The Tragedies

THE TRAGEDIES

First Act

The more pity, that fools may not speak wisely when wise men do foolishly.
~ Touchstone the fool, Shakespeare’s As You Like It

…

Dramatis Personae

JAMES POTTER (king)

PETER PETTIGREW (fool)

SIRIUS BLACK (knight)

REMUS LUPIN (squire)

i.
King

Gryffindor virtue be damned. I do what I want and the others follow or look away. There is no forethought, no consideration of consequences.

As far as we are concerned, consequences are what happen to people without invisibility cloaks.

I am the undisputed leader of our little group. Occasionally it’s Sirius who comes up with the brilliant idea and I follow him but it cannot be denied that it is usually I who comes up with the idea. Sirius is convinced with little persuasion and he helps sway the other two. Peter is less difficult than Sirius even; he would trip over himself to get into a dragon’s nest if I told him.

Remus never likes my ideas. He is always nervous, I can see it in is his eyes. He never says a word against us though. He just goes along, disapproval etched in his features but lips silent.

I am the king. They do not dispute me, ever. Which is exactly why I am in this latest mess. I don’t know if I can get my way out of this one, even with Sirius’s help.

Kings always fall to their knees eventually I suppose.

ii.
Fool

I love him. I admire him with to the point of obsession. I always want him with me, want to be him. Sirius is his loyal sidekick though. Sirius and James, James and Sirius. Remus is content being just another friend. I want more. I want him to myself.

Years of awe at his perfection have made me blind. I have doubts in his integrity but always shoved them to subconscious where they only bother me when I am alone. He is a natural leader and I am humble. I am here for him, for his entertainment. They laugh and jest at me but it is okay. I have James.

He will not smile now. He has worry lines to match Remus’s between his brows. With Sirius he whispers, whispers in fervent tones, shutting me out. I know what has happened and what is to be done. I am aghast but it is not for me to decide what James does. That a seventeen year old is capable of such things shocks me though.

They laughed at me but now I am no clown. It is he who is the fool.

I still love him.

iii.
Knight

The risk is what makes it fun. We hold it true and have since we were fourth years, James and I. That is when we began our game. Three years later and it backfires. Disastrously.

We always walked a thin tightrope but James never fell before. We had our fun, and I’m sure the girls we had our fun with did too.

Since puberty we were (and are) the two most popular boys of Gryffindor and among the most popular of the school. We use it to our advantage and, I am ashamed to admit, take advantage of those, namely the better-looking females, who think so too. We both began in fourth year, our first times in the same week. Hell, we both even went for Hufflepuffs the first few times, they being the most trusting of us.

I was in the lead for a bit this year and James was hasty to catch up with me. Too hasty. Now we are seventeen and facing the biggest dilemma of our adolescence. It is James’s mistake but I am a loyal friend and stick by him. We figure out the solution together. I do not like it and he does not like it but we know we must.

And I will stick by him and I will not think less of him. Nobility is for first years. This is the real world.

iv.
Squire

They think I do not know what is happening. I do and I am painfully aware of my exclusion to the matter. They think I will tell Lily. She is my friend and has been since before James ever took an interest in her but I have not told her.

I tell myself it is not my place to tell her. And that it is not my place to tell James that he is wrong. As always, I turn a blind eye to my friends. It is the least I can do after they all they have done for me. I cannot chance their friendships by preaching at them. I will not interfere.

It’s shameful, the games they play. But they are my friends and I still respect them. They must know that I at least suspect what has been going on. Sirius eyes me suspiciously, always wondering if I will run to Lily with the truth. They have loud conversations about how lucky James is to finally have Lily.

But I am not fooled. And Peter is not either. He just worships James too much to see the wrongness in him.

James is smarter than this. He’ll find a better way.

And if he does not…

How could he have been so stupid? I know he and Sirius enjoy their risks and often Peter and I are all for them too. But not in this. I have never taken part in this particular game of theirs. And now James is suffering the repercussions.

That poor girl is only a fifth-year, too. Too young for this trauma. James tells her he will take care of it. I overhear him telling Sirius late at night.

I will not interfere, I will not interfere. I will not interfere.

I will not interfere.

…

tragedy, n. DRAMA; disaster, calamity, catastrophe; crushing blow.

| end first act |