When James entered the Gryffindor common room, he looked for his three best mates. They were not in front of the fire or at the table where he had left them before… before tutoring that Laila girl. Hoping they were in the dormitory, he ran up the steps, narrowly avoiding pushing a second year down the stairs. He pushed open the heavy door and saw the other Marauders and Frank look up at him.
“Prongs, mate!” cried Sirius, as he looked up from the roll of parchment spread atop his bed. He glanced at James’s face and uttered a “whoa”. “What’s with you?”
“Lily.”
“What happened?”
“She... she’s angry with me.” James dropped to the floor, spreading himself out on his back.
The boys were silent for a moment, and James could see their exchanged glances and worried expressions.
Remus spoke first. “About the past week and a half?”
“About that Laila girl?” asked Sirius, rolling the parchment and throwing it in the general direction of his bag
. “You know,” said Peter, looking up from a book. He was stretched out on his stomach on his bed, reading. “You haven’t been spending too much time with Lily at all. I think she’s got a perfect reason to be angry. She’s jealous.”
“Yes, thank you, Wormtail,” sighed James. “It’s not only that, though. She… she saw Laila kiss me.”
All four boys started in shock; Sirius brought himself to his knees, Peter’s chin fell off his hand, Remus whipped his head to James’s direction and Frank straightened suddenly. They all exclaimed “What?”
James winced and closed his eyes. “We left the common room together, heading to the library. Lily had left before us and was already out of sight. Before we got to the library, Laila spouted all this blab about Lily not deserving me. Then she kissed me.”
Sirius scoffed. “And, what did you do?”
James pounded a fist. “It’s going to sound crazy.”
“Prongs, what happened?” sighed Remus.
“I thought she was Lily. So I kissed her back.”
Sirius and Frank both smacked their hands to their foreheads.
“You idiot, Prongs!” drawled Remus. “How could you do something like that to Lily?”
“I-”
“You betrayed her! And not even with someone worth it. You could at least have picked someone prettier.”
“Sirius!” shouted Remus, throwing a closed jar of ink at Sirius. It hit his head with the precision that comes from seven years of practice.
“That’s not what I meant!” shouted Sirius, rubbing the side of his head.
“Then don’t say anything before you think about,” instructed Remus.
“And don’t say anything until I can explain, please!” cried James, cutting their banter short.
They looked back to him, frowns on their faces.
James brought himself to his knees and faced them. “I didn’t think I was kissing Laila; I thought I was kissing Lily.”
“That’s ridiculous,” shot Sirius.
“Well, yeah, but I knew it was wrong, but to my head it was right.”
“James, you’re not making any sense,” said Remus.
James threw himself back onto the floor. “I know. I hardly know what was going through my mind. The whole time I was tutoring Layla, I didn’t realize that I didn’t spend time with Lily. I thought I was, because there are all these blurry memories in my head of being with Lily. But, they fall apart when I really think about them. Why are they blurry though? I can clearly remember every kiss between Lily and me before this whole situation. And I thought I could remember them over the past week, but now that I look back on them they fall apart.”
“I’m confused,” said Sirius.
James ignored him. “Another thing is that I wasn’t kissing Lily. I mean, it was Lily, but it wasn’t.”
“I’m confused,” Sirius repeated.
“It was the same face, but different hair and eyes. She was even a different height. Brown hair, brown eyes.”
“What, like Laila?” asked Remus.
James nodded vigorously. “Yeah! Every memory of me kissing Lily looked like Laila. And each memory is preceded by the image of her eyes.”
“As if these memories are triggered by Laila’s eyes?” asked Remus, slightly dubiously.
“I’m not sure. I just know that they’re connected. As if she’s bewitched me, or something.”
“I suppose Laila could’ve done something similar to Obliviate, only with reverse effects.”
James’s eyes widened. “That makes sense. Except do any of you remember seeing her with a wand in her hand?
“Prongs, you were tutoring her for Charms. Of course she had a wand in her hand,” said Frank.
James shook his head. “Well, yeah, but do you remember her performing any charm like that?”
“Well, I don’t really know,” claimed Frank.
Sirius shook his head. “I wasn’t really paying attention.”
Remus rolled his eyes. “No, we would’ve noticed if she had done any magic like that. At least I would have. It’s not quite flashy magic, but it is an obvious incantation. I was watching because… Well, I don’t know why I was watching.” His face clouded over, and he looked down at his folded hands.
James ignored the confusion, and focused on his last statement. “You were watching and didn’t think it necessary to tell me you thought something was wrong? Way to watch out for your mate.”
