“James Bloody Potter!” Lily roared, her face a vivid hue of scarlet, unintentionally portraying great pride in the Gryffindor house.
With his shoulders drooping and his head hanging like a wilting plant, James muttered softly under his breath, “Now’s really not the time, Lily.”
“What do you mean ‘Now is not the time’?! This is the perfect time! Once again, you’re being an arrogant prick, preying on those weaker than you just for the heck of it! I have had it up to here with you!” she yelled, holding her hand as high above her head as she could. Her rant faltered when James slowly shook his head and began to resignedly walk away. However, the pause was momentary, and she continued in full force, screaming at the top of her lungs, “James Potter, don’t you dare walk away from me when I’m lecturing you! This just proves how rude and selfish you are! You care for no one but yourself, you self-centered PIG!”
Sirius, brows furrowed in anger, wheeled on Lily, grabbing her shoulders forcefully, and heatedly stated, “Look, you don’t have any bloody idea what you’re talking about, so just do yourself a favor, and shut your mouth before you do any more damage.” After giving her a meaningful glance, he took off after James, leaving Lily stunned into silence.
~*~*~*~*~
With Lily’s angry reprimands ringing endlessly in his ears, James determinedly strode down the corridor to find a spot that could provide some solitude. So upset and trapped in his own misery, he hardly noticed when he accidentally bumped into a tiny first-year who looked more like a five year-old. He would’ve remained oblivious to their chance meeting had she not emitted a tiny, “Ouch!”
Finally realizing that he had in fact made contact with some sort of being, James spun around to see a fragile girl resembling an angel, sprawled on the floor. Her white-blonde hair fanned delicately about her head, providing a sharp contrast with the midnight-black of her robes. As she looked up, he was awestruck upon gazing at her porcelain skin that resembled a China doll. However, what struck him most were her brilliant blue eyes that seemed almost other-worldly. Apologetically, James approached with his arm out-stretched. “I’m so terribly sorry! I was just caught in my thoughts. Is there anything that I can do to help you?” James asked concernedly.
“I’m quite alright. Though, I could actually use some help hoisting this enormous trunk onto the luggage rack,” she dreamily replied, clutching at her bottle-cap necklace.
“It would be my pleasure, Miss!” he said gallantly, half-bowing and giving her a friendly wink. Squaring his shoulders and bending his knees, he hunched over and picked up the girl’s trunk. “Goodness, this is quite a heavy trunk for such a little lady!”
Giggling, she informed him, “Well, I did bring along my entire collection of Magical Maize.”
James, having succeeded in placing the trunk atop the luggage rack, turned and quizzically inquired, “What is Magical Maize? In all my years at Hogwarts, I have yet to hear of Magical Maize.”
“Well, very few people have. You see, the Ministry of Magic just doesn’t want the common witch and wizard to know that they in fact hold the power to cure all their own magical maladies and injuries. If anything ever happens to you, you can just come and see me, and I’ll get you patched up in no time!” she smiled brightly.
“Thanks very much. Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, my dear. I still don’t know your name though, fair maiden. Would you do me the honor?” he asked, bending to one knee and taking her petite hand in his rather large one.
“It’s Estrela, that means ‘star’ in Portuguese. My family kind of has an obsession with galactic oddities. My favorite sister’s name is Luna, and I’ve always loved that name”, she responded. Slightly pausing, she gazed out of the window momentarily, and then, looking as though she had just solved a particularly complex math problem, she turned her head towards James, and simply stated, “And you’re James Potter.”
“Wow, I’m impressed and flattered that you know who I am.”
“Well, don’t tell anyone, but I’ve developed a top-secret method of ‘feeling out’ people. It’s kind of like a mind-reading thing, and you just emanate the aura of James Potter, which I really can’t put into words”, she replied.
Skeptically raising his eyebrows, James asked, “Really?”
Smirking, she looked at him and replied, “You honestly believe that I am capable of doing such things? Oh goodness! You are a silly boy, just like Luna said! In actuality, she told me all about you. Apparently, you’re quite the catch at Hogwarts. From what I hear, you’re chivalrous (as I’ve already witnessed first hand), smart, talented…” At hearing this assessment of his character, James perked up and flashed a cocky grin. “But it seems that you have an excessive sense of self-importance.” James looked a little down-trodden at this. His sweet little first-year had turned on him! How rude! “However, I don’t really see that as a bad thing.”
