The Diary

Chapter Four - The Acquaintance

That night at dinner, Lily sat down across from Emily. Her attempts to talk to Emily were in vain, though, for she was ignoring Lily.

"Emily, I'm sorry," Lily began. Emily raised her eyebrows. "I was wrong to say all those things. You were right - I shouldn't have gotten upset with you. Please forgive me." Lily had rehearsed this apology all during class; she had never been very good at making them. She hadn't looked at Emily while she'd said it, choosing instead to stare at a bottle of ketchup to Emily's left.

Emily pretended to gag on her food. "Did I hear correctly? Lily Evans is actually admitting to being wrong?" Lily almost started to argue, but then she caught the wide smile on Emily's face.

"You're insufferable," Lily said, grinning herself.

"I know, I don't know how you stand me. Now, are you finally going to get revenge?"

Lily considered this. She had never tried to get them back before, but they had really crossed the line this time. But then again, she couldn't lower herself to their level, no matter how embarrassed she was. "No, I don't think so."

"Come on, Lily! You're one of the brightest students in our year, you must know some good hexes." Lily knew Emily had many jinxes in her arsenal and was just looking for a reason to practise them.

"Like I've said before, Emily, if I hex the Marauders, then I'm just like them," Lily insisted.

"Only prettier," Emily said. They both laughed.

0 0 0

Down the table from the girls, James had been staring off into space, wondering how he was going to keep up this charade with Evans' diary. He couldn't always be there when she wrote something. There was Quidditch practise, for one thing, and the Marauders would notice if he continually whipped out a notebook to see if Evans had written anything.

"James, are you even listening to this conversation?" Sirius asked.

He startled at the mention of his own name. "Sorry, what?"

"We were just talking about how there is a serious lack of fire in this school," Sirius said with a generous wink, "And if you don't start paying attention, Potter, I'll give you a detention."

"Use Snivelly's head, there's enough oil there to burn all of London," James joked. Peter went into hysterics, which of course caused the rest of them to laugh.

"Honestly, Peter, is there anything that you don't find incredibly amusing?" Sirius asked.

Peter stopped laughing at once. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"Back to business, then."

"There's a phrase you don't often hear from Sirius." Remus smiled.

"Well, Remus, this did relate to your 'furry little problem', as James here calls it. Operation Changeling needs some attention. I can't wait to finish this assignment, I must say."

Peter sighed. "I'm not doing very well at all. I can't seem to transform int-"

"Quiet, Peter, do you want the whole school to know?" hissed James. "Besides, I thought that we were stuck, unless you've found some new information, Remus."

"Why do you assume I'm the one with information?" inquired Remus.

"Because you're the only one that bothers to do any research, that's why," answered Sirius.

"That's true," agreed James. "So did you find anything?"

"Sadly, no." Sirius hung his head. Remus gave James an odd look. "You know, I think that's got to be a new record for you, James."

"What?"

"You haven't rumpled your hair since you arrived to dinner. That's the longest I've ever seen you leave your hair alone," Remus mused.

"Oh, shut it," James told them as they started laughing yet again. "I'm going to go... start that Astronomy essay." He instinctively ran his hand through his hair, which only made them laugh harder.

0 0 0

Up in the common room, James hurried to get his homework done. Evans would probably write about Emily that night; he had seen them sitting together at dinner. He wondered how long he would have to write to her before she'd tell him something worthwhile. And was this prank really worth this much trouble? He shook his head. The best pranks always took longer. James couldn't wait to see the look on Sirius' face when he saw what James had managed to accomplish on his own.

As usual, it didn't take long for him to finish his Astronomy essay. I can't believe I actually followed through on that excuse. Now where's Evans? People had started to trickle back into the common room, but she was nowhere to be seen. He briefly considered starting his Transfiguration assignment, but that wasn't due for a few days.

James tossed his quill and parchment aside and stared into the fire. That didn't last very long, however, as Sirius came up behind him and pushed the chair over. "Evenin', James."

Remus merely shook his head and helped James up off the ground. "So what were you doing? I know it wasn't the essay," Remus said.

James pretended to be offended. "Of course I did the essay, Remus. How dare you think that I, James Potter, would lie about something as important my homework?" Remus rolled his eyes.

"Of course not. You would never, for example, tell Professor Neely that you had Dragon Pox and were unable to finish your Ancient Runes essay, would you, James?"

James feigned innocence. "Me? No, never. Sirius, on the other hand..."

"Dragon Pox? Please, I could do much better than that," Sirius scoffed.

"Like when you told Burnett that a house-elf stole your Defence Against the Dark Arts essay?" James smirked.

"He came out of nowhere, I was unprepared!" Sirius exclaimed.

Remus stepped between the two boys. He knew it was all in good fun, but he decided to play along. "There are better ways of settling this than shouting, you know."

Sirius looked at James and raised an eyebrow. "Wizard's chess?"

"You're on."

A small voice in the back of James' mind reminded him that he was waiting for Evans to show up, but he decided she probably wouldn't write anything until later that night anyway. Besides, he couldn't bail out on the Marauders again just to sit around and wait for Evans. They might suspect something, if they didn't already.

An hour later, James succeeded in defeating Sirius.

"Impossible! I refuse to be bested by James Potter!" Sirius mock-fainted.

James stood up and stretched, only to catch sight of a flash of red hair disappearing up the stairs to the Girls' Dormitory. "Well, I'm going to go up to the lair."

Remus, who had been helping Peter with his homework during the game, said, "That Astronomy essay is due tomorrow, you know."

"I know, I already did it."

