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“I refuse to share a common room with you!” Lily cried furiously. She knew she was being fairly immature about the matter, but what else could she do? This was James Potter she was dealing with! The aforementioned James threw his hands up in frustration.”
“Look, Lily, this wasn’t my idea. And as should be obvious to you by now, it’s a part of our responsibility as Heads to cooperate.”
Lily looked livid at being told off by James Potter, even more so because he was being perfectly reasonable.
“Fine. Fine! We’ll share and I won’t complain, but don’t come anywhere near me!” Lily whispered menacingly.
“Why would I want to?” James shot back before he could stop himself.
Lily merely snorted in exasperation and turned to face the painting of Godric Gryffindor that was hanging at the entrance to the Heads’ common room.
“Ah, so the young lad and lady fair have finally agreed to stop arguing with each other!” he said boldly. “Did you hear them go at it, Salazar?” Lily and James looked at each other, puzzled, and then noticed that there was empty portrait right next to that of Gryffindor.
“Indeed I did,” said Slytherin, walking into his portrait and speaking as though making a remark about the weather, “and they, ever so rudely, interrupted my nap! Some of us do need some sleep, you know. We’re not all irritatingly brave insomniacs like you, Godric.”
“We apologize for disturbing you,” Lily said quickly, mortified at having angered the Founders of Hogwarts. Her attempts at making peace, however, were in vain. Slytherin merely shot her a contemptuous glare and walked right back out of his portrait.
“Forgive me for his behavior, Miss Evans. He has never taken kindly to Gryffindors. He would, I’m sure, much prefer Slytherin Heads. Alas, the poor soul. He does not yet understand, after this entire millennium, that we cannot have all that we desire.” He ominously shot a knowing look at James while saying this, and James turned slightly red in the face. “Anyway, what would you like the password to be?”
James was rather startled by this question. “We get to choose the password?”
“Well of course you get to choose the password! You’re the Heads of the school; surely you didn’t think that you would be denied such a privilege?” Gryffindor cried indignantly.
“Of… of course not, Mr. “ er… sir?” James stuttered.
“You may call me Godric,” he sighed, laughing all the same.
“Oh! Well, Godric, I’d like the password to be --”
“Now just one moment, Lily. Remember, we have to agree on one. How about…” He trailed off, pondering the matter.
“Never mind you, I think the password should be something simple. Godric, as Head Girl, I am making the password ‘Reproba Somnium.’”
“What in the name of Merlin does that mean?” James asked, dumbfounded.
“False dreams,” replied Lily impatiently.
James was annoyed by Lily’s impertinence, but decided that if he was ever going to have a chance with her, he might as well listen to her. At the same time, he was rather fascinated by the password she had chosen, and wondered what could be going through her mind.
“Alright, that’s the password, then.”
“Very well. You may enter!” Godric said impressively, swinging open on the portrait’s hinges to permit them inside.
Lily didn’t even spare James a glance as she stepped inside the common room, but she suddenly stopped in her tracks and gasped. When James followed her inside a moment later, he understood precisely why.
The Heads’ common room was four times the size of the Gryffindors’, and ten times as impressive. There was a roaring fire across the room from them, in a glittering, golden hearth, and there were red and gold sofas surrounding it in honor of the Gryffindor Heads. Spread out along the walls of the room were portraits of famous witches and wizards. Below each portrait, they both noticed, were small descriptions of their various achievements, sparkling in the dim light of the room. Hanging in the center of the common room, about ten feet in the air, was a magical, glistening chandelier, coated in silver and gold. At the very end of the room were three plain doors, presenting an odd contrast to the magnificence of the rest of the room. None of them were labeled.
Forgetting about their earlier argument completely, Lily and James exchanged curious glances and walked over to the doors. It was the first time since they had arrived at Hogsmeade station and rode the horseless carriages up to the start-of-term feast that they weren’t yelling at each other, and James secretly found that it was a wonderful change.
James chivalrously permitted Lily to open the first door, and after rolling her eyes at his gallant gesture, she opened it to find a long, brightly lit passageway. She turned back to look at James with her eyebrows furrowed in apprehension.
“Well, do you reckon we should figure out where it goes?” he said. “It could hardly be something dangerous, considering it’s attached to this common room in particular.”
Lily nodded and stepped into the passageway, James following closely behind. They walked in silence for what seemed like fifteen minutes, though it was really only two or three at the most. James looked sideways over at Lily and was delighted to see that she had regained her confident expression. Unfortunately, Lily caught him staring at her and frowned. She then sped up, completely ignoring him.
James quickly realized that they were approaching the end of the passage; he could see a door up ahead that was similar to the one that they had left behind. Still not waiting for James, Lily tugged the door open and was immediately met with the a chorus of “LILY!” They had entered the Gryffindor common room.
