Jily | I Can't Love Him

Filthy Little Mudblood

"Did you like question ten, Moony?" asked Sirius as they emerged into the Entrance Hall.

"Loved it," said Remus briskly. "Give five signs that identify the werewolf. Excellent question."

"D'you think you managed to get all the signs?" said James in tones of mock concern.

"Think I did," said Remus seriously as they joined the crowd thronging around the front doors, eager to get out into the sunlit grounds. "One: he's sitting on my chair. Two: he's wearing my clothes. Three: his name's Remus Lupin."

Peter was the only one who didn't laugh.

"I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes and the tufted tail," he said anxiously, "but I couldn't think what else—"

"How thick are you, Wormtail?" said James impatiently. "You run 'round with a werewolf once a month—"

"Keep your voice down," implored Remus.

The doors opened, and the foursome strode off down the lawn towards the lake.

"Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake," Sirius said. "I'll be surprised if I don't get 'Outstanding' on it, at least."

"Me too," said James. He put his hand in his pocket and took out a struggling Golden Snitch.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Nicked it," said James casually. He started playing with the Snitch, allowing it to fly as much as a foot away before seizing it again; his reflexes were excellent. Peter watched him in awe.

They stopped in the shade of a beech tree on the edge of the lake and threw themselves down on the grass. The sunlight was dazzling on the smooth surface of the lake, on the bank of which the group of laughing girls were sitting, with their shoes and socks off, cooling their feet in the water.

Remus had pulled out a book and was reading. Sirius stared around at the students milling over the grass, looking rather haughty and bored but very handsomely so. James was still playing with the Snitch, letting it zoom further and further away, almost escaping but always grabbed at the last second. Peter was watching him with his mouth open. Every time James made a particularly difficult catch, Peter gasped and applauded.

"Put that away, will you," said Sirius finally, as James made a fine catch and Peter let out a cheer, "before Wormtail wets himself with excitement."

Peter turned slightly pink, but James grinned.

"If it bothers you," he said, stuffing the Snitch back in his pocket. Sirius was the only one for whom James would have stopped showing off.

James rumpled up his hair and looked over at the girls by the water's edge. They shrieked loudly as Marlene, who was wading past the shallows, sent a rather large splash their way.

"I'm bored," said Sirius. "Wish it was full moon."

"You might," said Remus darkly from behind his book. "We've still got Transfiguration; if you're bored, you could test me. Here...," and he held out his book.

But Sirius snorted. "I don't need to look at that rubbish; I know it all."

"This'll liven you up, Padfoot," said James quietly. "Look who it is." 

Sirius's head turned. He became very still, like a dog that has scented a rabbit. "Excellent," he said softly. "Snivellus."

Severus Snape, who had previously settled himself on the grass in the dense shadow of a clump of bushes nearby the beach tree, immersed in the O.W.L. paper, was on his feet, stowing the paper in his bag. Severus had a stringy, pallid look about him, like a plant kept in the dark. His hair was lank and greasy and was flopping in his eyes. As he left the shadows of the bushes and set off across the grass, Sirius and James stood up.