24 ~ James' Problem

There were moments when I seriously questioned whether intelligence and my friends could exist in the same place.

Remus' POV:

     A pleasant wind blew towards me, the surface of the Black Lake was set in motion. With my friends I sat on the shore of the lake, and others had had this idea as well. Everywhere young witches and wizards of the four Houses could be seen. It was a beautiful day.     The sky was blue, the sun not too hot, so that a long shirt was sufficient. It was Friday afternoon and tomorrow was Hogsmeade day. I was looking forward to it, even though two days ago the last full moon of this school year had been.     Much had changed over the last year. My friends could now control their Animagus forms and had made friends with my werewolf form. After the revelation that Phil could control her werewolf form like an Animagus, she had been the driving force behind sending me into the forest with my friends.      Phil did not want to be locked up, since she too went mad. She did keep her consciousness, but often the werewolf surfaced and she would surely attack herself after a few months in the Shrieking Shack.     So she had secretly encouraged my friends, behind my back, to lure me into the forest as a werewolf again. It had led to several arguments between us, but Phil and I had not encountered each other as werewolves anymore. There had also been no other incidents, so that by now I went into the forest with my friends myself.

After all, it is better not to get injuries, or only a few, because as a werewolf - according to my friends - I rarely fell back into old behavioural patterns and attacked myself in new situations.

     However, it was good that way, because Madam Pomfrey had also noticed that I got fewer injuries. She could explain Phil to herself, because she was different, but with me she was still puzzling. She had never addressed it to me, though. Phil and I still took the path into the Shack, even though we had created another exit again in order to reach the forest unnoticed.     But we returned to Hogwarts through the Whomping Willow. Pomfrey seemed to know that and perhaps believed that my werewolf self simply coped better with the transformation - after all those years of captivity. The occasional injuries supported her theory.     Nevertheless, I visited the hospital wing after every full moon. Even though I went into the forest, I did not feel better after the full moon because of it. My body still hurt and I was exhausted.

Like today.

     Still, tomorrow I would go to Hogsmeade as well, because I needed to buy new chocolate.     With the thought of chocolate I sat up. I turned my gaze away from the sky. We had taken blankets with us to the lake, and while I sat, my eyes searched the shore.     I found the other Marauders, trouser legs rolled up and skimming stones across the water. Just then Wormtail - yes, I used the nicknames by now - managed a bounce and cheered. In the next moment Prongs noticed my gaze. He drew the others' attention to me, then the three of them came over to me. All of them had red feet that stepped across the grass. Our spot was in partial shade.     Having reached me, Padfoot raised his voice: "Well, has little Moony woken from his delayed afternoon nap?", he plopped down next to me onto the blanket. James and Peter followed his example, then I shrugged my shoulders. I had indeed slept briefly.          "Yes, nicely rested, thanks for asking", I replied and Sirius laughed, then he pulled on his socks. The fact that his feet were still wet seemed not to bother him. Prongs, on the other hand, let his feet dry with spread toes, so that anyone with a foot phobia would have liked to shudder.

I do not find his feet particularly great either.

     For that very reason I turned my gaze away. Instead I looked around. While the others briefly talked about Hogsmeade, I spotted familiar faces not far away: Snivellus and Lestrange were at the lake as well. When Padfoot noticed my gaze, he sighed deeply and loudly.     "At this sight the joy of Friday vanishes", he muttered. He made a grimace in Lestrange's direction and rummaged a packet of wine gums out of his shoulder bag. He loved that stuff. I hated it; it kept sticking in the teeth constantly.     That was why Padfoot did not ask me either whether I wanted some. First he handed the packet to Peter, who took three pieces, then Sirius nudged Prongs.     He was lost in thought. His brown eyes had fixed themselves on Snivellus and the water stains on his glasses did not seem to catch his attention. Only when Sirius waved in front of Prongs' face, tapped against James' glasses, did he snap out of his stiffness. A stiffness that resulted in a deadly glare.     "What?!", he snapped, took off his glasses. He cleaned them.          "Oh, sorry that I wanted to offer you something sweet. What a tragedy!", Sirius dramatised, "does that sugary-sweet Snivellus upset you that much?"     Padfoot briefly let go of the wine gums. He placed the packet between his legs, which were crossed, then he tied himself a deep ponytail. He still let his hair grow.          I addressed the obvious: "Prongs is annoyed by Snivellus' presence because he hurt Lily very much with his words. He simply likes Lily."     "That is not true at all!", James tried to talk his way out of it and avoided looking at us. His eyes looked towards the water, which formed slight waves through the wind.     "Yes, it should have been obvious to me as well, thanks, Moony", Padfoot chimed in again, "our dear Prongs still likes Evans then. So the phase in fourth year was more than just a phase after all?", he prodded at Prongs' wound.     I had to suppress a grin. James had denied the whole time that he liked a certain Lily Evans.      Even when Padfoot had started this year to ask girls out on dates, James had not had the courage to confess to us, his friends, that he had a crush on Lily Evans.

