The Diary

Chapter Three - The Entry

Up in the girls' dormitory, Lily lay on her bed, fully clothed and seething. She busy raging about James Potter to Emily.

"Of all the things Potter has ever done, this has got to be the absolute worst! There was no reason for it! And I can only imagine what they're planning to do with that picture," Lily fumed.

Emily sat on a chair next to Lily's bed and tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder. "It can't be too bad; the photo was of you covering yourself up. Not that that makes it any better, though," she added at the sight of Lily's glare. "And you're sure you haven't gotten them into trouble lately?"

Lily shook her head. "No, the last time I got them detention was two weeks ago, when they locked a first-year Slytherin into a broom closet. They've done loads since then, so why now?"

Emily didn't know what to say. The Marauders had never done anything like this before, now that she thought about it. Sure, they liked to get Lily riled up, but they didn't usually target fellow Gryffindors that badly unless they had a reason.

"Maybe they were just bored, or they've started to attack whomever they feel like," Lily suggested.

A thought occurred to Emily. "Now, don't hate me for saying this, it's just an idea," she started, "but maybe, and just consider this as a possibility, but could it be that one of the Marauders fancies you?"

Lily looked positively revolted. "First of all, that's disgusting! I would never date a Marauder!" She spat out the last word as if it were a vomit-flavoured jellybean. "Second of all, that's ridiculous! I can assure you, my loathing of that group is mutual."

"Don't be too hasty, Lily. That Sirius Black is rather attractive..." she trailed off into thought. Lily shuddered at the thought of dating someone like Sirius Black.

"I can't believe you! Here they are, humiliating me in front of the entire school, and you want to go out with one of them!"

"I never said I fancied him, I just said he was good-looking," Emily shot back.

Lily sat up. "There's more to a person than their looks, you know! They're all rotten inside."

"You don't know that! You've never even talked civilly to any of them!" Emily stood up. "And don't vent your spleen on me, Lily Evans, I'm not the one who vanished your shirt!"

"You might as well have been laughing with them!" Lily jumped up from the bed and was standing face to face with Emily. "You want to go out with one of my worst enemies!"

"For the last time, Lily, I don't fancy him!" Emily grabbed her schoolbag and rushed out of the room.

Lily let out a half-moan, half-shriek of frustration and began pacing around the room. She needed to talk to someone about this, but Emily was her only good friend at Hogwarts. It wasn't that she was disliked or anything. In fact, she was quite popular. It was just that the only person she had ever truly confided in had just stormed out of the room. She might not have a person to talk to, but she needed to let go of some of this anger. Lily went over to her nightstand and got out her diary. She drew her curtains closed around her and opened up to a fresh page.

0 0 0

Meanwhile, James had rushed up to the tower, telling the other Marauders he'd left something in his room. Hopefully Evans would start pouring her heart out right away. Once in the common room, though, he caught a glimpse of Evans disappearing up the steps with Emily by her side. Damn, thought James. If Emily were there, Evans wouldn't write; she'd talk. No wonder she never had anything interesting in her diary - all the gossip went directly to her friend. Never one to give up, James climbed the stairs to his own dormitory. Maybe she would write something.

Ten minutes went by, and there was still nothing. Even if she were writing, he wasn't entirely sure he'd done the charm correctly. It was something he and the other Marauders had learned third year for a prank, but they had changed the plan at the last minute and he hadn't practised it since. He was just about to give up all hope when he saw words beginning to form on the page.

March 15

Dear Diary,

I don't believe I've ever been so furious in my entire life! Not only was I publicly humiliated, but then Emily and I rowed like never before! We were arguing about why they had done it, and

A stray thought crossed his mind. James thought about the charm he had cast - was it possible? He grabbed a quill and some ink and jotted down on the page

Who are 'they'?

He waited eagerly to see what would happen.

Nothing appeared on the page for a full thirty seconds when more words came through.

I beg your pardon?

It worked! James grinned maniacally.

I just wanted to inquire about whom you were referring to.

I'm sorry; it's just that my diary has never written back to me before.

He panicked. How would he explain this? He really hadn't thought this through at all. Damn his stupid impulses.

To be honest, you've never really written anything this interesting before. I'm not really one to discuss your Herbology assignment with.

