The Fawn and the Lily
Written by J. Alberghini,
as part of the collection at The
Marauder's Pensieve™
"What on earth is going on here?"
James Potter's fist halted in mid-punch at the sound of a contemptuous and scolding voice. Snape took advantage of the distraction to push James off him and stand. This was a mistake, as a steady flow of blood streamed out of his left nostril. He reached for the seat to keep from falling to the train floor in a dead faint. Instead, he got Sirius Black's shoulder. Sirius gave him a dirty look and threw a used tissue at him. "You'd better not get blood on my clothes," he sniffed, annoyed at the inconvenience of all that was occurring at the moment.
James looked up to observe his opponent's rescuer (not his, he was obviously winning). His wandering gaze found a certain garment characteristic of the fairer sex, or rather, what was under that garment. He closed his eyes, not so much as to avoid staring at what he saw there, but to brace himself for the swift toe in the face that soon followed.
"Sorry," he mumbled. He collected himself into a much more dignified position. Now he had a full frontal view (not nudity, fortunately, or perhaps, unfortunately for his hormone-driven, pre-pubescent mind) of this person who had so rudely interrupted him. She was no beauty, but that didn't make her ugly. She was going through that "awkward stage" that was common among those of her sex and years. She was tall and gawky; her legs (which he had glimpsed before) looked thin and fragile. He didn't know how she was able to stand on them. Her chin-length red hair was much neater and manageable than his own was, but then, everyone's hair was. It was hanging about her, with nothing more than a simple clip to keep it in place. She was dressed, like they were, in ordinary street clothes, nothing fancy or exquisite, just a plaid skirt, which he'd accidentally peeked under before, and a lavender jumper (also known as a sweater). Again, she was no beauty, yet James felt a trickle of saliva roll down the corners of his mouth. He wiped it off his chin quickly.
The girl tapped her foot with an air of impatience. "Well? I asked you a question."
"Oh." James searched his memory. What'd she ask again? Oh, right. "Oh, nothing, nothing, he was just leaving." He motioned to Sirius, who, with the utmost tenderness, led Snape to the exit.
"I'll get you for this! Mark my words. When you don't have your Mudblood girlfriend to protect you!" His cries echoed throughout the corridor. There was a Zap! And the train gave a brief jolt (and Snape a loud scream) before Sirius came back, wand in hand. Despite that Snape had (in their opinion anyway) gotten his just desserts, Sirius's face was solemn, a look that didn't seem to suit him at all. James gaped at him, though with seeming gratitude, and the girl and Remus just looked confused.
"What was that about?" Remus inquired. His friend's grim expression worried him and he feared he'd missed something dreadfully important. "Why'd you do that?" His earlier insults hadn't seemed so bad that Sirius would use magic, not fists to get any semblance of justice from him. Then a light bulb blinked on in his head. "What was that word he called her?"
"Mudblood," Sirius spat out the word, frowning. "It's a derogatory word for Muggle-born witches and wizards. My mother uses it frequently." James looked at him sideways, and was relieved to see that Sirius's eyes were burning with fury. He sighed.
"Oh? Well, how was I to know that I was being insulted because I'm Muggle-born, if I grew up with Muggles, was raised as a Muggle, and up until recently, didn't know anyone other than Muggles existed?" she said, managing to make what to most seemed atrocious, a mark of pride and superiority. "Well, I suppose I should introduce myself," she continued, rolling her eyes at their aghast countenances. "My name is Lily Evans."
The name rang in James' ears; and he was sure he would never forget it. His friends were staring at him now, and he willed the goofy grin on his face to change to an arrogant smirk, and his voice, which he was sure would sound like that of a mouse, to be a confident drawl. "Evans, huh? Nice to meet you." He offered a hand to her, which she stared at like it were a bucket of worms. Her arm hung limply at her side. James picked it up briefly, and then dropped it like a hot iron, back to its original position.
She made a disgusted (and very unflattering) face. "What are we, soccer players? I'd rather not be called by my last name, if you don't mind."
"Quidditch," he corrected quickly. With more of the normal eleven- year-old disdain for the opposite sex, he added, "Don't you know anything?"
This was a mistake and her cheeks burned. "I'm a Mudblood," she said coldly. "How am I supposed to know what the popular sport around here is?"
Now it was James' turn to blush. "I- I didn't mean-"he stuttered. He felt a brief, but sharp, tap on his ankle and heard someone, probably Sirius, mutter "Pull yourself together, Potter." He recovered quickly, thanks to the pain. "You've misjudged me. I apologize for Snape's… behavior towards you, though he probably was just embarrassed at the time. I'm sure he'll say so himself later." Yeah, right. Sirius coughed, to show his disbelief, but didn't voice his thoughts. James continued, "But you'll find most wizards, including ourselves are much more accepting than he. Still, I assure you, I won't let anything like that happen again." His friends sniggered softly and Lily rolled her eyes at what he'd thought was a good attempt at sounding heroic.
"Well, do you boys have names? Or should I refer to you as Stooge 1, 2 and 3?"
"Oh, right." Remus, the third stooge, who'd remained mostly quiet during the whole ordeal, except for his earlier question, stood up quickly. "Of course, so sorry. I'm Remus Lupin."
To James' surprise (and envy), she smiled warmly at the sandy haired boy, presumably the most innocent of the bunch.
"Nice to meet you." She shook his hand, surprising his comrades even further. He flushed pink and went back to his seat.
"Sirius Black," the second stooge, who, though he'd introduced himself after Remus, had quickly become James' best friend at Hogwarts, muttered. She didn't shake his hand, which had a rather large splinter hanging out of it, presumably from his wand.
"And I'm James Potter," he added, upset about having to be last. Well, last but not least, he reassured himself. She examined him carefully for the first time and wrinkled her nose at his unkempt hair. He looked down to avoid her intense gaze.
"Would you like to sit with us?" he asked politely, though his voice was shaking.
The girl snorted. "No, that's quite all right. I was looking for a seat, but I think I'd rather stay as far away from you hooligans as possible." She backed out the door. "It's been a pleasure," she added, her voice dripping with pure sarcasm, before she turned on her heel and sauntered down the hall, presumably to find another car that wasn't full.
"Wow." Now that she was gone, James shook himself out of the odd spell he'd seemingly fallen under. "What a pain! Right, guys?" He turned to his friends to see their real reactions for the first time.
Sirius stared at him with a somewhat disgusted look on his face. "Yeah. Right."
Remus covered his mouth with his hand. "Sure, I could tell you really hated her," he replied, a chuckle escaping.
"What's with you two?" James shook his head. "Come on, let's eat." The boys dug into the piles of candy that they'd bought off the carts, preparing themselves to enjoy the long trip to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.