“How do you figure that? Everyone else seems to think that because of my ‘ego,’ I have the makings of the next Stalin, and you know everyone just loved Stalin. He’s so gosh-darn popular, I don’t see how I could compare, but apparently it’s more than possible,” he said bitterly.
“I highly doubt anyone thinks that you’ll turn into some sort of crazed, mass-murderer. Look, it’s important to be self-assured, but just remember that some people take your sarcastic comments about your own skills a little too seriously. You may think that you’re stating something that’s totally off the wall when you go on and on about how you’re so great, you could be the next Minister of Magic. On the other hand, your classmates probably think that you really could be the Minister one day, so you just come across as a real jerk. Take it as a compliment, but use it as constructive criticism at the same time.”
There was a lengthy pause. James, sporting a very confused look on his face, said, “Wait, you’re a first-year. I’m supposed to be giving you advice. You’re putting me to shame, Estrela.” He chuckled at the thought of what Sirius would think if he saw James taking the advice of a small first-year that looked like the runt of the litter.
“Don’t take it too personally. I’m very wise for my age. My sister, thinking that I could use some intellectual reading material, gave me this new magazine called ‘The Quibbler.’ This guy, whom I actually think is pretty attractive, Mr. Lovegood, started printing it about a year ago. There’s a weekly article in there called ‘Channeling Cassandra’ where this lady, Sibyll Trelawney, gives advice from the beyond on all sorts of complex issues. That’s how I found out that Dumbledore’s brother is really… Wait, that’s probably too much for you to handle right now. Let’s just stay on topic. I think you’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. Go back to your friends, have a few laughs, and be sure to wave to me in the hallways, OK?”
James just laughed and said, “I’ll make sure of it!” With that, he waved and left Estrela to go find Sirius and Peter. When he looked back, sure enough, she already had buried her nose in the latest issue of ‘The Quibbler.’
~*~*~*~*~
Sirius ran in the direction James had gone, anxiously searching for any sign of his best friend. He knew that despite James’s resolve to appear collected in front of Lily, he was heartbroken. As Sirius ran by yet another compartment, a voice grabbed him out of his reverie. “Looking for your lover?”
“Well, it seems that I’ve already found her, but I was looking for James,” Sirius suavely countered, trying to side-step his long-time crush, Holly Hawley. For now, she was nothing but an obstacle standing in between him and his destination.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re cute? Oh wait, I’m sure you tell yourself that daily in the mirror, and then, you probably hear it again at night as James tucks you into bed,” Holly retorted. “Speaking of your mate James, why can’t you tell him to just leave Lily alone? All he ever does is tick her off and put her in a foul mood that makes the rest of us want to do something drastic to shut her up. If he keeps it up, I’ll do something drastic to him, and not in a good way.”
“You think handling Lily is difficult? Try dealing with James ever single bloody time Lily crushes his poor little heart. It’s like trying to stay conscious while replanting mandrakes as they scream in your ear… without earmuffs! I don’t understand why Evans won’t just go on one date with James. Seriously, he’s my best mate, and he’s as good as they come. I wouldn’t hang around with him if he wasn’t, but the way that she totally writes him off and disregards his thoughts and emotions…” Sirius paused at the dubious look Holly was shooting his way. “Yes, he has emotions! He has a lot of them!” Sirius lashed out in frustration. “You girls just think that he’s some sort of arrogant prick, and yes, I’ll be the first to admit that he has a healthy self-image, but it’s nothing undeserved. And look at Evans, she thinks that she’s too good for James, and that’s the real reason she won’t go out with him, so what does that say about her?”
“She hasn’t got shit for brains, that’s what it says, you idiot! Who would go out with a guy that wants nothing more than a good shag from them?” Holly yelled exasperatedly.
“Just because he’s a teenage male does not mean that he has the emotional range of a teaspoon. He doesn’t just want ‘a good shag’ as you so cruelly put it.” At this point, Sirius put on his best look in an attempt to play the sage. “He needs what I like to call a ‘Mutual Partnership,’ that is, a relationship based on love, trust, respect, and maybe the occasional clarification by physical means…”
Holly, rolling her eyes, challenged, “So, teenage boys are able to have those kinds of lasting relationships? Let’s put you under the microscope, shall we?”
In the dark, Sirius questioned, “What exactly is a microscope?”
Remus, who had just re-entered the vicinity and was attempting to pass the confrontation unnoticed, could not pass up a chance to help his friend. “It’s a scientific instrument that allows one to see exceptionally small objects or specimens by magnifying them.” After concluding his definition, he saluted Sirius and sprinted off in an attempt to hunt James down.
