up to no good

“How’d you get into all that Muggle stuff? All I know is whatever my dad watches on a TV.” She had to admit, Muggle TV was way better than most forms of entertainment that Wizards had. All the glamour, glitz, and comedy. Maybe James would know some of that. “Have you seen Monty Python’s Flying Circus? Seems like something you and the boys would enjoy!” With a laugh, she shook her head, doubting for one second that he knew anything about palm reading. “Yeah?” she questioned, leaning in to hear what he said. It only resulted in laughter. “Really? With everything going on, you’re just going to be a chaser? You’re not even the best chaser at our school!” she teased, knowing that, while it was a lie, it would certainly rile him up. “And Farrah Fawcett? I’d think Charlotte Rampling was more your type. Those aren’t even things you can really tell with palmistry, by the way!” Her hand reached out to his and she said, here, just let me read your palm.”

“I found a copy of Superman in the library back in third year.  Someone had left it.  I started reading it, and was completely hooked, so I started ordering them, and then there was the Justic League comics, and that led to the Flash.  It’s far better reading than anything else we’ve got.”  He shook his head about her next question.  “Why would a circus fly?  All that monkey and elephant shit everywhere?  It sounds like a complete mess.”  He scoffed, blinking once, twice, and then a third time.  Surely, she had to be joking.  It was a noncontested fact that James Potter was the best chaser in the school.  At least, he thought it was noncontested.  He wouldn’t have been made captain this year if he hadn’t been just downright incredible.  Right?  “Now you’re just being mean.  Faye Dunaway or Linda Carter, maybe, but not Charlotte Rampling.  She just doesn’t do it for me.”  Letting out an overexaggerated sigh, James placed his hand in her own.  “I already know what it says, but feel free to confirm it.”

“Oh yeah? Are they one of those potions partners that make you do all the work, or something?” he asked, turning to look at him. “Those are the worst. I’ve had some pretty bad potions partners in my day.” It took him a second to process the statement, then he added, “wait, why aren’t they talking to you? That’s gotta be tough, mate.” Leaning forward, he took a look at the book in James’s lap, looking over a few potions terms and ingredients he didn’t really know much about, since his last potions classes we in his fifth year. Arms on his lap he leaned forward, looking out around the courtyard. “You’re right. I mean, we definitely could, but the walk to the pitch from here is a little much for me right now, plus you should be studying. Plus, I’m not really into tossing the quaffle around. It’s fun, but it’s bad form for me to get used to, you know?”

“No, actually, even worse.  She’s bloody brilliant at Potions and we work really well together when we’re speaking.”  James shrugged at Amos’s question, turning the page of the book, even though he’d stopped really studying it when he showed up.  “Who knows?  Evans and I go through spells where we argue and don’t talk to each other.  Just so happens that one of those spells happens to come right before exams.”  James shook his head as Amos started poking holes in his plan.  Really, a boy could dream of doing things other than studying at the moment.  “Consider it good exercise.  And if I flunk one exam, then it’s not the end of the world.  Besides, you’re just a seeker.  A quaffle’s not going to throw you off that much.  If anything, you might find you like playing a more active role in a game.”

“Oh I’m sure! I’d love to hear about this spider guy.” With a laugh, she nodded, adding, “don’t worry, I’ll treat them better than Lily treats her textbooks!” Eyes rolled at the sight of his preparation tactics, to which she wanted to say ‘just do it already!’ but she didn’t want to ruin his focus, that is, if the incredible James Potter even needed to focus. After he was done, she fluffed up her hair and took a look, grinning and saying, “perfect!” She gave something of a bow and said, “well done, Mr. Potter. I owe you… some candy?” Dorcas shrugged. “Yeah, I was thinking I could treat you to some Honeyduke’s this weekend. But if that’s not good enough, I can totally read your palm, or something?”

“I’ll fix you up,” he promised.  “Spiderman, Flash, and Superman.  You’ll be begging for more afterwards, and believe me, I’ve got more.”  His smile suddenly felt a little bit more forced at the mention of Lily.  Which was absolutely ridiculous considering they’d been broken up for a while, their relationship having fallen apart long before that.  “That’s what I like to hear,” was what he said instead.  He mimicked her shrug at her offer of candy.  While he could typically buy himself as much as he wanted, he was also never one to completely turn down someone else’s offer.  And really, it was in repayment for his services, so he did earn it.  At least, he did if James didn’t think too hard about the fact that he started the whole thing with his little prank.  “Candy sounds good.  Besides, I can already tell you what my palm says.”  Holding up his hand, James pointed to various parts of it with his wand.  “That says I’m going to become the best professional chaser in the world.  That says I’m going to live a long and healthy life.  And... that says I’m going to marry Farrah Fawcett.”

