197So far:
Sarah has agreed to help James, in the secret hope that he'll help her with her Transfiguration homework. Lily is wary, Marlene and Alice are excited, and the other Marauders are oblivious to what's going on – it's a good thing no one else knows that the whole thing is fake.
PLAYING PRETEND
CHAPTER 2
September 16th, 1976
;;
My wand wakes me up at 5:25 AM the next morning, with a sound that is suspiciously similar to trumpeting elephants.
The alarm trick that my dad taught me last summer has come in handy – it wakes only the owner of the wand. But after this first experience with it, I suggest you don't try waking this way, unless you want to wake up with a heart-attack.
I quietly wash my face and brush my teeth, before throwing on a bathrobe over my pyjamas and going downstairs. The common room is empty, thankfully. It looks like not even the paranoid Seventh Years are up yet. I wonder if this time next year, I too will be worrying about the NEWTs. I'd like to say I wouldn't, but I'm a worrier.
I stare out the window, watching the lightening sky. According to the grandfather clock in the corner, James is late. Why am I not too surprised?
A voice to my left says 'boo' and for the second time that day, I almost have a heart-attack.
"Did I scare you?" asks a familiar voice, laughing, as I roll my eyes and try to still my pounding my heart.
I turn around and whisper-yell at him, "What is wrong with you? Are you mental?"
He too is in his bedclothes, only that he isn't wearing a bathrobe like me. It looks like Marlene's theory of the Sixth Year boys sleeping naked is completely wrong. I try to suppress my grin.
"Aww, don't be like that, I was just having a little fun," he says, pouting.
"You know what? You should try having this fun with Frank Longbottom. That way, it'll be fun for me too."
I'm probably an awful friend for doing this, but I feel a little replaced. Alice has been so in lurve through the summer, sending me infrequent letters and even more infrequently meeting up with Marlene and me that I've started resenting the boy.
Seeing him on a daily basis the past two weeks has annoyed me even more.
"Do you want to see Headboy Longbottom get pranked, almost mysteriously?" he asks, as I lead him to an empty tête-à-tête. I sit on the other side and face him, giving him the best poker-face I have.
"Let's just say I wouldn't be opposed to it, just the way I wasn't opposed to seeing the hair of the Slytherin Quidditch team turn gold and red last year," I say. James responds with a cocky smile.
"I'll put in a word with the perpetrators of that prank about your wishes," he says, and I shake my head and stifle my standard eye-roll. Does he realise that most of us fellow Gryffindors already know that him and his mates are behind most of these comedic incidents?
"You do that, and in the mean time, we'll start discussing the plan. We don't have much time now, so let's just decide on what we'll do today, okay? Lily wasn't there when you 'asked me out' last night," I say, making finger quotation marks – that's a habit of mine which I just can't seem to shake off.
James nods and mutters something that sounds a lot like 'I realised,' but I ignore it and continue with my speech.
"So the first phase of the thing is done with. By the time Alice, Marlene and I went up, Lily's curtains were already drawn, so she'll only be able to find out today. But until then, you can continue doing what you did yesterday – which was very good, by the way – carrying my bag, helping me to my seat and all that. Hopefully, Lily will notice it once again."
"You think Lily noticed that?" he asks, his eyes lighting up.
He looks so adorable at the moment, with his bedhead and his glasses which seem to be slipping off his nose a little at a time. I guess it's a little hard to understand why such a cute guy has to resort to stalking Lily, instead of being normal around her the way he is around us other girls.
"If my powers of observation are correct, she did. So do the same today, but smile now and then at me in the middle of classes– not like that!" I exclaim, as James smiles creepily at me, with all his teeth out, his nose flared and his eyes scrunched up.
"Stop it!" I cry, sniggering a little. This boy is just so immature and fun to be around that it makes this whole thing double the fun. I get to carefully plan a mission, and I also get to have a personal clown.
He smiles normally now, and I continue, "We share almost all our classes, I think, except Ancient Runes. Don't do anything like trying to sit next to me, because that'll come out as you being a bit overbearing. So proceed as you did yesterday."