But it is obvious, very obvious.

     "You know, my friend", Sirius began again and did not notice how Peter stole a wine gum from him. Sirius leaned towards Prongs, continued: "I have recently had contact with the female sex."     "If you now want to praise your three kisses and the one bit of groping with Susan Brown-", but I could not continue speaking, because I was punished with a deadly glare.     "I still intend this year, at the age of sixteen, to lose my virginity. The next time with Susan Brown could be the day. She was not averse to me."     "Yes, because now it is a competition to lose your virginity.", I rolled my eyes.     As I had already predicted at the end of fourth year, Padfoot was slowly becoming a heart-throb. My next prediction was that he would become a Casanova.

So it can only get worse.

     "Do not sigh, little Moony", Padfoot scolded playfully, "this is not about me, but about our dear Prongs."     My gaze landed on James, who was absolutely not pleased that the topic had landed on his unspoken feelings for Lily again. James' body was tense, he had drawn one knee to his body. It became quiet between us and only Peter's quiet smacking could be heard.          One could see how Prongs weighed his thoughts, as a result he surprisingly cleared his throat: "Then I like her, alright...?", he mumbled barely audibly and looked at his bare feet.     "Ooh, Prongs is in love!", Padfoot trilled immediately and received a shove against his shoulder.          "I am not in love!", James hissed back.Sirius simply had to laugh. "Of course, then thank you for your honesty. You only find Evans pretty then, do you not?"          "What are you getting at, Padfoot?"     "Here and now we make an oath among friends, among men." Sirius' grey eyes looked at all of us. It was obvious that now only something stupid could come out of his mouth.           I was right.     "If one of us four has interest in a specific girl, then she is off-limits to the others."          "I still do not understand how this is connected to me now", Prongs complained, but right afterwards came the answer that widened my grin: "Since you, my friend, James Potter, only find Evans pretty, she is not included in the Marauders' oath. Then you will not have a problem if I should approach her."     And now I had to laugh, because Prongs' face froze.

Now he has to admit it.

     "What makes you believe that Lily would get involved with you?", James asked.          "What makes you think that she would not?"     "She would not get involved with any of you at all", I burst their bubble. Immediately brown and grey eyes looked at me. With a grin on my lips I continued speaking: "She always shouts at you, then also, nothing against you Prongs, but in Lily's presence you behave like an idiot. So why should she generally choose anyone of you at all, if none of you can talk to her normally?"          "Moony is right, she will never like me", James said hurt and his forehead slammed onto his knee.     "So you admit that you find her more than just pretty?"          "Merlin, do not annoy me! But yes, satisfied?", James' eyes flashed up, Sirius nodded. I, on the other hand, pulled a face, because I had not wanted Prongs to be dejected. I could not cheer anyone up.     While Padfoot continued explaining the new Marauders' oath to us, also that Lily was now off-limits, I interrupted him: "There are still two years until graduation, Prongs. If you really like her, then you still have enough time to convince Lily that you are quite alright. We as your friends know your true side."     "Which is sometimes annoying, but Remus is right", Sirius added, "and if it does not work out with Evans, then there are still countless other girls."     James looked up again, but he did not seem truly convinced. At least his secret, rather problem, was now out of him. Whether Lily and James could ever maintain a normal interaction with each other, only the future knew.

Elizabeth's POV:

     My quill scratched across parchment, afterwards I dipped the tip into the inkwell beside me. It was of course not a good idea to write an essay for Defence Against the Dark Arts at the lake, but the weather was far too beautiful to want to do it indoors.     Unfortunately I could not concentrate, because Severus sighed yet again. Whether he did it deliberately loudly to get my attention, I did not know, but he was annoying.          "I know that this thing with that Evans is getting to you, but please, mourn quietly."     I looked down at him, since he was lying on his stomach, his face pressed into his cloak. We sat on the shore of the lake and had sat down on our cloaks. Well, Severus had lain down on his cloak, apparently hoping that it would kill him.     I did not pay any more attention to him, but continued writing, yet then came the next sigh.          "Speak", I demanded, "but normally and properly! Someone only has to walk past and see you like this. You are embarrassing."     "I do not even know why I am with you...", he grumbled his answer and sat up.          "Believe me, I do not know either", I closed my inkwell, "you could also have gone to your Death Eater friends, explained to them that you have an argument with a Gryffindor you have a crush on."          I heard a grunt to my right.     "You speak of Death Eaters as if you despise them, even though you are a Lestrange", Severus said already.          I stowed away my quill. "Well, I simply am not in a hurry to inform myself about the Dark Powers. If something is really to come of this whole story, then I as a Lestrange will find out about it early enough. I am not in a hurry to build myself a rank, I already have one."     "Modest as always."          "I know, thanks", I replied, then I looked towards the lake and for a moment it became quiet between us.     Looking to the left, I found the brainless ones at some distance. I had not even noticed that they were at the lake as well. For that reason I ignored them, because if I only thought of Black, I felt sick. I still could not stand him, of course. That we had recently had detention together, since we had bickered so much in Potions because of Slughorn's partner work that our potion had exploded, did not make him any more likeable. I hated him, his friends as well.     At least Severus and I agreed on that, although his hatred was a real hatred. It was enough for me if Black suffered torments alone.

Merlin, how I hate this bloke.

     What Severus and I did not agree on, however, was the matter with that Evans.          "Then why did you call her Mudblood?", I asked and took my gaze away from the lake, looked to the right, examined the Slytherin from the side. Meanwhile he stared at the surface of the water, his lips pressed together.     "I do not know...", he muttered cleverly, "it slipped out."          "Oh, one of the worst insults for Evans, your friend since childhood, simply slipped out?"     "Merlin, you are annoying!" Sev stood up.          "No, I am right", I replied calmly, and when he grabbed his cloak and shook it out, I stood up as well. I slung my bag over my shoulder, picked up my cloak.     For some reason I looked over at the glorious Marauders. Grey eyes met mine immediately. I had to suppress the urge to vomit and narrowed my eyes. I glared at Black and he pulled a grimace in my direction. I showed him my middle finger, but before I saw his response, I turned around.     Severus had already walked a few steps ahead. I caught up with him. Of course I was too proud for it, but since he was my only friend at Hogwarts, I had to jump over my own shadow. Unlike me, Severus had friends in Slytherin, with whom he could not talk about Evans, however. Actually I did not want to talk about the Gryffindor at all, but I knew that Severus liked her.          "Have you already apologised to her?", I simply asked.     The boy continued to stare ahead. We walked towards the stairs and after he had been silent briefly, he said: "Yes, several times. But it did not work. At least Lily is less angry at me for insulting her. She made it clear and plain that we have grown apart and that she does not understand my interest in Dark Magic."          "So you would have to apologise super nicely and sweetly. Tell Evans that you forget your friends for her and regret being a Slytherin, so that she wants to have you as a friend again?", I asked and to me that Evans needed to sort out her priorities. She demanded from Severus that he would be as nice as he had been in first year.

Unfortunately people change.

     "If you put it like that, it sounds harsh...", Severus muttered and we reached the stairs. We looked upwards. Hogwarts appeared gigantic.          "But it is the truth", I replied calmly, meanwhile walking up the stairs beside the boy.     Sev held his cloak in front of his chest and wore his Hogwarts uniform. He looked at his feet, so that his chin-length hair hung into his face. From the side his nose appeared larger. However, it was not as large as the Marauders always described it to be. Severus was also not ugly, as he believed. He was average and in the last year he had grown out of his childish body.     "I will not get her back", Severus muttered, "I do not know whether I want to change for her. I think that I have not really changed at all. Rather her. Do you think that I have changed, Lizzy?"          I looked into his black eyes, sighed. "Firstly, I have told you often enough; you are not to call me that, and secondly, only a little. So I think that you have become more confident than you were in the first two years. Yes, maybe you have a few strange friends, but I as a Lestrange will also be a Death Eater in Evans' eyes. Just leave it be. Maybe you are right and she has changed, who knows."     "Yes, who knows...", he muttered his answer. Later he straightened his back, when we had reached the top. Like a true Slytherin, who showed no weakness. I lifted my chin as well and together Severus and I walked into the Great Hall, since it was dinner time.     Whether things between Lily and him would work out again, however, I doubted. Severus was not an easy person, but since he was something like a friend, I overlooked it. I was not an easy person either.     So it fitted.