This time of year it seemed all students were under great suffering, so Amos took it to himself to sit next to James and put a hand on his back, patting it gently before returning it to his lap. “I hear you, just wait until you take NEWTs next year. Lucky for me I’m not in NEWT level potions.” He leaned back and looked at the sky, not a cloud shrouding the bright blue canvas. “I bet on a day like this you’d rather be tossing the quaffle out on the pitch, huh? I know I sure would,” Amos commented, thinking it would be easy to draw a connection with the other boy. After all, Amos did know him from playing against him all these years, and they hardly talked about much other than the game.

James shook his head at the idea of having to deal with his exam next year with Potions.  “As long as I have a new partner next year, I should be alright.  I think that’s what has me so stressed about this exam this year.  Makes it hard to study when they aren’t speaking to me,” he said, his eyes still trained on the book.  Granted, the same thing could be said for him.  He avoided conversation in class just as much as Lily did, and studying together anymore for this exam was completely out of the question.  James nodded at Amos’s next question.  “Too bad we can’t get a pickup game going,” he remarked.  Granted, James never really did get the whole appeal of having a Seeker on the team.  If you had good enough Chasers, then the Seekers were a truly useless position on the team.

“Grab me one and I’ll read it.” It wasn’t exactly under great consideration whether or not she’d point her wand away –– if she didn’t, he wouldn’t change her hair back, and if he changed her hair to something strange again she could always bring her wand back to aim at him and give him a meter-long nose. “Maybe I’ll be willing to try teal some other time,” she told him, lowering her wand and standing up straight. “Oh, yes, well, Mr. Incredible, why don’t you prove it and change my hair back? There’s something in it for you if you do.” With a smile, she flipped her hair, motioning for him to change it.

“You’re going to be hooked,” he said, completely matter of fact.  His expression though changed to a more serious one, eyebrows furrowed behind glasses as he raised his wand. “But if you mess up any of my comics, I will come for your head.  Do you understand?”  Cracking his neck and bouncing up and down a few times to hype himself up, James changed his grip on his wand.  A murmured incantation, a flick of his wand, and James changed Dorcas’s hair to a brown a little lighter than what it had been before the whole ordeal.  “Alright,” he said, lowering his wand.  “What’s my prize?  Because if it isn’t something downright amazing, then we’re going right back to the Spiderman colors.”

Amos had finally managed to finish studying. While the rest of the seventh years had started studying weeks ago, he had only just cracked open his textbook to get down to the nitty gritty. He knew there were books to be read, and little studying tricks to take advantage of, like flashcards, which he learned from his mother, (except his were a little more magical, charmed to reveal clues if he said the wrong answer until he got it right.) Once he got through a good amount of work, he decided he was done for the afternoon, then made his way down to one of the many courtyards. There, he saw a familiar face looking back at him.

“So, you’ll never guess what I just did. I was studying. Emphasis on the dying.”

On the one hand, James was beyond glad that he wasn’t a seventh year.  He was fairly certain that he’d seen some of their hair beginning to fall out from the stress they were under, and he didn’t want to be a part of that.  His own professor made exams this year were going to be bad enough.  The tension in the library had been so bad that he’d been forced to leave, his Potions book under his arm, to head outside to study.  Which, really, just seemed a cruel and unusual punishment.  It was far too nice outside to be stuck studying all the time.  When Amos walked up, James held up his book.  “I feel your pain, mate.  I think dying might actually be easier than having to take my Potions exam.”

“As if I’d know anything about that,” she said, “the only thing my dad reads is cook books!” Her wrists struggled to get free from his grasp, but as soon as she calmed down, she felt it loosen. They darted away from him, safely into her pockets, while one hand wrapped around her wand just to be safe. “I hate it, James! And you really think I’d do that to you? I’m not one of your prankster friends. When I do something to someone’s hair, I make it look better, okay?” Eyes set on his wand, she was ready to counter anything he could throw at her, pulling her own wand from her pocket. “No… I was thinking more of a light brunette, or maybe even a dark brown, almost black kind of thing. If that’s within your abilities.”

“You need to read a comic book.  They’ll change your life.”  He shrugged at her question about whether or not she’d do such a thing to him.  Sure, James knew that she probably wouldn’t.  But, depending on just how long he made her wait to change her hair back to normal, there still might be some sort of retalliation.  Especially when she pulled her wand out.  “Put the wand up or I won’t do it,” James countered.  “And really, I think you’re missing out on the whole teal idea.  You’d be starting a new trend.  I can feel it.”  James rolled his eyes at her last sentence.  “I’m hurt.  Really.  If I can turn your hair bright red and blue, I promise that normal colors are far within my realm, too.  I’m just that incredible.”

