The Furry Little Problem || The Marauders (Book 2)

13. JAMES

He found a quiet end of the seventh floor corridor and started pacing up and down by a tapestry depicting a man trying to teach ballet to a troll.

Everything felt so stuffy and wrong. Something had to be done about Sirius and Remus. James thoroughly believed that once those two got together, all his problems would solve themselves. But how?

He had no clue as to what was happening in their lives. These past few days, James had been so busy trying to stop any sort of calamity that he hadn't really taken the time to look into reason behind it all. Why was really Sirius so worked up about Remus ratting them out, after all Remus had given his reasons and even though they weren't quite apt, they were good enough.

If only he had a place where he could sit down and think peacefully without the fear of someone walking in on him, maybe he could think of something helpful.

James was so lost in his train of thoughts, still pacing up and down the corridor, that he took no notice of Lily Evans who had just climbed up the stairs and, upon noticing his bright pink head, was coming towards him to gloat. He was so utterly oblivious of her presence and she so lost in her glee at the pink hair that they both ran into each other, staggered and were on the floor before either realized what was happening.

James rubbed his throbbing head as Evans muttered a quick apology which went unheard by him.

"Goodness Evans, watch where you're going," he said as he got up on his feet again and offered her his hand.

She sniffed indignantly and stood up herself. "I could say the same to you," she said, flicking her long red hair with her fingers.

He had never before met a girl so overbearing and snotty in his entire life. James rolled his eyes and was about to ask her to leave him alone when he spotted something. He turned to his left and was greeted with the sight of a classroom door.

"Has this door always been here?" he said to himself.

"Probably. Doors don't just appear out of nowhere, Potter," Evans said.

James turned to her, exasperated. "Aren't you a witch? Studying at a school of magic? Where you are stood right now? A school of MAGIC?"

It was now Lily Evans's turn to roll her eyes. "It's just a classroom door," she said as James pushed it open and walked in.

"Oi Potter! I'm not sure we're allowed in there," she said following him inside.

"This does not look like just a classroom," said James, as he looked about the tiny room covered entirely in mirrors. On one corner lay a ginormous bookshelf, so big in fact that it seemed quite impossible that it could fit into the room. It was stacked to the brim with rather old looking books. In the middle stood a cork-board, a blackboard, exactly one chair and a tiny table with two drawers.

Lily walked up to the shelves and started ripping the books off their places and James opened up the drawers of the table to find some basic stationary- quills, inkpots, parchments, chalks and tacks.

The more James looked about the room, the more he realized how perfect it was suited for his needs. It was well secluded and out of the way of normal classes, it had everything one might need for planning and plotting a major prank or a scheme to get his friends together. If only Evans had not found the place with him.

He could of course simply make her leave but then if she told anyone else about it, he was sure his solitude would be broken.

"Charms of Defence and Deterrence, The Hairy Heart: A Guide to Wizards Who Won't Commit, Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions, Where There's a Wand There's a Way, Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed, Cheering Charms, Madcap Magic for Wacky Warlocks, Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts," said Evans and looked up at James, "This is a really weird collection of books,"

"Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts?" he said and walked up to her, "You call it weird and I call it helpful."

He took the book from her hand and started leafing through the pages hurriedly.

"I'm still not sure if we're supposed to be here," said Lily as James settled himself in the chair.

"Probably not," said James distractedly, "you should just leave."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" she asked, stuffing the books back into the shelf she had taken them from.

"If I was," said James, "you'd already be gone."

"What's your problem with me anyway?" she asked turning around and walking up to him.

"Oh what can I say? It's your hair. It's so much more prettier than mine, it makes me jealous," replied James sarcastically, his head still submerged in the book.

Lily Evans sniffed indignantly, smacked him upside his head and started stalking out of the room haughtily.

Once at the door she turned around and James noticed her face was entirely red.

"You know," she said, "after all that happened last year, I had reckoned you'd have changed a bit for the better. I mean, the entire batch of first years hate you for it and yet that head of yours is as big as ever, if not bigger."

"Wait- what?" said James thoroughly confused. "The first years hate me?"

She threw her hands up in the air and rolled her eyes simultaneously, a gesture which James had a hard time of keeping up with considering he was still reading the book in his hand. He was sure Lily Evans was just playing a nasty trick, something to make him miserable.

"I can't believe it!" she said sounding thoroughly perplexed, "How can anyone be so- argh! Such and impossible egotistical narcissistic toerag."

"Hey!" said James when he realised that she was trying to insult him- and succeeding. "I'm not- whatever you just said."

"Oh really?" she said walking a couple paces inside the room again. "Then pray tell what you've been thinking of all the stuff they've been trying to hit you with? Fan-mail?"

"The stuff? What?" he asked again confused.

"Argh!" She threw her arms in the air again while shaking her head, flicked her hair off her shoulder and was out of the room in a matter of seconds, leaving behind a confused James Potter who had no idea what he had done wrong to enrage either Lily Evans or the first year students at Hogwarts.

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A/N: I took a little break to sort out my thoughts and the story line but now I'm back (obviously). Sorry for the delay in uploading.

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