Back in Their Day

Back in Their Day

I was sucked into the diary. I didn't know where it had come from. I was just sitting in the Ravenclaw common room, bored, when Harry came in again, asking a favor, something about Transfiguration. I gave him some advice, and when he had left, I noticed he'd left something behind, a black diary. I've always sort of liked Harry, and wanted more than anything to read his diary. So I opened it, but it was not nearly what I expected...

"A complete disgrace of Gryffindor, even the whole school!" boomed and angry Professor Arturo, who was not unlike our own McGonagall, to a young Sirius Black. "I mean, last week's escape to Hogsmeade was bad, but this..." yelled Arturo, drifting off. "But he didn't do it, Professor! It was~" Remus Lupin started to say.

"Not another word, Mr. Lupin! Yourself, Potter, Black, and Pettigrew will be in detention," Arturo yelled.

James Potter had to keep himself from grinning by hiding his face. Sirius tried to suppress a booming laugh by coughing. Peter Pettigrew just seemed lost. Remus quietly told James to be quiet. Arturo was still droning on about "breaking rules" and none of them were listening. He seemed oblivious to the fact that a whole half hour had gone by with him lecturing them. James yawned rudely, but the Professor didn't notice that either.

"B-but, Professor, m-must we g-go to detention? All we did was, well, all James, Sirius, and Remus did, was lure Snape into a trap!" Peter Pettigrew stuttered foolishly.

As James gave him a look that clearly said, "Shut up!", Professor Arturo boomed, "THAT IS PRECISELY why you are going to detention, all of you!"

And with that, James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus set out for the common room.

"What were you all so happy about?" asked Peter quizzically. Remus raised his eyebrows meaningfully at James.

"Well, Moony's a werewolf tonight; he'll get to attack Lucius Malfoy. He's in detention too," James exclaimed, trying to contain himself to at least some level.

They had gotten to the Fat Lady. "Password?" she asked.

"Hippogriff Major," Sirius replied. The portrait opened and they climbed into their common room.

"I get the good chair!" James yelled. He ran up to the red, squashy armchair but found somebody already sitting in it.

It was Arthur Weasley, a seventh year like them, who was quite mean and grumpy.

"What do you want, Potter? I assume you're up to no good again," he said icily.

Molly, a sixth year, defended him. "Why must you pester that John?" It irritated James all the same that Molly always got his name wrong in some way.

"Yeah, thanks, Mol~" but his voice stuck in his throat.

"Here we go again," Sirius knew this action all too well. It happened whenever Lily Evans, the prettiest girl in the year, walked by. Yes, James was head over heels. But it seemed out of everyone Lily liked Remus more. That's why there was some passive aggressive thing building up in Remus. To show James, he went up to Lily.

"No," James muttered, "No, not again, I never got over that,"

Lily fluttered her eyelashes.

"Yes, you are, you're very beautiful," Remus coddled.

"No, no, no!" James whispered. He was normally very awkward around girls, especially pretty ones, and yeah, this one was pretty. Out of all the Marauders, Remus was more of a "ladies man". But this time James wasn't going to stand for it.

He walked up, pushed Remus out of the way (out of all the Marauders, Remus had also been the most "fragile"), and said to him, "D-don't treat h-her like th-that...you know you d-don't really like h-her...don't tease her like that! You know there are more worthy guys for you, right?" he said, rounding on Lily.

He couldn't help congratulating himself inside...he talked to her without stuttering, well, almost.

"And who would that be?" she said, a coy, "hard-to-get" smile on her face.

James thought. His brain froze. Would it be too smug to say, "Me"? Too stupid-sounding to say, "Not Remus,"? And yet at the same time, wasn't that what he really thought?

It slipped out of his mouth before he could help it. "I love you, Lily Evans, and I have all my life," he said.

Sirius and the other Marauders felt it was the time to conveniently slip out of the room.

Lily looked up at James with those bright green eyes and answered, "James Potter, I love you too."

James felt like he had never had his heart beat so fast in his life. Right now all he wanted was Lily and Lily only. He thought, his mind raced, thinking of what to do, he really didn't want to lose her, lose her love. So he told her to stay there, and he'd be right back. He rushed to Gringotts Bank and got out all his money, a large sum. He ran out to Hogsmeade, where he bought the most expensive ring he could. When he got back through on of the many secret passages he knew, Lily was still there. He knew she'd wait for him all the way.

I was suddenly pulled out of the diary, and couldn't help but wonder if I would ever hear Harry say, "I love you, Ginny Weasley, and I have all my life." I closed my eyes, flopped onto my bed, and dreamt. It could happen.