"Yes, ma'am," he says, nodding his head solemnly. I simply continue.
"Right, so now, in case Lily finds out about it and questions either of us about it – what we're trying to do is check if we can elicit a reaction from her. So if she does ask either of us, or our friends about it, it matters. If she asks you about it, seeing as you did get rejected by her again yesterday, play it off coolly, saying it's just a date between friends.
"If she asks me, I'll say pretty much the same thing, insisting that we're 'just friends.' Nothing throws people off as much as saying 'just friends.' Hopefully, she'll take the bait. Now if she asks Marlene and Alice about it, they'll be sure to tell me.
"But if she does ask one of your friends, there'll be no way of finding out, unless they tell you. And remember, you can't ask them, otherwise you'll be blowing your cover. They'll be curious to know why you're asking about Lily, when you're supposedly trying to move on from her.
"Any questions?" I ask him, as I finish, and he smiles at me crookedly. I've never seen him smile that way, ever, and I feel this tingling somewhere deep inside me. Damn, despite wearing glasses, this guy can look hot.
"Do you want to become an Auror after Hogwarts?" he asks.
My brows furrow as I answer, "Sort of. I've always assumed that that's what I'll become... How did you know?"
He gives me that crooked smile once again, as he says, "The subjects you've chosen, your attention to detail and your strategising skills."
"Looks like you're observant too," I reply, wryly, to which he smirks.
"I think you'll make a brilliant Auror."
"Really?" I ask, feeling my face flush. It's certainly nice to hear such positive things at six in the morning. It does really nice things to one's ego.
"Yes, really. I should know, my father is the Head Auror."
"Whoa, really? That's so awesome. Does he discuss cases with you at home?" I ask, belatedly realising it's a personal question. But it must be so cool, right?
"Sometimes, but not always. This summer, with the Death Eater raids, it's been all gory news, I'm afraid."
His voice turns bitter when he says the words 'Death Eaters'. Privately, I'm glad that I'm not helping out a maniac. He's a Pureblood, after all. He doesn't really have to take the side of us Halfbloods or the Muggleborns.
I don't tell him that, though.
The grandfather clock starts chiming six times, and I decide it's time to wrap up our session.
I stand up as I say, "We'll have to meet up once every day, to discuss our progress. Once we get into the dating phase, it'll be infinitely easier to have these sessions. We can say we needed the privacy for fooling around."
We've reached the stairs by now, and as I climb onto the first step, he says rather cheekily, "Is fooling around a part of our deal?"
I turn around to look at him, and he gives me a lopsided grin. I shake my head amusedly and give him my most eloquent response.
"Bugger off, James."
;;
Double Charms with Ravenclaws is the first class of the day, and while waiting outside for Professor Flitwick to let us in, Marlene and I have fun taking the mickey out of Alice. She's so easy to tease, and it's often things that she foolishly says out loud that give us fodder for our corny jokes.
James and his mates all turn up at the same time, swaggering into the corridor trying to look cool and disinterested. I try not to roll my eyes.
I need to be fair, though. It's only James and Sirius who walk that way, as if they own the hallowed corridors of Hogwarts. Peter usually walks right behind those two, worshipping the ground they've walked on, while Remus walks humbly a little away from the entourage, often wrapped up in his own thoughts.
All four of them are lovely chaps. They're not as stuck up as they portray themselves to be. Privately, I think James and Sirius might even be drama queens on the inside. However, just because they've always been nice to us Gryffindor yearmates doesn't mean that I'm blind to their flaws.
I know that they have bullied other people, mainly Slytherins. While the pranks that they (might) have played on the snakes are harmless, their targeting individuals based on their wealth or name has often left me feeling uncomfortable. And when I say 'their,' I mean James' and Sirius'. As far as I know, Remus never participates in these things, while Peter stands to the side, offering words of encouragement to the duo.
You see, their despicable behaviour reminds me of some of my wonderful cousin, who used to pretty much do the same things back when she was in Hogwarts, only that she used blood purity and affiliation to said ideals about purity as her criteria to pick on people. Lucky for her, her younger sister is still in Hogwarts, which means I still haven't really caught a break yet.
