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James
and Lily Potter
Wednesday September 1, 1977
James Potter was standing on the crowded
platform 9 ¾,
waiting for the Hogwarts Express to leave. He was standing on his toes, looking
for that one person …
"Hi James!" a voice suddenly said in
his ear. It was Sirius Black, his best friend.
"Oh hi, Sirius," he replied still
looking around him. The train was leaving any minute now.
"Yes, I had a great holiday, thanks for
asking. I'm doing great. France was beautiful, how nice you're interested in
that. James, what are you doing?" Sirius wanted to know.
"I, I'm doing nothing, honest!"
"No, sure. But you're not telling me
you're turning red because Remus and Peter are coming this way! C'mon, let's get
on the train or it's leaving without us. You must give a good example, you're a Head boy
now!"
"Yeah, yeah, coming Sirius!" After
one last look James Potter got on the train, still searching for that girl with
red hair and green eyes he started to like last year…
Sirius, Remus and Peter had already found some
places. James took a place near a window, next to Sirius, who was talking with
Remus about his holiday in France. Remus said he went to Romania with his
parents and his brother. "It was really great. Romania is fantastic, with
high mountains and a really old vampire tradition. The wizards there really
believe in vampires, or at least they pretend they do!"
Peter Pettigrew, a shy and little boy, was
staring out of the window. He had nothing to tell, because he always stayed at
home during the holidays. His father had died long ago and his mother was poor,
they had no money to go somewhere. James felt sorry for him, and always avoided
talking about money or things like that when Peter was near.
"Too bad they're not so good at recognizing
werewolves, Lupin. That would have rid us from you forever!" a cold voice
said.
It was Severus Snape, a boy in their year,
luckily not from their house. He was sorted in Slytherin. Snape was almost at
war with them because of some stupid trick Sirius wanted to play on him. On that
occasion, Snape discovered Remus was a werewolf, and although he had promised
Professor Dumbledore, Hogwarts headmaster, that he wouldn't tell anybody, he
couldn't resist mentioning it when there was nobody else around.
"Too bad you weren't in Romania. The
people there would recognize a dirty, slimy rat like you as a vampire in no
time!" James said angrily.
"Shut up, Potter! Keep on going like this
and you will end up in a lot of trouble I'm afraid. The great Head boy Potter,
who excels at Quidditch!"
"Snape, shut up or be gone. Your
choice." James was getting really angry now. Stupid Snape! Always telling
how much he hated James Potter. Okay, he was smart, and okay, he was good at
Quidditch (James was chaser in Gryffindor's team) but was that a reason to hate
him?
Snape turned around and finally left. James
sat down again and looked at Remus Lupin, his other best friend. Remus had been
bitten by a werewolf long ago. As a result of that, he was a werewolf too.
People avoided him because they were afraid of him, and he was actually not
accepted to Hogwarts. But Dumbledore allowed him to come, taking a few
precautions. Remus had told James and Sirius that they were the first friends he
ever had. They had even learned, together with Peter, how to become Animagi, so
they could change into animals. Now they haunted the Hogwarts grounds every
month and had lots of fun. But it was still a very hard issue for Remus and he
had still not accepted it fully.
"Hey, I hate to admit it, but Snape´s
right. What if you changed into a werewolf somewhere in Romania?" Sirius
wanted to know. "Oh, that's easy. We just waited till after the full moon,
then we left for three weeks and returned about 2 days before the next full
moon", Remus said.
"Oh, c'mon Remus. Just one year and we'll
never have to see that Snape again. He's truly the last person from school I
ever want to meet again!" Sirius said. "Seeing him in school is worse
enough".
The train was slowing down. Everybody got up
and changed into their black Hogwarts-robes. "Nice badge, James! Pity I'm
not a Head boy. It would make my mum really happy. But I think that's not gonna
happen." Peter said in a soft voice. "It would make her so happy to
see I finally reached something."
"Oh, who knows, maybe you'll get the
Order of Merlin someday!" Sirius joked.
As Peter turned away to get his trunk, James
pulled Sirius' arm. "Sirius, that's not funny", he said softly.
"You know Peter isn't very good at school. Stop teasing him, okay?"
