I Can See You

Natasha's Scheme

Kathleen came into her dormitory. She was surprised to see Natasha alone, staring out of the window, looking as though someone just died.

"What's wrong, Nat?" Kathleen immediately rushed to her friend's side.

"I think Lupin likes someone," Natasha replied in a barely audible voice.

"Sure," Kathleen said, perplexed. "It's you, right?"

"It's someone else."

"How can that be? Didn't he agree to be your partner at class? And you mentioned that he even studied in the library with you!"

"He merely joined my table in the library. And I was the one who initiated it and shamelessly asked him to pair up with me at class," Natasha said miserably.

"But at least he did not turn you down."

Natasha shook her head. "I'm not the one he likes."

"You know for sure that he likes someone else?"

Natasha's eyes turned cold. "Evans," she spat. "The redhead Lily Evans."

Kathleen tried to suppress a smile. "That's difficult to believe, Nat. Evans is going out with Potter!"

"She's a two-timer then. I despise that woman! Don't you see? She's leading both Lupin and Potter on! I hate her!"

"Nat, calm down," Kathleen said soothingly. "I don't know the Gryffindors well, but I don't think Evans will do that. And Lupin and Potter are not fools."

"Evans is not as sweet and innocent as she seems. She doesn't like Slytherins and she has been badmouthing us to Lupin and your beloved Sirius Black."

"How did you know that?" Kathleen was trying to keep herself from rolling her eyes.

Natasha bit her own tongue. She should not have let that comment slip. There was no way she could let Kathleen know that Sirius Black might ask her for a date soon and that it would be only due to a dare from Potter. That would hurt her friend too much. More importantly, it would expose the one secret that Natasha was keeping from everyone.

"I just know, Kate. Trust me," Natasha replied.

Kathleen sighed. She did not know if she should believe Natasha. She loved her friend, but there was no denying that Natasha could be too extreme and prejudiced at times. "So what do you intend to do about it?" she asked, deciding that this would be a safe question.

A gleam was evident in Natasha's violet eyes. "I'll take away what is most precious to her. That will give her a taste of how it feels to like someone and not be liked in return."

Kathleen felt a shiver down her spine. She could hardly recognise the Natasha Strauss she was with right now. This Natasha Strauss looked almost scary. Perhaps this was a hidden side to her friend that she had missed altogether.

*

Natasha reached out for another book in the Restricted Section. Her hands were trembling uncontrollably, but her determination to find the spell remained unshaken.

She flipped through the pages as noiselessly as she could, hoping that none of the staff would drop by this particular section of the library and see the books being removed off the shelves by an invisible hand.

She had to find the spell, and find it soon.

The spell that would make James Potter fall deeply in love with her, and enable her to get back at Lily Evans where it would hurt the most.

*

James woke up with a splitting headache. He clutched the sides of his head and pressed hard on his temples. It did not work. In fact, the headache got worse and the throbbing pain was almost unbearable.

Peter was the first to notice James curled up tensely in bed.

"James! Are you all right?" Peter wailed in fright.

Sirius and Remus shot out of their beds immediately and rushed to James' side. He was breaking into cold sweat and kept banging his forehead with his fist.

Sirius grabbed James' hand. "Prongs! Cool it! What's wrong with you?" He was getting worried. This was the first time James was in such pain.

"We'll get you to Madam Pomfrey," Remus suggested.

"No!" James yelled suddenly, shocking his friends. "Stay back!" he commanded before staggering out of bed and landed on the floor with a loud thud.

"Prongs!" Sirius yelled helplessly, hoping there was some way he could relieve his friend's agony.

Just then, the outline of James' body stretched and blurred. The boys knew immediately what he was trying to do.

In the next instant, a stag was lying on the ground where James laid. It slowly rose to its four legs and faced the three boys.

"Good thinking, Prongs." Remus said approvingly, letting out his breath in relief.

James, in his animagus form, was not as vulnerable.

*

James' headache was reduced to a numb pain by midday, after staying two hours as a stag and another two at the hospital wing.