She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t stifle a laugh. “Should have known you were on about some muggle nonsense, you absolute dork!” Pushing all of her hair back, she stepped towards him, a hand lashing out to hit at his chest. “Change it back, now!” she demanded, the back of her hand slapping at him gently as she glared up at him. 

“Or at least change it to a color that suits me!” Looking at a strand of her hair, she took a breath, knowing it would be best to calm down. She might hold something of a grudge against him for this, but she had to admit, she was looking to change her hair color anyways, but only to a lighter brown, not this! “Or you could just teach me the charm,” she said, stepping back and taking another deep breath. “The girls already have me doing their hair, why not play with some color?”

“Comic books are not muggle nonsense.”  He placed a hand to his chest, trying to look appalled at the insinuation.  “They are nothing but the highest standard of muggle literature, and anyone who says otherwise is lying.”  James couldn’t help but laugh again as she kept swatting at him, finally grabbing at her hands to put a stop to it.  “Who said that the red and blue doesn’t suit you?  It might be a little bright, but I think that just makes it all the more fun.”  When he felt that she had to be done trying to hit him, he released his grip on her hands, messing around with his wand once more.  “See, I could teach you the charm, but that could also be dangerous.  You might decide to try and get revenge on me, making my hair orange with black stripes.  And I simply cannot pull off orange, no matter how hard I try.”  Letting out a sigh, James held up his wand.  “So, what color were you thinking?  Lime green?  Lavender?  A nice teal, perhaps?”

With a grin, she crossed her arms and angled her head down, or, rather, up towards him, listening to his spiel. “Shut up, James, I’m sure you didn’t doubt me. I just wanted an excuse to so it,” she admitted, reaching out a hand to gently ‘hit’ him in the arm, before bringing that arm to grab onto the branch she hung from. As he talked about some sort of Spider-man, she interrupted, “you know I have no idea who the hell you’re talking about!” as she fumbled about on the branch, preparing to climb down. Right color scheme? She looked at him, confused, before hopping down from the tree, wiping her jeans of any bark fragments with her hands, before she looked back up, her hair falling in front of her face. “Wh–” she started, combing her fingers through her hair, bringing a few strands forward to inspect them, before reacting, “James Potter! What in bloody hell did you do to my hair?!”

“Which is a downright shame, because everyone needs to know who Spiderman is.  Not quite as great of a hero as the Flash or Superman, but he’s the best that Marvel’s got to offer.”  He watched, eyebrow rasied as she started to try and get down.  Sure, she wasn’t high enough for there to be any real damage if she were to fall off.  But, he could already see himself getting blamed for something terrible if she did hurt herself enough to be taken to the hospital wing.  Still, when she was back on the ground, her hand pulling at her hair, James couldn’t help but laugh.  “I told you.  You’re the right colors now.  Spiderman wears a blue and red outfit.  Really, you got off easy.  My original idea was to make your hair red and your skin blue, but that seemed a little too obvious and I didn’t have that much time.  Besides, the new look really isn’t half bad.”

“What, you don’t trust me?” she said as she climbed up onto the tree branch. After swinging her legs over it, knees bent to hold her there, she let go with her hands, now hanging from the branch and swinging back and forth. Looking towards her ‘nay-sayer’, face nearly to their eye level, Dorcas was proud to say, “told you! I’m a brilliant tree-climber!”

James couldn’t believe just how gullible she was.  After all, they’d been around each other for how many years?  Saying that she couldn’t do something, just to put her in a position that made it hard to escape, was one of the oldest tricks in the book.  And yet, he almost felt bad about how easy this all was going to be.  Almost.  “You’re right,” he said, shrugging.  “I had no idea just how wrong I was about your tree climbing abilities.  I’m terribly sorry for assuming that you couldn’t do this.”  Taking out his wand, James tapped it against his thigh a few times, acting as though he was just thinking as he kept talking.  “It almost gives you a Spiderman look, too.  Which, bears the question: am I Gwen or Mary Jane?  I feel more like an MJ, if only because I don’t want to meet the same fate Gwen did.  Of course, if this makes you Spiderman...” James said.  “Then we’ve got to get you the right color scheme.”  With a flick of his wand, James cast a charm, turning her hair into a pattern of bright red and blue before grinning.  “Much better.”