James catches my eye and I give him a brief nod, before turning to ask Alice about the homework due today.
I guess Marlene, Alice and I are lucky that way, we share all our classes, except for one. We even have the same dream, as dumb as that sounds. We all want to be Aurors. Marlene and I don't mind becoming Hit Wizards, but Alice is dead keen on becoming an Auror. And she'll make a bloody brilliant one, I know.
"Sarah?"
I turn around and find Lily looking at me oddly, her brows furrowed.
"Hey, Lily," I greet her, as I see James pay attention from the other side of the corridor out of the corner of my eye. That boy is way too obsessed with the pretty redhead who's standing in front of me.
"I found out at breakfast that Potter asked you out?"
Wow, she's blunt and to the point, which surprises me a lot. She usually exercises a lot more tact than this.
"Just to hang out at Hogsmeade this weekend. Nothing more," I reply, looking for any visual cue that might tell me what she's thinking.
She looks tired, the poor thing. Her best friend, Janice Thicke, a Seventh Year Gryffindor, had been admitted to St. Mungo's with dragon pox. Dragon pox is usually not a very serious disease; its Muggle equivalent is chicken pox. However, dragon pox can be quite harmful if you're allergic to the ingredients used in the cure.
This whole thing had led to Slughorn giving us a lecture about finding substitutes to the ingredients used in everyday potions.
I'm confident that Thicke will be all right in no time, seeing as my dad is the Head Healer at St. Mungo's, and my mum is the Potions Mistress who gets the special cases from Mungo's.
"There are some things you need to know. Potter isn't a very nice person. He's a bully who loves picking on people whom he thinks are below him. I've seen that side of him, and I just don't want you getting hurt when you realise all his niceness is just a façade."
This throws me a little, because that is literally the last thing I had expected her to tell me. She's a genuinely nice person, and somehow, this only makes me appreciate her all the more. It's like the whole 'Prefect' thing has made me actively search for qualities in her that show me how much she deserves the position.
"Thanks for the warning. I really appreciate it," I tell her, trying to sound as genuine as possible.
She smiles wanly, and she just looks so bloody tired that I decide to make an effort to be nice to her, at least for the day.
"Did you actually eat anything at breakfast?" I ask her, and she shakes her head, grimacing. I take out an apple from my bag and give it to her.
"I can't have my favourite Charms partner fainting in the middle of class, can I?" I say, trying to make her smile.
My effort doesn't go in vain, and her lips turn up ever so slightly, hinting at the starting of a smile.
Marlene ropes me into a conversation about the upcoming Quidditch trials, and this time when James catches my eye, he smiles broadly at me.
;;
"Soooo, what did she say?" comes a voice from right beside me, and I don't need to turn around to see that James has dropped into the place next to me.
Alice and Marlene have their Muggle Studies class right now, which means I have a free hour. I've told them time and again that their Muggle Studies text book is still set in the Victorian era, but they never listen to me. They think that having a Muggle Studies NEWT will give them a greater chance of getting into the Auror program.
Thank Merlin for my mixed heritage.
Though I should probably not be too quick in thanking Merlin, seeing as my free hour has just become, well, un-free.
"And hello to you too, James."
"What did she say?"
I look up at him from my storybook. Don't judge me now, I know I have homework to finish, but as you already know, I tend to slack. I'm a pro at procrastinating. I put the pro in procrastinating.
Ha! That's actually pretty witty. I should write that down somewhere.
"Rule number one of dating, James. Don't bother the girl you're dating or fake-dating when she's reading her favourite book," I deadpan.
I look down to see that he's grabbed my book from my lap. And also, he's closed the book to see the cover. He's lost my page.
He must have seen my expression, for he says, "You're on page 122, Sarah."
I just watch him inspecting my book.
"The Magician's Nephew," he reads out slowly.
I tilt my head to my side and continue watching him. He frowns slightly as he flips through the pages.