This is embarrassing. The great James Potter was reduced to staying in a hospital bed, thanks to a little headache, he thought, crossed at himself.

Just then, Madam Pomfrey entered the room with a tray of food. Before the nurse could utter a word, James sprung out of the bed.

"I feel good now. Honestly! I will join the rest in the Great Hall."

"I've brought you lunch," Madam Pomfrey said matter-of-factly.

"Thanks, but..." he made a dash at the door and shouted "...no thanks!" as he disappeared in a flash.

*

Natasha followed James out of the hospital wing. She saw his brave attempt to hide his pain.

"I'm sorry, Potter," she whispered, out of hearing range. "This will be over by tomorrow, I promise."

With that, Natasha set the second part of her plan into motion.

*

Sirius saw James enter the hall and immediately stood up, intending to go towards him. But James held out a hand and shot a warning glare indicating that the last thing he wanted was to look like an invalid in front of the whole school.

James forced a grin into his face and tried to ignore the increasing ache at the back of his head.

"You look bad," Sirius told him in a low voice as soon as James sat down.

"Thanks," James replied sarcastically.

Lily, who was seated near the Marauders, leaned over closer and asked, her voice filled with concern, "Are you feeling better, James?"

"Yes and stop bothering me!" he snapped, surprising not only the Marauders who gasped, but also himself. Usually, he would have been on cloud nine whenever Lily showed him the slightest bit of concern. But today, somehow, he only felt extremely irritated.

Lily bit her lower lip and did not speak to him again for the rest of the lunch period.

*

James found that he could hardly eat. He felt nauseous just from the look and smell of the food. The only thing that kept him at the Great Hall and from throwing up was his pride. No matter how terrible he felt, he would wait till the crowd was dispersing before making his departure unnoticed. James Potter would not ever be caught running out of the hall in any kind of pain, he vowed.

To distract himself from the pain, James glanced around the hall restlessly. He noticed that someone at the end of the room was looking right at him. And she was smiling. A lovely smile meant just for him, one that warmed his insides and mysteriously lifted all discomfort he felt a second ago.

He wondered why he did not notice the charms of Natasha Strauss till now.

*

"Prongs? Prongs!"

James felt a jab at his elbows and turned sharply to look at Sirius.

"You're daydreaming!" Sirius laughed, "How's your headache?"

"It's gone," James muttered distractedly and returned his attention to the Slytherin table.

"What are you staring at?" Peter asked.

"That blonde with violet eyes. She's quite attractive, isn't she?"

Both Sirius and Peter gasped and turned to look at Remus who had stopped eating.

"You're not talking about Natasha Strauss, are you?" Sirius turned back to James.

"There isn't many blondes with violet eyes at Hogwarts, is there?" he answered nonchalantly.

"But she's seeing Moony!" Peter told him in horror.

"Is she? Are the two of you dating, Moony?"

Remus shook his head.

"You like her?" James asked again.

"Prongs, we all know that Strauss likes Moony," Sirius said.

"Are you trying to use Natasha to make Lily jealous?" Peter asked.

James ignored his friends. "So, do you like her?" he directed the question to Remus again.

"What are you trying to do, Prongs? If this is your idea of a joke, I'd have to tell you that it is not funny at all," Remus said quietly.

"I'm serious, Moony. If you don't like her, just tell me and I'll ask her out. But if you do..."

James stopped in mid-sentence as he caught sight of Natasha walking towards the Gryffindor table. She carefully kept her eyes on James. She could not look at Remus now, in case it would break her resolution.

"Hi Potter," she smiled again at him.

James grinned widely. "Hi, Strauss. You look beautiful today."

Natasha felt remotely sick, but did not show it. "Call me Natasha," she told him coyly. "I heard you were at the hospital wing this morning and just want to check if you're alright."

"Better than ever!" James replied. "Are you going back to your dorm now?"

"I'm thinking of dropping by the library first."

"Great, me too! Let's go together." James quickly jumped out of his seat.

Natasha shot Lily a triumphant glance as she exited from the Great Hall with James in tow. She felt fleeting pleasure when she caught sight of the aghast look on Lily's face.