Alice Gordon, Marlene McKinnon, Elysa Perks, and Jasmine Brown, Lily’s fellow Gryffindor seventh year girls and best friends, had just passed by the door to the passageway, which was conveniently hidden by an elegant tapestry. They rushed over to Lily, and they all began hugging each other and squealing. James couldn’t do anything but wish that Lily would act that way around him.
To escape the awkward moment, James’s eyes sought the Marauders, and a moment later, he hastened over to where they were sitting by the window.
“Prongs! When did you get here?” Sirius exclaimed, standing up and clapping James on the back. James greeted Remus and Peter and proceeded to describe the Heads’ common room and secret passageway. At the end of this explanation, the other three looked impressed.
“How come we never found it? We could’ve put it on the Marauders’ Map, right?” Peter queried.
Before James could answer, Remus replied, “I’ll bet it’s Unplottable, just like the Room of Requirement. Besides, from the looks of it, I don’t think that passageway is always there. What if there were Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin Heads? The passageways must change.”
The other three Marauders acknowledged this, and James couldn’t help but glance over at Lily, who was now sitting and gossiping with her friends by the fire.
Sirius followed James’s gaze and groaned. “Prongs, you’re still not over her? I know you continue to insist that you’re in love with her,” he said exasperatedly, as though being in love were a totally ridiculous idea, “but you have to move on! She’ll never even give you the time of day; why can’t you at least take notice of the other girls around this place? They’ll all snap and go out with you if you just say the word.” Sirius made this last remark rather haughtily, as though any girl would be blessed to go out with a Marauder. James had to admit that Sirius had a point, but he wouldn’t give up so easily.
“I know, Padfoot, but she’s just so perfect for me. I can’t imagine dating another girl when she’s right there!”
“In case you haven’t noticed, Prongs, Lily’s already got a boyfriend. Why don’t you give her a little space and see some other people? Maybe not being around her will make her focus her attention on you for a change,” suggested Remus.
“I guess… It wouldn’t be a crime or anything, right?” James asked worriedly of his friends.
Peter rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Prongs, it’s not like you’re cheating on her. She has someone else, and it’s only fair for you to see someone else too.”
“You’re all probably right. Wait here.” James strolled over to where Lily and her friends were sitting as the Marauders curiously watched him from their seats.
“Jasmine?” James said cautiously, addressing a petite, brown-haired girl with hazel eyes that were not unlike his own. He knew Jasmine to be an upbeat adventure-seeker “ he was the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team on which she played Chaser “ and she was also much more laidback than Lily could ever hope to be. Not that he minded this about Lily, but until Lily paid him heed, he would loosen up and see other people like his friends suggested.
“Oh, hey James! Have a good summer?” Jasmine, unlike Lily, had no qualms with James.
“Yeah, it was pretty great. Sirius was over at my place and we relaxed quite a bit. How was your summer?”
“It was pretty nice. I went to France and we went to some really interesting dueling clubs!”
James was intrigued “ he had grown up in one of the oldest Wizarding families of the age and had never heard of dueling clubs outside Hogwarts. Deciding that this was all the more reason to ask Jasmine out, he smiled.
“You’ll definitely have to tell me about that experience some time. Anyway, I actually came over here to ask you something. Do you want to go with me into Hogsmeade next weekend? I know it’s only the first night back, but…” James trailed off.
“Oh!” Jasmine looked at Lily hesitantly, who was determinedly looking anywhere but at James. “Of course! I’d love to,” she finally responded appreciatively.
“Great! I’ll talk to you soon, Jazz.” Jasmine blushed slightly and nodded, turning back to her friends to discuss this newest development.
When James returned to the Marauders, they were all looking at him as though they couldn’t believe he was standing there. Noting their mingled looks of shock and pure awe, he said nonchalantly, “What?”
“Well, James... when I said to maybe see some other people, I wasn’t exactly referring to Lily’s friends,” Remus spoke up, aghast.
“Who else was I supposed to ask, some bloody, stuck-up, over-intelligent Ravenclaw?” James asked, thinking fervently of Tate and how much he despised the git.
“Well no, but… never mind.”
“Oi, this just won’t do. You have a date for the first Hogsmeade weekend before I do!” Sirius said, pretending to be infuriated. He then shouted over to Marlene McKinnon, another one of Lily’s friends.
“Hey, McKinnon! Hogsmeade next weekend?”
To everyone’s surprise, she shouted back, “Sure, Black!” Lily nearly fell out of her chair, and Remus just stared. Marlene and Sirius alone remained completely calm and collected.
Peter stared admiringly at Sirius. “How do you do it, Sirius? I mean… you didn’t even really ask her out. You just sort of… yelled,” he finished sheepishly.
“Simple, mate. No one would say no to me,” Sirius said arrogantly.
