Potter's Peril

Chapter 1

The Marauders

By Jacob Nolan

It was a sunny afternoon, and James, Remus, Sirius and Peter were sitting by the Great Lake. They had just finished their last finals exam - Potions.
'That was probably the worst exam to have to finish the year on, don't you think, James?' Sirius said. 'James? Jimmy boy?' But James wasn't listening. He was staring at a group of girls exiting the Entrance Hall to the castle.
'Ah, checking out the ladies are we, James?' Sirius said teasingly. But then he saw why James was looking so intently and the bunch of giggling girls. 'Ohhhh,' he added, 'I see. Lily Evans. Of course it is. I thought you had moved on, James. It's our fifth year; she hasn't showed any interest in you. At all.'
James scoffed. 'Move on? How could I? That stunning hair, the way it just cascades down her body. And her eyes. I mean really, are we sure she hasn't magically altered them? Let's face it. She is perfect in every way.' James turned and glared at the other three teens, Sirius with his fist in his mouth, Remus red-faced with the effort of not laughing, and Peter rolling around on the ground, killing himself laughing. 'Don't you dare tell her I said that,' James added defensively.
'Or what, Jimmy?' Sirius said sarcastically.
James smiled with a gleam in his eyes. 'Or I will tell Narcissa exactly what you think of her.' Sirius' smile quickly faded, turning into a look of pure terror. 'Okay, let's not get hasty. I - we - will not tell Lily, right guys?' Peter nodded vigorously in agreement, and Remus shrugged and gave a quick nod.
James let out a sigh of relief. 'Okay then. Since that is settled, I am going to go talk to her.'
Remus chuckled. 'Again? Maybe you haven't noticed, but I don't think she is really into you.'
Sirius burst out laughing. 'Not that into him? Remus, she jinxed James and left him hanging upside down at the top of the North Tower. I mean, she actually cursed him. "I don't think she is really into you" doesn't really cut it." Peter tried and failed to stifle his laughter.
'Shut up, guys. This time, I have a plan.' James walked away, ignoring the catcalls and sarcastic comments his friends were yelling loudly as he tried to concentrate on what he was going to say to Lily. James hurried ahead to a courtyard some fifty metres ahead in Lily's path. He pulled out a small pocket mirror from his carry bag - or as his friends liked to call it, his 'man bag' - but as he went to check his appearance, he saw Sirius' face grinning back at him.
'Damnit,' James whispered, 'wrong bloody mirror.' James grabbed the other small mirror from his bag and looked at himself. He smiled. 'Damn. I look good.' He put the mirror back in his bag and looked up to see Lily conversing with her friends less than ten metres away. He jumped up and swaggered towards the group of teenage girls.
James took a deep breath. All or nothing, he thought. He stepped in front of the girls. 'Lily,' he said.
Lily made a show of sighing exaggeratedly and turned to look at James. 'What do you want, Potter? Want to spend another night crying for Dumbledore to help get you down from the North Tower and tuck you into bed?' Lily's friends laughed at her joke.
James breathed out slowly. 'No,' he said calmly, 'can I please talk to you for a minute?'
Lily put her hands out. 'Aren't we already doing that, mummy's boy?'
'I mean.... privately.' Lily sighed. 'Fine'. She looked at her friends. 'I will meet you in the common room, girls.' Lily turned back to James. 'You have thirty seconds, Potter.'