"Hm, oh well, if you say so…"
The train stopped and they got their trunks
out. They could see Hagrid standing at the other side of the platform. "Is
it an illusion or is Hagrid growing every summer-holiday?" Sirius wanted to
know.
"I think there's something wrong with
your eyes. Maybe you need glasses." James replied teasingly.
"Sure, I need glasses! I believe the
great Head boy Potter has lost his brains. You better give that badge to
me!"
"Sure Sirius, in your dreams. You don't
think I…"He
suddenly stopped talking. There she was! 10 feet away from him, talking to a
friend. Far away he heard Sirius and Remus laugh. Sirius waved his hand before
his face. "James? James? Are you awake? Hello? It's time to leave!"
Do you know that girl?" he asked Remus.
"Who?"
"That girl, I believe," Sirius
pointed. "That girl with the red hair, right James?"
James nodded vaguely, still staring.
"Well," Remus said, "I believe
her name is Lily Evans. She's in Gryffindor too, she smart and Head girl. That's
all I know. Oh, she's from a Muggle-family."
"Right, well let's get on or we'll be
late. Coming, James?"
James nodded again and started to walk. Lily
Evans …
Friday June 30, 1978.
The platform at Hogsmeade was loaded with
Hogwarts students again, waiting for their train to go home. James, Lily,
Sirius, Remus and Peter were standing aside with their trunks. They were looking
at a blonde sixth-year who was talking about how great he was. Everybody tried
to avoid him except for a group of girls who were clearly deeply in love with
him.
Sirius was grinning. "I know a less
pleasant story about that guy. Do you remember his sorting? He had to wait
almost two minutes before the Sorting Hat decided he might fit in at
Hufflepuff!" Everybody laughed.
"I always forget his name. It is so silly
and long. What was it again?" Peter wanted to know.
"Peter! How can you forget!" Sirius
said in played disbelief. "The all-famous Gilderoy Lockhart, the next
Minister of Magic!"
"I heard he wants to study the Dark Arts.
He says he has a natural talent for that!" James added.
"Oh no!" Remus cried. "Not the
Dark Arts! Exactly the study I wanted to do!" But there was something in
his voice, something that said he was hiding something.
"What are you complaining about? Now you
can do the same thing as our future Minister of Magic! Be happy!" Lily said
with a smile.
"Hey Lily. Don't you want an autograph of
Mr. Lockhart? Every girl seems to be in love with him" Sirius joked.
"An autograph of Gilderoy Lockhart? No
thank you, Sirius. I prefer to die in a normal way!" Lily replied.
"When you're finished arguing if you're
going to ask for an autograph or not, get on the train please or it's leaving
without you" said James, who was already dragging his and Lily's trunk to
the train.
"James, it's very sweet of you, but I can
carry my own trunk, thank you!" Lily took the trunk and carried it to the
train.
They were the last persons to get on the
train. As he stepped in, James took a last look at Hogsmeade station.
James followed his friends to their places and
sat down. Lily was leaning against him, using him as some sort of cushion. They
all stared at the great shadow of Hogwarts castle, as the train speeded up. This
was the last time they were able to look at it and they were all silent. Peter
and Sirius were the first ones to "wake up". They started chatting
about what they wanted to do now they had finished school. Peter said he wanted
to take care for his mother so he wanted to take a job at the Ministry of Magic,
or something like that.
"What are you going to do, James?"
Sirius suddenly wanted to know.
"Do I have to know that already? Man, I'm
nearly 18! I've still got years!" James replied with his head leaning
against the window.
"No, seriously, what are you going to do?
Play in a Quidditch team?"
"Quidditch? And get my nose broken by a bludger? No, thank you! I think I'll find myself a nice little apartment in
London and live on my own for at least a year, then I'll decide what to
do." He already knew what he wanted to do after that year, but he wasn't
going to tell in front of his friends and Lily…
"Live by yourself? No way!" Sirius
said.
"Yes, I'm going to live on my own.
Believe me, it's true."
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am. And if I'm not, tell me
why!"
"Well, because I'm going to live with
you, of course! You weren't thinking I'm going to let my best friend who knows
absolutely nothing of Muggle-life live alone in Muggle London, were you?"
"This must be some terrible joke! I can
already predict what the house will look like after a week: a disaster!" In
reality he wasn't shocked at all. Quite the opposite in fact.