“I’m sure,” muttered Remus, and Sirius turned to face him, looking hurt.
“Moony, mate, why don’t you go ask Elysa to Hogsmeade?”
“No, I think I’ll retain some of my dignity, thanks Padfoot.” Not a single person noticed the way Remus was looking at Jasmine. And as far as he was concerned, they would never discover how he felt.
“Thank goodness someone here still has a brain,” Lily said as she passed Remus. James looked like he was going to say something, but he then remembered Jasmine and remained silent.
“Potter, are you going to come back to the Heads’ common room? We haven’t opened the other two doors yet.” James was mildly surprised that Lily had willingly chosen to speak to him, but he just nodded and stood up.
“Good night, mates. I’ll see you at breakfast,” he said, yawning slightly.
“’Night. I have to say, it’s going to be really strange not having you in our dorm anymore, Prongs.”
“Don’t worry, Padfoot. I’ll sneak up there once in awhile. Until then, do you want to keep the map?”
Sirius brightened and gratefully accepted the parchment that James extracted from his pocket.
“Well, I’ll be around,” he said to Remus and Peter. They bade him goodnight, and James turned to follow Lily through the passageway for the second time that night.
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James woke up the next morning feeling considerably refreshed and reenergized. He gradually recalled the events of the previous night. It turned out that the other two doors had been the entrances to his and Lily’s dormitories, which were fairly similar to the ones in Gryffindor Tower, except that there was much more space with the absence of the extra beds.
He glanced over at the clock on his bedside table, and was comforted to know that he had plenty of time before classes started for the day. He rolled out of bed and got ready quickly before heading down to the common room that he shared with Lily.
Lily was sitting in one of the gold armchairs when James came down the stairs. She didn’t even so much as turn around upon hearing James approach her, so he silently walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder.
“What?” she said, not looking up from her book, which James saw was called Jane Eyre.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go down to breakfast. And incidentally, though I doubt you’d care, Sirius is interested in those books, too. ‘Classics’, I think he calls them.”
Lily looked startled by this interesting piece of information, but recovered and replied, “I’ll go down to breakfast in a bit. Alice and Elysa said they’d meet me here later.”
“Alright, I’ll see you in Transfiguration. That’s probably what we have first, anyway.”
James hesitated and wanted to say more, but he decided to end the conversation before it stopped being civil. As he made to leave the room, Lily stopped him.
“And Potter?” He looked back, wondering what she had to say to him now. “You better not have any ulterior motives in asking Jazzy out. She’s one of my best friends; hurt her and you’ll pay dearly, I assure you.” With that, Lily returned to her book, not noticing the impact her threat had on James.
“Okay,” James replied evenly, and he then went down to the Great Hall to join the Marauders for breakfast, not even noticing Godric calling out to him, as he was lost in his thoughts.
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“Why do you think they asked us out?” Jasmine asked Marlene, as they got ready to go down for breakfast. Alice and Elysa had already departed to go meet Lily.
“Are you thick, Jazz? James is trying to move on. He’s been infatuated with Lily for years and I suppose he’s finally realized she’s never going to see him as more than an arrogant fool.”
“And what about Sirius?”
“Well, this isn’t really the first time he’s asked me out. I’ve been to Hogsmeade with him before. We’re kind of the same, you know, it’s funny. He goes out with a bunch of girls just for the hell of it, and I go out with a bunch of guys just for the hell of it, and in the end we figure out that none of them were worth it at all. We make the same mistake over and over, though. There’s never going to be anything serious between us,” Marlene said. She didn’t seem the slightest bit perturbed about her odd situation with Sirius, but Jasmine bit her lip anxiously.
“But… I know James isn’t over Lily. There’s no way, Marly! But I really do like him. What should I do?”
“James is really loyal, Jazzy. He would never do anything to hurt you on purpose,” Marlene said reassuringly. “Now, I have an idea. I think we should get Elysa with Remus, since Alice is already with Frank.”
“Won’t Lily feel left out, though?”
“Why? She already has a boyfriend. Why should she care who we go out with?”
“Well… It’s no news that all of the Gryffindor guys hate Tate. He’s kind of a jerk, you know. I don’t know what Lily sees in him.”
“She’s a poor, conflicted soul. We can’t do anything about it. Shall we go down to breakfast?” Marlene said regally.
Jasmine giggled at Marlene’s abrupt change in tone and nodded. The two of them walked down to the Great Hall, not noticing the shadow hovering right outside their window, listening to every word that had been said.
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Tragic Glory by Daughter of the Light
Chapter Notes: Well, here's chapter 3! I hope you enjoy it. I promise it will get more interesting as the story progresses. For now, I'm just trying to take care of the technical aspects of the story, as well as introducing all important characters~
Chapter Endnotes: Reviews are sincerely appreciated! :)