“So glad I’m only sixth year, just looking at all these cocky seventh years realising that this is end is sort of cathartic. Knowing I have another year until I even reach this level of stress.” 

“At the same time, if we are not twice as cocky next year, then we’ll definitely have done something wrong.  But we only have one more year, mate.  That’s...” James shook his head at the idea of that.  “Hard to believe.”

Before anyone could sit down, Marlene quickly cleared a spot in the library with an aggressive force. It was shocking that nothing went flying across the room. “Pick a different spot,” she demanded without looking to see who had approached the other side of the table.

This was going to be impossible.  Without his usual Potions study partner, James was actually going to have to work twice as hard making sure he understood the material.  After all, he and Lily still were only speaking when absolutely necessary, and after class review sessions did not seem to fall into that category.  On the bright side, he didn’t have any OWLs or NEWTs this year, but that didn’t mean that Slughorn couldn’t produce a nasty exam of his own and he needed to be prepared for it.  So, when Marlene told him that he couldn’t sit in the exact spot he’d been eyeing, James locked eyes with her as he sat down on the other end as her.  “Have you really forgotten how to share?  Don’t tell me I need to send a letter to your mother telling her all about this behavior.”

She didn’t hear him coming; it was unfortunate, really, because James was the last person she wanted to see right now. “I’m aware,” she replied, sighing as she drew her gaze from him, down to their cat, “of both of those things.” Raising her eyebrow at a cat who decidedly did not care, Lily shook her head. “No, no carriers. I hate those things. I’d never forgive myself for letting him be put in one unless it was absolutely necessary.” Continuing to shake her head for a moment longer, she held up her hands. “He’s a cat. Domesticity doesn’t change that,” she said, a little on the defeated side. “He’s going to do what he’s going to do, and we’ll either keep chasing him around the castle, or we won’t, and we’ll just let him come back when he’s ready to. I don’t know what else there is to do about it. He’s probably only doing it because it drives us both mad. Besides,” she added, dropping and sliding her hands into her back pockets. “It’s not something we’ll have to deal with long, anyways. When the term’s over, he’s going home to Cokeworth with me, and we’ll figure out a new plan, then. If you want to.”

He almost wondered if the cat was doing it on purpose.  Being obnoxious and running away just to piss them off.  In all honesty... probably, he figured.  If he were a cat, he’d no doubt do the same thing to the people who owned him.  “Alright, no carrier,” he agreed.  “Just an idea to try and help us keep a better eye on him.”  James’s gaze left her and went back to the cat, finding it was much easier to look at him than his ex girlfirend.  Which was stupid.  He’d broken up with other people before and still been able to have conversations with them.  Why was this so much harder?  Especially considering they’d been broken up for a while.  At least, he felt like it’d been forever.  “No, he’s coming home with me first,” James insisted.  “You get him the last week of term, meaning I get him the first part of summer.  It’s only fair.    But sure, we can figure something else out.  I don’t think the week trade off thing will be as easy over break.”

“Benry! Benry get back here, you know it’s not his night!” she yelled, giving chase to the cat as he darted out through the portrait as one of the lower years came back to the common room. She and James were supposed to be sharing custody, laughable if you asked Lily, considering Henry was her cat, regardless of what it said on his collar. All the same, that evening after dinner found Lily chasing that same feline through the halls of the castle, outside, and across the grounds. “Get back here, Henry Bartholomew “Benry” West Evans-Potter! You are so grounded, and you don’t even know what that is yet!” 

With the change in weather, James had gotten to where he spent nearly all his freetime outside.  Whether that meant flying down at the pitch, or just finding a way to escape the claustrophobi feeling he sometimes got from staying inside to long on nice days, he tried to stay outside as much as possible.  After dinner every night, he’d taken to going on walks, just trying to get a little time to himself in order to figure out what he wanted to do next year.  Seventh year was going to be big, and he knew that he couldn’t keep up the shit he’d pulled this year then.  Not if he wanted to make it outside of these walls.  Not if he wanted to join up with whatever cause was starting to fight back.  Still, it was starting to get dark, so James knew he’d have to head back in.  Right when he started walking back to the castle, the shape of a cat came bounding toward him.  How he and Lily had ever agreed to co-parent this thing was beyond him, just like the fact that she hadn’t taken off his collar that she’d given him for his birthday.  Picking up Benry, James scratched the cat behind the ears as he carried him back toward the castle, coming upon Lily first.  “It’s your night,” he said simply.  His tone was more businesslike than anything when he spoke again, completely different from how they used to speak to one another.  “He’s getting bad about not wanting to stay with who he’s supposed to.  Should I get like... a carrier or something for him so we can make sure he doesn’t keep running away?”