"Now that's decided ("Decided?!? You
forced me to take you in my house!") There's only one person we haven't
heard from yet. Tell us Remus! Share your feelings with us! What's your dream?
Who do you want to be?" Sirius was clearly in a good mood.
Remus did not laugh. He did not look at his
friends as he took an envelope from his robes. "I, er, wanted to tell you,
but . . . well, see for yourself" he said and handed the envelope over to
James. James took a piece of parchment out of the envelope and started reading
it aloud.
Dear Mr. Lupin, it said
We are very sorry to tell you we have denied
your request to study at Wizard University in Oxford. Although your test proves
you have a high potential and a great interest in the Dark Arts, we think your
"special circumstances" makes it impossible for us to accept you here.
Professor Baggins, Headmaster of Wizard
University, Oxford.
They were all shocked.
"So, in normal words, he's saying they
don't want you because…
because…
you're a werewolf?! That's stupid! Dumbledore…"
Sirius exploded.
"Not everyone is like Dumbledore,
Sirius", Peter muttered softly. "And maybe they're right. I mean, a
werewolf is dangerous and…"
"Thank you, Peter, for you very kind and
understanding words! Really nice to Remus, what you just said!" Lily said
angrily. Nobody of them heard the opening of the door.
"For once in his life Pettigrew is right,
Evans. Who wants a werewolf specialized in the Dark Arts anyway. The only good
point of it is the fact he knows a lot about werewolves!"
Everybody stiffened, Severus Snape.
James felt the sudden and immense need to
throw Snape out of the window.
"Nobody asked for your opinion, Snape!
Better leave now!" he said.
"Fine! I don't want to stay anyway. Nice
company, a werewolf and a complete loser."
"I hope you poison yourself. It would be
a relief to the whole world!" Lily added. Snape looked angrily at her and
left.
They spent the rest of the journey trying to
cheer Remus up…
Saturday March 31, 1979
The morning sun shone through the window in
Sirius' room. As James predicted it was a complete mess: the floor was covered
with clothes and the table was hardly visible through all the books and the
giant cage with a big sleeping owl in it. Sirius was also hardly visible, his
head covered by his blanket. He was having a lay-in, as always at weekends.
James knew that and he always kept it in mind. Why was he making such a terrible
noise then?! Sirius heard the sound of running water, breaking dishes and a
cursing James. He lifted his head in disbelieve. James was not doing the dishes
in the Muggle way, was he?
James Potter was raised in a wizard family and
knew absolutely nothing about the "normal" way of life. Sirius, on the
other hand, had a Muggle father and knew quite a lot about how to live like a
Muggle. That's why James always let Sirius do the dishes.
Sirius decided he could just as well check
what James was up to now he was awake. He stepped out of his bed on a book about
Quidditch he borrowed 5 months ago from his friend Remus and was missing for
about 4 ½
months. He promised himself he would clear up his room next weekend. The same
promise he made last weekend and the weekend before that and the weekend before
that . . .
When he walked into the kitchen he thought,
for a moment, he was in the wrong house. Everything was clean and proper. The
books were on their shelves again and all the leftover food was thrown away.
James was now outside carrying a bag with which Sirius assumed were the plates
and cups he had broken. He managed to find a new and clean plate and made
breakfast. He took his plate into the living room, planning to eat his
sandwiches in front of the television (in his opinion, a really fantastic Muggle
invention). He was just going to sit down as he heard a dangerous voice say:
"You're not going to sit on that chair!" It was James, dressed like a
Muggle who needed some advise on how to dress and with his hair wilder than
ever.
"Er…
this is my house too, you know" Sirius tried to explain. "Oh, and by
the way, why are you cleaning up? Are you expecting someone I don't know about?
Your mom isn't visiting us, is she?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I want to tell
you. And give me that plate!"
"I barely even touched it! Now what is it
you wanted to tell me? Is your mom visiting or not?"
"Well, mister want-to-know-it-all, in
fact Lily er…
is. And I want to ask you something, if you don't mind."
"I love your red colour and you know you
can always ask me anything. Go ahead. What's on your mind?" Sirius looked
at his best friend. It had to be something really important.