0 0 0

Lily stared at her diary. Of all the things to happen today, this was by far the strangest. Throughout her three years at Hogwarts, she'd never gotten a response from her journal before. Maybe this was just how wizard diaries worked; she'd never bothered to ask anyone if it was supposed to write back to her. This was the first diary she'd purchased from a magical store.

But wait a minute. Hadn't her diary just told her she was boring? Lily flipped back to an earlier entry and reread it. The diary was right - it probably was boring to anyone but herself. She had never really thought about what she was writing; it hadn't occurred to her that someone might be reading it. Lily almost felt sorry for the diary, having nothing better to read than mindless chatter about Lily's classes.

Sorry about that. I only just realized how terribly dull it must be to read about classes you can't even go to or people you can't meet.

No problem, you didn't know. And who am I to tell you what to write? You keep doing whatever pleases you - I won't say anything.

No, no, that's all right. Actually, it's sort of nice to have someone to talk to about this. Someone who isn't in love with Sirius Black...

0 0 0

James was sure he'd read that last sentence wrong. Who was Evans talking about? He couldn't ask her about it directly; he'd need to charm it out of her.

Continue on with the story, then. I want to know what happened.

If you must know, I was on my way to lunch and these awful boys vanished my shirt right before I got in, so the entire school saw me nearly topless.

James couldn't help but laugh at the memory of Evans' face when she exited the Hall.

Oh my, that's just terrible!

I know! I hadn't even noticed; I was so thoroughly confused about who had pushed me through the doors. Emily pointed it out and we left the Hall. Right outside, of course, were the culprits, laughing hysterically. It was these four boys who call themselves the Marauders.

Interesting name.

It's only because they all think so highly of themselves. They're prats, the whole lot of them.

James resisted the urge to argue against that.

Anyway, Emily and I came up to the dormitory and started talking. I said something about how I hated them, and she stood up for them! She even said Sirius Black, one of the pranksters, was attractive, and then suggested that they pranked me because one of them fancied me!

At least Emily stood up for the Marauders, but James was surprised to discover how deeply Evans' dislike ran.

They can't be that bad, can they?

They're that bad and worse! They go around hexing people just for fun, and they have absolutely no respect for the rules! The school would be much better off without them.

0 0 0

Lily was glad that her diary had started writing back. It felt so good to let all this off her chest. As much as she trusted Emily, there were some things you didn't tell people.

Surely you don't mean that.

She thought about it. Did she mean what she had just written? What would the school be like without the Marauders?

They've certainly done some good for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, I suppose, but they've also lost so many points for their tricks that it has to balance out in the end. Other than that...

0 0 0

How could she think that the school would be better off without him! They provided entertainment to the rest of the school, didn't they? James decided it would be better to change the subject before he gave himself away.

I see your point. What happened after Emily said she fancied Sirius Black?

Oh, right. Well, I guess she never said she fancied him. She just said he was good-looking. Then Emily said I couldn't judge them, I didn't even really know them. But why would you need to get to know them? After all the dreadful things they've done, I don't need to talk to them to know they're rotten people.

James had a hard time keeping his quill from the journal to retaliate.

0 0 0

Then she shouted about how I shouldn't get mad at her because she didn't vanish my shirt.

Looking back on the argument, Lily had shifted the blame. As much as she hated to admit it, she was wrong to get so upset with Emily. She'd find Emily later and apologize.

And?

Sorry, I was just thinking about how I sort of overreacted with Emily. But after that, she stormed out of the room and I started to write in here. That was the worst row we've ever had.

Fighting with friends is terrible.

It really is. I'll apologise to her during Care of Magical Creatures. You know, it was really quite nice talking to you. Thanks.

0 0 0

If only Evans could see who she was writing to! James chuckled to himself. She was thanking one of the Marauders and didn't even know it!

No problem at all. Write again soon, won't you?

Maybe he would delay the revelation a bit longer so he could have the best dirt on Evans. He was brilliant.

Of course. I have to go to class, though, so bye!

James closed the book and leaned back on his bed with a satisfied sigh, only to jump up and realise Evans wasn't the only one who had classes. He grabbed his schoolbag and raced out of the room.