn’t dare get too close. He had already transported the box of butterbeers under his bed with a spell from his wand, and the only thing keeping him there was Lily Evans.
Just leave Prongs, said one side of James’ head, but for some reason he stayed glued to the spot with his eyes transfixed on Lily.
He remained watching as she (after a few contemplating minutes) pushed back her crimson hair, turned around to face the Forbidden Forest, and started to trudge toward it.
Oh, shit. Evans, don’t do what I think you’re doing, thought James instantly. You said yourself it is too late to go inside the forest!
Unfortunately, to James’s dismay, Lily didn’t seem to listen to her own words of reason, and she pushed aside a branch of pine needles with her thick, wool mittens as she disappeared into the darkness of the woods.