"Well, this is the, er, first time she
coming to my house and, er, we would like to have some, er, privacy so it might
be a good idea if you go and visit Peter or something like that." James
said this very quickly and with a very red head.
"You're kicking me out of my own
house?!"
"No, I'm not! We just want to be together
for a few hours. That's all!"
"Then go to a restaurant or the Leaky
Cauldron like you did before! You can be together there!"
"Sirius, please, I'm not asking much, I
just want you to…"
The doorbell rang. "There she is! Will you just leave, please?!" James
was almost begging.
"Hm, maybe I'll think about it. No, wait,
I've got a better idea. I promise I won't be a problem", Sirius said with a
rather demonic smile.
"Whatever. As long as you behave like a
gentleman." James ran to the door as the doorbell rang again.
When James entered the living room again in
the company of Lily Evans, the girl he liked even more than Quidditch, he was
relieved to see Sirius was gone. Until he saw the big black dog which was laying
on the floor. James was very sorry the hunting season for illegal-Animagi-who-can-turn-into-big-black-dogs was over, because he felt a
terrible need to choke Sirius. Especially when Lily fell on her knees and
started stroking the dog…
"He is so cute!" she said. "Why
didn't you tell me you had a dog? I love dogs!"
"Oh, yeah, well this one doesn't really
like strangers. I think you better stop patting him." The dog turned on his
back and looked like he was really enjoying all the attention. Sirius wasn't
going to live any longer than this day, James decided.
"Well, he seems to like me. What is his
name?" Lily said.
Finally, revenge! "His name? Oh, his name
is, er…
Puppy!" Lily and the dog both looked at him. They both said (the dog with
his eyes of course): "Puppy?!"
"Yes, Puppy. Sirius invented that name.
The dog was very small when we got him and Sirius thought it sounded cute. I
didn't agree with that of course but you know Sirius…"
James said casually.
"O, er, right, well, sure. It does sound
cute. Where is Sirius anyway?" Lily wanted to know.
"Sirius? Well, he's visiting Peter. Hey,
shall we go for a walk? The weather is beautiful." As long as he was away
from Sirius, everything was alright.
"Of course, that's a great idea. What'll
we do with Puppy? Can we just leave him?"
"Sure. Sirius will be here any minute so
he won't be alone very long."
"Okay, let's go. Bye, Puppy! It was very
nice I've met you!" And Lily patted Sirius' head again.
Two hours later they were standing in front of
James' house again, waiting for Lily's bus to come and take her home. They had
been to St. Paul's Cathedral because James had never been there before. Lily had
been explaining everything and they ended their afternoon comparing the old
building to Hogwarts. Now they were standing here and feeling very happy.
Suddenly, James turned towards Lily.
"Lily, this must sound really stupid but
I…"
He fell silent.
"Yes?"
"Have you ever…
No, how do you…
I er…."
She looked at him with her almost unbelievable green eyes. James took a deep
breath.
"Will you marry me?" he almost
whispered.
"James, I…."
She blushed. "I would be very happy to." She kissed him and James
Potter was the happiest man in the whole world.
The first thing James saw when he entered the
room was Sirius Black who said with a very dangerous voice: "Puppy?!"
Friday September 14, 1979
The little church was crowded with people.
There were two sort of them; a few people looked just like ordinary people
dressed in their best clothes. The other sort wore normal clothes too, but in a
combination which made them very strange. Mr. and Mrs. Evans were looking at a
very old man with a long silver beard and a purple sweater who was talking with
a woman with square glasses and with a man who was so enormous he had to sit on
two chairs. A little nervous, Lily's parents were looking around for somebody
they knew except their other daughter Petunia and her husband Vernon, who were
both complaining about the people here, the long journey they had to make to
come here and so on. Basically they just wished to be somewhere else. Mr. Evans
sighed and wished he was somewhere else too, far away from those two…
A few feet away from them, Sirius was
nervously checking his pockets to see if the rings were still there. James
trusted them to him, promising him that, if Sirius lost them, he would
personally cut him into very small parts. Remus was standing next to him,
looking interested around. They were joined by Peter, dressed in his best except
for his white socks, visible under his black pair of trousers.
"Hi" he said, pulling his sleeve
down although it was already down.