"You were serious about that, then?" Remus looked slightly surprised.

"Is it really that hard to believe?" James gave him an inscrutable look and headed up the staircase.

0 0 0

James had been sitting on his bed for almost an hour when Remus came up into the dormitory. As soon as he'd heard someone outside the door, he'd shoved the diary into Quidditch Through the Ages.

"James? Reading for fun?" Remus began to rummage through his trunk.

"It's about Quidditch," James replied hastily.

Not finding what he was looking for, Remus sat on his bed. "Whatever you're up to, I don't want to know about it."

"I'm not up to anything!"

"Exactly. Now I'm going to bed - full moon is in a few days. I'm exhausted."

Remus started getting ready for bed, leaving James alone with his thoughts. I really should do some more research about becoming an Animagus. The thought of Remus enduring his transformations alone wasn't comforting.

Both boys drew the curtains around their beds. James whispered, "Lumos," and shone the light on the journal. He heard Sirius and Peter come in rather loudly. By the time anything showed up in the diary, though, both were breathing evenly. James sat up and grabbed his quill from beneath his pillow.

Hello again.

So how did things go with Emily?

They went swimmingly. We decided to forget it ever happened.

That's great!

I know. She tried to convince me to get them back.

Did she succeed?

No, I'm not sinking to their level. Emily, however, said she had no problem doing so.

What did she do?

No idea, actually. She wouldn't tell me what she was planning, so I went to the library to tutor some first-years. I have to admit, I'm excited to see what she's done this time.

Evans tutored? James didn't know that. But more importantly, what was she talking about, this time?

This time? She's done this before?

James racked his brain, but he couldn't think of a case where Emily had pranked them.

Of course. Don't you remember me telling you about it?

James panicked. He didn't know what Emily had done.

Oh, right. Slipped my mind.

0 0 0

Lily paused. How could a diary forget what she'd written? It wasn't like there was anything else for it to read.

Then again, as she'd discovered, there was a lot more to a wizard diary than she'd previously thought.

Right.

Did you tell the teachers that it was the Marauders who made your top disappear?

No, I think I'll just let Emily handle this one.

0 0 0

James breathed a sigh of relief. Emily was a sharp enough witch, but he feared McGonagall's wrath more than a silly hex.

I think I'm going to turn in - it's late. I'll write again tomorrow.

Good night.

He grinned. Things had gone as he'd hoped - Lily had opened up and he wasn't in detention. But this last conversation had shown James that there was a flaw in his plan. An easily remedied one, though.

James flipped back to the beginning of the diary. The entries might be dull, but he'd have to read it anyways. He needed to know how much Evans had written about her life.

September 22

Dear Diary,

This morning, Daniel Branstone asked me if I would like to go with him to Hogsmeade. I turned him down. Although he's one of my favourite Hufflepuffs, I couldn't imagine what it would be like. He's very sweet and all, but honestly, I don't think I could date him. It's not that I'm holding out for anyone else, or anything. I just don't feel anything for him.

And then, after lunch, (after I felt bad enough about Daniel), Cadence Fisher, that fifth-year Ravenclaw, asked if I had any plans for this weekend. Who decided it was ask-Lily-out day? I barely know him, so I again said no. Emily laughed when I told her about it. Turns out she's going with Spencer Caldin (he's a fifth-year Gryffindor). He's a decent bloke, but there went my plans for Hogsmeade. I suppose I'll go with Diana and Matilda. Maybe Adam will join us.

In any case, Hogsmeade is always worthwhile. I'll need to purchase a new quill while I'm in town...

Until later,

Lily

This was most curious. Evans had suitors? But she was unbearable, how could someone want to go to Hogsmeade with her? James respected Fisher, as he was a great Ravenclaw Beater, but he found it unfathomable that Fisher would want to go out with Evans. What was even more unusual was that she had rejected both offers. Fisher and Branstone were no Sirius Blacks, but they were still better than most of the males at Hogwarts.

James supposed that Evans had been referring to Diana McKinnon, a Ravenclaw in his year, and Matilda Bones and Adam Hopkins, fifth-year Gryffindors. He had seen them and others sitting together at meals. They were a nice bunch. Except for Evans, of course. He skimmed to another entry.

November 9

Dear Diary,

I was walking along a corridor on the third floor today when someone ran into me. It was crowded, so I couldn't see who it was, but I was pushed against a tapestry to my right. Instead of hitting the wall, though, I went through it! There was a staircase behind it that led to the seventh floor. I was so excited, I ran to the common room to tell Emily.

James remembered when he had first discovered that passage back in his first year; it was a handy shortcut. Evans probably used it to get to class even earlier than usual. He smiled at the thought of Evans grinning and racing down the hall, eager to share her discovery with a friend. Realizing what he was thinking, he frowned. Took her long enough to find it. I mean honestly, fourth year? Sirius and I found it the second week we were here.

0 0 0

The next morning at breakfast, James could barely keep his eyes open. He had stayed up till dawn reading Evans' diary.

Sirius threw a kipper at the sleeping James, startling him. "What?" James said groggily.

"You went to bed before any of us last night, yet here you are, half-asleep. You didn't wander off to meet someone for a late-night snogging session, did you?" Sirius wiggled his eyebrows.

"No, I just couldn't sleep, that's all," James muttered as he laid his head back down on the table.

Even Peter looked at the exhausted James, shocked. "He- he denied a snogging session," Sirius sputtered out. "What's gotten into him?"

Later that day, as James dragged himself to Charms, he couldn't help but think of Evans as he walked by a certain tapestry.