"Is it a Muggle book?" he asks, at long last
"Yup," I say, popping my 'p'. It's another bad habit, according to my mum.
"Tell me what Lily said and I'll give you your book back," he says, smirking slightly.
And here I was, thinking he was the epitome of all things Gryffindor!
"James!" I cry, trying to reach up and grab the book from where he's holding it high above his head.
I'm this awkward height of 5'6''. I'm not tall, I'm not short. I'm stuck somewhere in the middle. Which means my arms aren't that long either. Did you know that the span of our arms is the same as our vertical height? Which means each arm of mine is roughly a little less than half of 5'6'', not including the distance between my shoulders.
All right, that's enough basic Arithmancy for the day.
Anyways, James is definitely more than 6 feet tall. So not only are his arms longer, his torso is also longer, which means it's virtually impossible to get my book back. And I could have explained that without getting into the math, hmm?
He's smirking at me, so I do the thing that I always do when my Muggle cousin is annoying me – I tickle him. But what I didn't expect was for James to be so bloody ticklish.
He drops the book on the floor and tries to tickle me. But I'm merciless and relentless.
"Stop, Merin, stop," he says, in between gasps of laughter. I don't stop.
"Aww, is Jamesie ticklish?" I ask him, when he unexpectedly retaliates by successfully tickling me back. I shriek into laughter. And this is why people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones; I'm extremely ticklish as well.
Here we are, two teenagers, rolling about the sofa laughing like six year olds. I'm not entirely sure how we got horizontal on the sofa.
"Am I interrupting?" comes a snide voice from the direction of the portrait hole, and James and I fall to the floor with a loud thud.
"Oomph," groans James.
"Get off, Potter. You're heavy," I say, still breathless from our mindless tickle attack.
When I was younger, my dad used to tickle-attack me all the time. He claimed it was a new martial art, much like Kung Fu, called Tickle Fu. But I never fell for that, obviously.
James rolls off and I get up to look into the smirking face of Sirius Black. Now that's one hot looking boy. I don't know how his genetics didn't screw him up, seeing as the Blacks are super incestuous.
Did I mention that my cousins are also Blacks?
"What?" I ask eloquently, as James stretches on the floor and picks up my book.
"Sarah and I were just reading," he says, looking entirely too innocent. I narrow my eyes at that.
"More like Sarah was reading and James was bothering her," I say, and at that, Sirius throws his head back and lets out a bark of laughter.
"That sounds more like the James I know," he laughs.
"Have you ever seen him with a book?" I ask, and Sirius throws me a broad grin.
Meanwhile James cries out, affronted, "Hey!"
It's much later in the day, when I'm having dinner with Alice and Marly that I realise that I never did tell James what Lily and I spoke about.
;;
End notes:
#1. Tickle Fu was something my dad used to tease me with when I was younger, and I just had to mention it. So it's not really mine. And that scene in this chapter? It wasn't meant to be the least bit romantic; it's just good fun between friends.
#2. According to canon, Fleamont and Euphemia Potter died of dragon pox sometime between 1979 and 1980. But I'm disregarding that and am assuming that there is a cure for the disease.
Guest review replies:
HappyTerrier: Thank you so much for saying that. I've developed Sarah's character over a few months, and I'm doing my best to ensure she's utterly average, the exact opposite of a Mary Sue. Thanks for reading and reviewing. :)
Bristol: Aaaah! Aaron Taylor-Johnson looks absolutely fabulous! Thanks for suggesting some lovely eye-candy to a lonely girl. ;)
anon: You're making me blush! I feel like you've read my mind perfectly. I'm trying to keep Sarah realistic, and your review has done great things to my confidence. Bitchy and one-dimensional Lily is a trope I'm tired as well! *virtual high five* The story will be a slow build, and there will be pining, but I doubt there'll be jealousy... on Sarah's part that is. ;) Thanks a lot for reading and reviewing, you made my day. :)
AN:
I plan to update the story on the seventh day of every month, give or take a couple of days. But if I do get more than, say, twenty reviews, I'll update once in the middle of the month as well. :) Thanks for reading.