Her hand lifted to her chest. “Well then! I’m glad both you and the spot will be able to keep each other so comfortable in my absence. I’ll just go off into the world wondering how much you two will miss me and be sad to remember that the answer is not at all,” she teased, laughing. Pandora’s eyebrows pinched together. She tried to reason with herself. The relationship couldn’t have been that important if he said it wasn’t worth letting his friends know, could it? She nodded. “Good. You shouldn’t have to keep on your toes, especially not someone who’s not even in the castle with you. You miss all the best parts of a relationship.” She was glad to see him happy but felt a little guilty about how glad it made her.

She held up her hands. “It wasn’t my idea. I just got looped into helping out.” She raised an eyebrow. “I think I still have some paint if you wanted to change that.” Pandora never felt more mischievous than when she was around one of the marauders. She supposed they had that effect on people. It brightened people’s days. “Hm, I see. Well, know that I will retaliate.” It was likely that James could help her with one particular spell she was working on. She stood up and extended a hand to him. “I have a project. I think that it would help me if you were to,” her voice dropped a little quieter, “cast a spell I’ve been working on.” She returned it to normal volume. “Because then I could see what might need changing more effectively.”

“Now wait just a second,” James said, waving his hand to try and signal for her to stop.  “I just said that the spot wasn’t going to miss you because I’m going to be working so hard to make sure it has some good times.  But, that’s only because I’m incredible and put my spot’s needs ahead of everything else.  However, I never said that I wasn’t going to miss you.”  It was probably venturing a little too close to a subject James knew that he needed to bring up sometime soon.  Still, he tried to hide it under the guise of the joke they’d already establish, his grin never faltering as he switched from talking about where they were sitting to about her.  “Right?” James agreed.  “Like, where’s the fun in saying you’re in a relationship if you never see the person?  Sure, I would write her a letter, but I want to be able to look her in the eye and just be like...”  Reaching out, he placed his hand on top of hers, his eyes finding hers as he spoke again.  “I’m absolutely mad about you.  Being around you makes me happy, and I want to spend my time trying to help you feel the same joy you bring me so effortlessly.”  He paused, breaking eye contact as he spoke again.  “And then I’d probably do something super cheesy like...” His voice trailed off as he pick up her hand and brought it to his lips to press a kiss against her knuckles.

He couldn’t help but laugh as she told him that she still had more paint.  “I think I’m quite alright.  Thank you.”  James nodded as she promised to retaliate if something were to happen.  “Wouldn’t expect anything less,” he agreed.  As she stood up, James took her outstretched hand, keeping his grip on it even after he was standing.  “I think I can do that.”

"Glad to see you agree,” he teased, smirking as she laughed.  Alright, this was the moment where James was fairly certain he was missing out on by having his animagus be a stag.  As Lily ran her hands through his hair, he was completely caught up in the sensation of it, just about ready to call off the whole thing in favor for a head rub.  But, he doubted that she would really appreciate it.  And really, he was too far gone to truly be willing to give up sex for something as small as that.  Maybe afterward, he might be able to talk him into it.  It was enough to tuck away for later.  At the moment, he had a girl, completely bare, from the waist up, in desperate need of his full attention.  And not even a head rub could get in the way of that.  “It is,” he agreed, a hand coming up over one of her breast, his thumb ghosting over the nipple there.  “And I’d never dream of it,” he finished.  Deciding that his mouth was needed for more important things, James moved down so that he could take her other breast into his mouth.  He sucked at bit at the nipple a few times, before flicking it with his tongue.  Then, he swtiched, taking his mouth to the other breast as his hand came up to massage that one.

It was this moment where James knew he really needed to have more hands than just two.  He wanted to keep his attention focused on Lily’s top half, but knew that what waited him underneath her skirt was far better.  With that thought driving him, James pulled himself from teasing her chest to undo the fastenings on her skirt, pulling it off her to throw haphazardly to the side.  For a moment, he’d considered just bunching it up, but something about that felt far too fast and haphazard.  They’d have time for that later, hiding away in classrooms and closets, he decided.  Tonight, he wanted her on full display.  Everything, just for him to see.  He moved quickly, quietly, too focused on getting Lily down to just her knickers to pay much attention to anything else.  It was like playing quidditch, in some weird way.  When he saw a goal he wanted to make, it was like the rest of the world turned to white noise.  In this moment, the rest of the world didn’t exist.  It was just him and Lily.  And he was going to enjoy every minute of it.