“James, don’t blame me! Frankly, I could tell things were tense on Lily’s part, but you always seemed fine so I didn’t think much of it. Lily reacts to stress in her own way; I just assumed she was feeling all of the stress from exams and essays. Besides, I don’t actually know why I was watching. I don’t even think I was watching you two because you were part of it.”
“I remember watching her, too,” chimed in Peter. “Laila, I mean. Without really know why, I’d find myself looking at her.”
Sirius’s brow furrowed. “You know, I think I can say the same thing.” He looked to Frank, who also nodded in agreement.
James looked at all his friends, his face tight and a bit angry.
Sirius glared back at the upside-down face of his friend, since James was still lying on his back on the floor, then seemed to understand on what James was hung up. “Prongs, if you ever act like an idiot again, we’ll make sure to tell you and make you snap out of it.”
The corner of James’s mouth lifted, and he nodded. “Thanks, Padfoot.” He intercepted Remus’s roll of the eyes. “A little insurance of friendship is needed every once in a while.”
“Yeah,” chimed in Sirius. “We let Peter hang around, bask in our glory-” Peter whipped his pillow at Sirius, though James knew that Peter enjoyed the status- “and we remind Remus rather brutally once a month that we’re his friends, so it’s only fair that we keep James from doing something stupid. Which is frequently. Job security.”
Frank laughed, “And what do they do for you Sirius?”
“Keep my ego inflated. Indulge me.”
Remus and James exchanged exasperated glances while Frank laughed again. Peter chuckled and Summoned his pillow back.
“What do you mean by brutally reminding Remus? They don’t actually hurt you, poor fellow, do they?” Frank asked, looking at Remus.
The other four boys froze. James took up the explanation, with a quick glare at Sirius.
“Oh, you know. Remus is the, uh, type of poor fellow that is, um, afflicted-” He caught the glance from Remus- “by a strong sense of modesty. He doesn’t require the constant attention of Sirius, but we find that displaying our affection at least once a month is just enough for him. A smothering of hugs, or wrestling, or a few punches, or pushing him out of bed… that’s all he needs.”
Remus gave James a slight smile and a grateful nod.
Frank didn’t catch the look, but he nodded with a bemused smile. “Very well; I suppose I’ll try to remember that.”
“Anyway,” put out James loudly, attempting to turn the conversation back to his problem. “We all were attracted to this girl, somehow? Without realizing how or why?”
“You were affected more, of course, but perhaps she was trying to affect only you,” intoned Remus, sitting up straighter again.
“As if she was bewitching me, or something…” said James, getting off his back and turning to his friends again.
“Right. It’s like what a veela does,” Frank offered.
“A veela?” asked Peter.
“Yeah, a type of non-human woman that makes men do strange things. Pledge their devotion, fall at her feet, make false promises,” explained Frank.
“Don’t all women do that?” asked Sirius. He returned four glares with a cheesy smile.
“Except,” continued James as if Sirius hadn’t spoken, “if she was turning on the charm for me, why weren’t more of the guys in the room affected? If you all just found yourself watching her, but not fawning or looking like idiots, then she couldn’t be a veela.”
Remus and Frank frowned. “She could just be part veela. Or maybe part mermaid or siren. They all do the same thing, really,” Remus said.
“Sneaky little b-”
“Padfoot!” shouted Remus, drowning out Sirius’s profanity.
“Oh, don’t be such a pansy, Moony,” teased Sirius, finally lobbing the ink jar back. Remus only frowned as he caught the jar.
“So, what am I going to do?” asked James, once Frank and Peter stopped laughing.
“We’re going to figure out what that Laila girl is. Ask around, maybe run to the library. And then get we’ll Lily back,” said Sirius, punching his bedspread in determination.
“What’s this? Sirius actually encouraging research?” ribbed Remus, smirking.
“When it comes to Lily, yeah.” Sirius turned to James, and looked at him hard. “That girl’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you. I might actually be jealous.” He paused. “No, there are definitely times when I’ve been very jealous of her affect over you.”
James was somewhat shocked, but more appreciative of his friend’s affection and friendship.
“That Lily Evans deserves a full explanation, and we’ll find it for her.”
James just looked at his friend for a moment. “Thanks, Padfoot.”
Sirius smiled faintly in response. “Just don’t screw it up. I’m fond of that girl, but I worry for her intelligence if she’s so into you.”
James threw up his arms. “You just couldn’t leave it on a nice thing to say, could you?”
Sirius smiled broadly again, before fervently accepting James’s challenge of a wrestling match that pushed them both off the bed onto the floor of the dormitory.