Natasha did not want to think of what Remus' reaction would be. He probably doesn't bother. He may even be glad that I'm taking away his competitor so that he'll stand a higher chance with Lily Evans, she thought sadly.

*

"Here, let me help you with that," James offered.

Natasha handed him a stack of books wordlessly and continued to comb through the library shelves.

James was perfectly contented to follow her, watching her every move. He could not understand his sudden attraction to the Slytherin. Lily Evans, whom James had been thinking about day and night for the past five-and-a-half years, was pushed to the back of his mind.

He thought Natasha acted a little colder towards him since they left the Great Hall. But that was not the only thing that bothered him. Much as he was drawn to the blonde for reasons he could not comprehend, James was concerned if Remus had any special feelings for her. His friend had never shown any interest in a girl in the past, and if Natasha Strauss was the first one, James would not want to be in his way. Moreover, Sirius was right - Remus had been the one they thought Natasha fancied.

"Can I ask you something?" James asked as he took another book from her and added it to the pile he was already holding on to.

"I'm done! Let's get out of here," she dusted her hands. "What is it you wanted to ask me?"

James waited till they were out of the library. "If you can pick one of us to go out with you, will you choose me or Remus?"

Natasha bit her lip. "Does it matter?"

"I want to know."

"This day will never come. I'll never have the chance to pick anyway."

"Why's that?"

"Your friend will never want to go out with me in the first place."

"He won't? Why not?"

He doesn't know? Natasha thought, puzzled. "Perhaps I'm not the type of girl he likes."

James was getting curious. "What type of girls do you think he likes?"

She hesitated, unsure as to whether she should tell him. "Someone more like Lily Evans, perhaps?"

"Lily?" James almost laughed out loud. "Whatever gave you the idea?"

"He was with her yesterday."

"Yesterday?" James repeated, looking perplexed. "Lily was with us most of the day."

"It was evening. Near dinnertime."

"Oh," James responded as realisation dawned. He had left for the Shrieking Shack with Sirius and Peter and had asked Lily to remind Remus to meet them there. "Actually, he was meeting all of us. Lily was just the messenger we sent to get him."

Natasha stopped walking abruptly and stared wide-eyed at the Gryffindor. "Are you sure about that? So there's nothing going on between Lupin and Evans?"

James shook his head. "So," he said brightly, "are you going to answer my question?"

"Huh? What question?" Irritation crept into her voice and she was frantically trying to sort out her thoughts.

James looked slightly injured. "So will it be me or Remus?"

"I prefer guys with light brown hair," Natasha replied plainly. "Thanks, Potter. I really have to run."

She snatched her books from the slightly disappointed and very confused Gryffindor and hurried away.

*

"So how did it go?" Peter asked as James joined the Marauders at Charms.

"It was okay," James replied listlessly.

"That's it? C'mon, spill the beans!" Sirius urged.

"All she wanted to talk about was Moony," James grudgingly admitted. It was a considerable dent on his ego.

Remus lifted a brow "Me?" He began to smile. "What did she say about me?"

"She asked about you and Lily. I think she's under the impression that you like Lily because she saw you with her."

"On the night of full moon?"

James nodded and then sighed. "Looks like the charming James Potter has lost out to the werewolf this time."

Remus grinned, "Did she say anything else?"

"Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"I'm trying to decide if I should tell you."

"I'll decide for you, and the answer is yes," Remus was getting impatient. "So what else did she say?"

"She likes guys with light brown hair," James said slowly.

Remus' eyes lit up. Sirius burst into a laughing fit, while Peter was grinning broadly.

"So you've given up on Natasha?" Remus asked hopefully.

James frowned thoughtfully, as though he was pondering over the question. "I think she's hot. She's a very attractive girl. For some strange reasons, I find myself drawn to her today. But if the two of you like one another, that'll not leave me much room to budge in."

"Thanks, Prongs. Do not forget what you've just said."

*

In the meantime, a girl was frantically chanting spells in a deserted classroom.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to the air after the love spell she had cast was finally undone.

* * *