A Lily By Any Other Name

Act I: James

Despite having taken Muggle Studies for four years now, it was just starting to occur to a certain bespectacled individual that choosing such a dry course for his elective might not have been his most genius idea. If it weren't for Padfoot's antsy foot bouncing on the front left leg of his chair, James was almost entirely certain that he would have been rendered unconscious by now.

It wasn't exactly that he disliked the subject. While it was true that his initial motivation for taking the class was to impress Lily Evans, he found that it was more about wanting to get to know her world, the non-magical one, and thus her, better. (He wasn't even sure if he ever did end up telling her that he was taking Muggle Studies. Not that she would ask, anyway.) Unlike other purebloods he had the displeasure to meet, specifically the gits in Slytherin, he genuinely was fascinated with Muggles and their culture. His parents would occasionally let him and his fellow Marauders explore Muggle London when they went out on shopping trips to Diagon Alley. However, he knew that city life was only a sliver of a means of understanding them. So when they were allowed to select an elective starting third year, he didn't think twice to jot down Muggle Studies.

Little did he know that it would just be a class learning about electricity and the oh-so thrilling kitchenware appliances of the culinary world. As Professor Budam rambled about ballpoint pens ("...which are significantly more efficient than quills, mind you! Still don't understand why the wizarding world insists on ink blots and the bird aesthetic when there is a perfectly fine writing tool available... And you don't have to refill the ink every other line too!"), James found himself particularly interested in picking at a loose thread at the edge of his sleeve. He'd have to fix that later.

Before he could continue distracting himself with his robes, Sirius bounced his foot a little too roughly and ended up stepping on James' shoe. This prompted him to send an irritated expression his way, which Sirius didn't seem to notice as he simply adjusted his foot back on to the leg of James' chair to continue his bouncing.

Sirius was in this class for three reasons. The first was that James begged (bribed) him to take the course so he wouldn't be alone. The second was that Sirius knew his mother would throw a hissy-fit-and-a-half if he even step foot in a classroom that breathed the word "Muggle". And last, but certainly not least, Mary Macdonald just so happened to also be taking Muggle Studies. It was a fairly small class as well, so James knew that Sirius intended to use it as an opportunity to "bond" with her more. When he wasn't passed out during the lectures, of course.

They had both continued the class because it was easy enough with the light workload and they had maintained good averages on their OWLs. It was also not hard to notice the declining numbers as the years passed and the war persisted. These were dark times and less people wanted to associate with Muggles in fear of He Who Must Not Be Named. Both James and Sirius supposed that continuing with the class was their little contribution to the rebellion. At least until they could provide more significant assistance in the real world, which they definitely intended on doing as soon as they graduated.

James was just about to doodle another stick-figure on the corner of his notebook when Professor Budam's announcement jerked him back to reality.

"... if you want to read more about print paper vs parchment, Anya Anniya wrote a brilliant excerpt on dimensions and their format purposes on page 218 of your textbook. Now, before I dismiss all of you to enjoy the rest of your day, as I understand the Gryffindor team has their first Quidditch match of the year coming up and will be practicing tonight?-"

At this, Sirius perked up and nodded enthusiastically. James tried not to snicker as he noticed his friend subtly looking off to the side to see if Mary had looked impressed or cared in the slightest. She did not.