Remus, Frank, and Peter simply rolled their eyes, and prepared for bed.
Meanwhile, in the girls dorm, Lily Evans sat on Nikeia’s bed, as the taller girl knelt behind her. Nikeia was running her fingers through Lily’s hair, preparing to braid it, and comforting her unhappy friend.
Josey and Alice were also on Nikeia’s bed, their faces kind but worried for their friend.
“He couldn’t have done it intentionally, my pet,” Josey said, reaching out to put a hand on Lily’s arm.
“He was certainly kissed her back intentionally,” scoffed Lily.
“You mentioned that Lauryn whats-her-name was suspicious of that Laila girl. That she thought there might be something in her family that could account for James’s actions,” said Nikeia, parting off a chunk of hair and separating it into three pieces.
“Potter’s actions are his own,” Lily said coldly.
Alice rolled her eyes. “Not if he was under a spell or her influence. Bewitchments aren’t supposed to be detected, especially by the person being bewitched.” Lily sniffled. “It still hurts.”
All three girls let out coos of sympathy and converged on her in a warm hug.
“Of course it does, my love,” whispered Nikeia, pressing a kiss to Lily’s cheek. She kept her arms around Lily for a moment more, than pulled back. She grabbed another hank of hair (having dropped the first one) and tugged. “But you can’t let that girl win. You said that James said he didn’t know what he was doing. Yes, he hurt you, but there must be an explanation for it. Don’t let her win.” Her last sentence was spoken into a staccato meter, adding emphasis.
“Yeah, Lils,” said Josey. “He loves you. We know he does. He wouldn’t let some brown eyes”so plain and boring”come between”Hey!”
Alice had punched Josey’s shoulder, having taken offense at the comment about brown eyes.
“Oh, not yours, of course, Alice. You have splendid brown eyes.”
Alice nodded, pretending to be suspicious of the blue-eyed girl.
“Anyway, James wouldn’t fall for such plain eyes like that Laila girl’s. Not after loving you for so long.”
Lily was silently, moving only in response to the gentle tugging on Nikeia’s fingers as they deftly pulled her hair into a French braid.
“Don’t worry, dear,” said Alice. “We’ll make sure the boys keep James away from Laila. Any spell should fizzle out before too long.”
Lily smiled wanly and, feeling that Nikeia had fastened the braid, leant back into Nikeia’s open arms. She sighed.
“I don’t want any other girl kissing him ever again.”
She felt Nikeia laugh, and watched and heard as Josey and Alice laughed along.
“Jealous, are you?” teased Josey.
Without hesitation, Lily put, loudly, “Yes!”
Lily Evans stepped into the library the next day, smiled at Madam Pince (who frowned back), and walked towards the long tables.
She froze when she saw the five young men who had spread out along an entire table and were currently perusing various tomes. She felt her eyes widen. Suddenly, Potter looked over at her, and after a moment, smiled gently.
Though the smile made her knees weaken, she kept her face schooled and stoic. She promptly turned towards the tall stacks of library books and began searching. She needed to research the magically properties of Muggle trees for Potions. Naturally, Muggle trees weren’t very magical, but they did provide a nice stabilizing to a volatile potion. However, the search for a book on Muggle trees would be difficult and require all her mental acuity.
The search was made less easy, when she felt the presence of a certain someone. She hadn’t heard him approach, but she knew he was there.
“Yes, Potter?”
She heard him sigh, probably over the use of his surname.
“I’m sorry. I don’t think you want to hear anything else, so that’s all I’ll say.”
And suddenly, she felt him leave the aisle. She turned her head, and watched him walk away down the opening between the two tall shelving units. He was without a vest, and the usual crispness of his shirt was marred by wrinkles, but the silhouette of his broad shoulders and trim waist was still easily visible. The bit of hair that stuck up at the back of his head was stubbornly present, and Lily realized she was smiling slightly.
She shook her head, and turned back to her search for the right book.
Then, she felt a hostile glare coming through the rows of books. Knowing who she’d find, she looked up, her face tight.
Laila Albright looked through the space created by the book Lily had taken down, and Lily was rather pleased to find that she actually looked down at the girl. The brown eyes were blaming Lily for messing up her brilliant plan.
Lily simply slammed the book shut, and shoved it back into the space. It wasn’t helpful anyway.
“That was close, Prongs!” growled Sirius, letting go of James’s sleeve and shoving him towards a chair in the library.
“I didn’t know she was following me!” whispered James, harshly.
Remus sighed. “We got him away from her, that’s what matters.” He began taking their notes out of his bag, and spread them across the table.