Looking somewhat affronted, Sirius indignantly stated, “There’s nothing small about Sirius Black!”
“Ha! Both of your brains are rather small, not that I would know about the one, but from evidence presented, that would have to be my hypothesis,” Holly retaliated.
“What do you mean by two brains? Oh! I just got that. Cute, Hawley. You and your femi-Nazi comments! Still, that being said, you haven’t really proven that I have an abnormally diminished emotional spectrum. That being said, I think I win. Better luck next time!” Sirius winked as he attempted and failed, yet again, to pass his temporary nemesis.
“Not so fast, Black. I’m not finished. Second Year: Priscilla Powell, Violet Parkinson, Eunice MacMillan. I mean, come on, Black. Eunice MacMillan? You were twelve! Third year: Kathleen Hepburn, Rachel Thorpe, Bertha Zambini (EW), and Madame Pince’s younger assistant. Yes, I do know that you snuck into the library late one night unnoticed. You and James really need to learn how to use your library voices, not just the librarian in training. Fourth year: Zoe Smith and Alice Martin, now Alice Longbottom.”
“I object,” Sirius coolly countered. “I never made-out with or dated Alice Martin, now Longbottom!”
“Oh really! Then why were you two locked up in a broom cupboard during her seventh year for over three hours?” Holly inquired, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms across her chest.
“If you must know, I locked her in there thinking that then she’d have to kiss me, but she found a way around that. She’s quite strong, actually. She knows a heck of a lot of curses. I didn’t get a single kiss out of that broad, and to make matters worse, her boyfriend Frank came after me a couple of days later, and now my nose hurts every time the weather changes.” Sirius sighed and seemed to return from his nostalgic trip into the past. “In actuality, I only dated one girl that year, but don’t let it get around. I can’t lose my reputation! That’d leave girls like you thinking that I might not be so bad, and where would that get me? We all know that if people thought I was capable of long-term relationships and commitment-crap, I’d never be able to get rid of ladies after one round in the broom cupboard.”
“Again, like I said, teenage boys have no capacity to maintain long-term relationships,” Holly simply stated. “Just forget it, I’m done talking to you. Goodbye!” At this point, Holly stepped back into her compartment and shut the door, settling herself down with a book titled ‘How to Get Rid of those Annoying Premonitions.’ Looking as if he’d just survived the firing squad, Sirius turned around and continued on the path he’d been traveling before his run-in with Holly.
~*~*~*~*~
Remus finally found James sitting by himself, looking forlornly out the window. The desolate compartment, though containing only James, seemed filled with an indescribable melancholy. “So…” Remus began as he took a seat across from James. Realizing that James needed a little time to adjust to the presence of another, Remus gave James a few seconds to collect his thoughts. “I ran into Lily, and she told me all about your encounter and the unfortunate circumstances. From what I gathered, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, maybe you saw Lily with her new boyfriend, and then, after a few exchanged words with Snape, you decided to take out all of your rage and frustration on him.”
“Pretty much,” James simply replied, bobbing his head.
“I know you like Lily and everything, but you always seemed to get along fairly well with Archy. You’re both smart, funny, athletic guys,” Remus continued.
“I didn’t really even see the problem earlier today. Ask Sirius or Peter, I really do like the guy. It’s just that I don’t like ‘The Hands’ publicly groping Lily, just like he did Catherine Bell last year. The way that he was treating her just like she was any girl…” James growled, reverting back into his possessive mind-set.
“Easy there! I’m wolfish enough for the four of us!” James managed a small smile at this. “She’s a big girl; she can handle herself. You know that there’s nothing you can really do concerning their relationship that won’t make her shut you out even more. If you think you’re on the outside now, you’ll be in a galaxy far, far away if you even dream of interfering with her blooming relationship. Just try to be her friend and support her. Then, maybe over time, you’ll be the last boy standing. Look, boyfriends come and go, but your friends are almost always with you, so if you infiltrate her guard by becoming her friend, you’ve won half the battle. Don’t get so down on yourself. You still have three whole years until you graduate. OK?”
James looked slightly cheered, but he kept thinking for a few seconds before telling Remus, “Three years… Goodness… It seems like such a long time, but I don’t know if that’s enough time for me to get Lily to see that I’m not the spawn of Satan… or Satan Incarnate for that matter.”
Remus, looking thoughtfully at James, patted James assuredly on the shoulder and joined James in companionable silence. After a few minutes of undisturbed solitude, Remus turned to James and advised, “James, just bide your time, and it’ll all work out in the end, one way or another.”