"Oh, hi" Remus replied.
"Interesting building, isn't it? I've never been in such a place. A church,
isn't that what Muggles call it? What is it used for?"
"Well, it is used for weddings and such
things" Peter explained. "But it is mainly used as a place were you
can pray to God."
"God? What's that?" Remus curiously
wanted to know.
"Will you be quiet! They're
starting!" someone behind them whispered. Sirius checked his pockets for
the last time and sat down.
James stepped forward on a sort of platform
together with a man Sirius' father called a priest. James had told him it was
Lily's idea to marry in a church and James had no objection to it. They all
turned around as the famous wedding march started to see Lily walk forward. She
wore a simple white dress and seemed very happy. She joined James on the
platform and the wedding began.
Sirius dreamed away a little, looking at the
sun coming trough the coloured windows, when he heard the priest say: "Do
you have the rings?"
"Yes." James turned around.
"Sirius, the rings please!"
"Oh, yeah, I got em. Wait a sec…."
He started searching the pockets of his coat. Remus muttered something which
sounded like "left".
"What?"
Remus sighed. "Pants, left pocket."
Sirius checked and felt the familiar little
box in his fingers. He handed it over to James and whispered to Remus:
"Thanks".
"Any time, Padfoot" Remus whispered
back.
James opened the box and took two rings out.
He designed them himself: a small gold one with five star-shaped diamonds and an
inscription which said: James Potter, 21/9/79´
for Lily and a simple gold one with the inscription Lily Evans, 21/9/79´
for himself. Everyone cheered as the priest declared them Mr and Mrs. Potter.
After the big feast everybody went outside to
take photos. There were two photographers; a long man who was clearly a Muggle
and a little man dressed in a light green suit and with a big camera. The little
man gestured to them all to come closer. "Come come," he said.
"Shall we do the Muggles first?"
"Muggles?" Lily's old grandma asked.
"What is a Muggles?"
"Er…"
stuttered the photographer, reading from everybody's face that he had clearly
said something stupid. "Do you know what a Muggles is?" the old Mrs.
Evans asked Dumbledore who was standing next to her. Dumbledore muttered
something and waved a little with his hand. Grandma fell silent.
"Well", Dumbledore said, "let's
do the Evans first, shall we not?" He beckoned the Muggle-photographer to
come closer. All the Evans and James smiled as the photographer shoot the
pictures. When they were done it was the wizard-photographer's turn. It was
pretty crowded with so many people, especially because everybody wanted to be on
the picture with Dumbledore and because Hagrid took so much space. Finally,
everybody was crammed onto the picture. "Now a last picture with the couple
and their best man!" the photo-shooter said. James, Lily and Sirius took in
the right positions, smiled and coughed because of the smoke that erupted from
the magical camera.
After the photos it was time for James and
Lily to go on their honeymoon. Everybody cheered, waved and there were lots of
goodbyes and have funs as the car drove away.
Sirius waved until he couldn't see them
anymore. When he turned around to get his coat to get home he walked into Remus.
Their heads painfully hit each other.
"Ouch!"
"Ouch! Watch where you're walking!"
"Sorry Remus" Sirius said, rubbing
his head. "What're you doing?"
"I was going to say goodbye, because
you're probably not going to see me for a couple of weeks."
"What?!" Sirius said with his mouth
open. "Where're you going? What are you going to do? Study Dark Arts
somewhere else?"
"Well, yes. I'm going to the Netherlands
now. I've heard something about so-called ´Witte
Wieven´
or White Women if you translate it. They're spirits I believe and I want to know
more about them." Remus said this with a dreamy look in his eyes, clearly
looking forward to it.
"Now, have fun with your women then.
Guess I'm alone now for the upcoming two weeks. Or I'll just go and irritate
Peter for two weeks. Yeah, that might be a good idea!"
"Please, behave yourself!" Remus
said laughing. "Oh, and do me a favor and send me the photos of the wedding
will you."
"Sure, I'll do that." Sirius checked
his watch. His bus was leaving in 5 minutes. "Sorry Remus, but I gotta go.
Have fun and everything and send me a card will you?"
He slammed Remus on his shoulder,
laughed at his friend's painful face and sprinted away to the bus station.
Part 2
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