The Marauders and Frank had been walking towards the library after their last class, when the high voice of Laila Albright sounded from behind them. James tensed while the others turned around to face her. Naturally, she focused her gaze onto James, who had turned much slower. Having been warned about letting James be in Laila’s company, and asked to watch over him, the four friends of James quickly rebutted Laila’s request to study with her, and frog-marched James away.
James plopped down in the chair, and rubbed his face. “I could feel her trying to do whatever she does.” He groaned softly, and gestured out towards the pages of notes they had compiled. “Do you think this could actually be the answer?” he asked.
“Lauryn Ross gave us as much as she knew, and combined with our own research and your experience, it all leads to this,” said Remus.
“So… we know what Laila Albright is,” James sighed. It had taken a few days to come up with the answer, due to the fact that they still had classes and homework to attend to, and that left only a few hours each day to do this research.
Sirius scoffed, pushing himself back so he could balance on the back two feet on the chair. “It actually annoys me that it’s this simple.”
James found he actually had to agree with his mate. The explanation was simple, but for him, it was enough.
“Now I just have to explain it to my Lily.” He sighed again. “How?”
“It’s gotta be big. Since you screwed up in such a big way, it’s only appropriate to make up in a big way,” was Sirius’s input.
Remus rolled his eyes, and reached out to push Sirius. Sirius jolted, but managed to slam the front legs of his chair back on the ground before he fell backward.
In an instant Madam Pince was there to glare at him. He held up his hands in surrender, having learned that to not get into it with the librarian was best.
As she walked away, Sirius’s eyes followed her. James watched as his face lit up when Nikeia walked into the library. She came towards them, smiling. Sirius opened his arms to her, and she settled on his lap, pecking his lips swiftly.
“What’s going on?”
“We’ll trying to figure out how to explain this all to Lily,” offered Sirius.
“Well, don’t go too big. She prefers the simple things,” stated Nikeia.
James pointed at Sirius, and said, “Hah.” Sirius screwed up his face in response.
“I take it that you thought something bigger was better,” drawling Nikeia. Sirius’s frown was her answer. She chuckled, and kissed his cheek.
“Just do it soon, James,” Nikeia said. “She’s just about driving me crazy with her studying and her moping. She needs you back in her life.”
James nodded. “And I need her.”
“Then… what are you planning?” asked Frank, leaning forward.
James’s face took on a thoughtful expression. “Something simple… but big enough to be worthy of the Marauder name.”
Both Sirius and Nikeia nodded in agreement.
“Well,” Remus said, looking at his watch and standing. “It’s time to do patrol. James, join me?”
James nodded, and began packing up.
Remus looked at Sirius and Nikeia, now whispering to each other. “I don’t really feel like deducting points tonight”I’m too tired for it”so if you two need some time in a nice cozy alcove, we’ll avoid that spot on the second floor.”
Sirius grinned and kissed Nikeia.
Remus cleared his throat. “That means get out of here.”
Peter and Frank snickered as Sirius and Nikeia glared up at Remus, and then looked at each other.
“Actually, I need to do some reading and research,” said Nikiea, beginning to play with Sirius’s thick black hair. “Perhaps now’s the time to check out your favorite window seat…” He smirked, nearly dumped her off his lap, and pulled her down the nearest aisle.
The other four seventh year Gryffindor boys sighed and rolled their eyes.
“What would we do without them?” asked Peter.
“Live normal, calm, quiet and peaceful lives?” offered Frank.
“That doesn’t sound too much fun,” confessed Peter.
“And that’s why I never allowed you and James to drown Sirius back in, what was it, third year?” Remus Smirked and started out the library.
James shared a look with Peter while Frank laughed. James shrugged, smiled, and hurried to catch up with Remus.
Peter shook his head and sighed. He tried to imagine a life without Padfoot...
It wouldn’t be possible. Too quiet. Too boring. Too serious.
Remus and James walked through the hallways silently, enjoying the time to walk with each other.
“How do you do it?” asked James.
Remus chuckled. “You mean deal with the three of you without going crazy and committing myself to St. Mungo’s?”
James laughed. “That, and know exactly what’s going on and what I’m going to say.”
Remus smiled. “Practice. And no small amount of affection and appreciation. You’ve done a lot for me, you three. You and Sirius especially.” He looked over at his slightly taller friend.
James returned the glance with a smile.
“You deserve it, Moony old man.”
“Not that I don’t wonder what peace and quiet is like.”
“Boring.”
The young men shared a laugh, and continued to walk the hallways of Hogwarts.