DROWN • Sirius Black

Rivals and Reunions

      As the Hogwarts Express neared its final destination, the three concurred that it was time they changed into their robes and as they exited their compartment the three encountered a rather amusing yet predictable scene in the hallway.

Lily and her prissy squad being chased by the miscreant Marauders.

The event appeared to be one of Potter's redundant proposals for the Evans girl. Like a broken tape recorder James would illustriously ask the muggle-born witch to go steady with him every few weeks, once twice in one day.

"Lilypad with your locks of fire!" he exclaimed with a poetic passion, his hair wild with tendrils of untamed of curls, his round spectacles slipping down the bridge of his nose from gazing down upon his incurable crush, a symptom of his unreasonable tall form.

"Your eyes," he pauses, inducing a dramatic effect, "I dare to claim: gleam with an emerald purer than that of the vibrant rolling marshes of Irel-"

The recipient of Potter's affection, unable to contain her vexation, fervently turned to face her admirer, her flaming hair whipping behind her and interrupted Potter's heartfelt sermon.

Through gritted teeth, the exasperated witch managed to seethe, "Dear, James Fleaumont Potter, please accept that I would rather marry the Giant Squid than attend a single date with you!"

Now despite the lethality laced in Evans's words, a luminous smile bloomed on Potter's face, he nudged his faithful comrade, Sirius Black, with wide eyes as if the girl had just blatantly professed her eternal love for him, "she knows my middle name," he exclaimed gleefully.

The eldest Black encouragingly clapped the back of his delusional partner with equal enthusiasm. Despite the scandalous events of last few months, Mr. Black appeared vivacious as ever, his handsome face glowed with a smile foreign to the formal balls and dinner parties his prestigious family frequently hosted. His every feature emulated an alluring quality, his eyes like a playful storm appeared electric under the layers of contrastingly silky raven hair which nearly met his broad shoulders.

"Clearly, mate," he affirmed, "she's obsessed."

Evans furrowed her eyebrows, instilled with utter frustration, she expertly rolled her eyes at the stubborn ignorance of the pair. Ultimately resorted to abandoning the Marauders to dabble in their illusionary world, only to encounter her nemesis, Esme Royelle and along with cousins, Regulus and Andromeda Black, whom Lily recognized as her loyal accomplices in poisoning the student body of Hogwarts.

Esme grinned, never denying herself of the opportunity to wiggle her way underneath the skin of the muggle born witch."Lillian!" she exclaims in superficial glee, "always a pleasure," she expressed jestingly, approaching the congregation of Gryffindors.

"It's Lily, L-I-L-Y," Evans huffed, an unimpressed expression painted her features. "Surely you haven't forgotten how to spell over the course of the summer, Royelle," she rebuked.

"No darling, I'm afraid not," Esme earnestly admitted, "it seems yet again, that you remain without an advantage, defenseless to my academic superiority," she sighed feigning a deep pity, "such a shame, considering the upcoming OWLs and all," she muttered casually while examining her cuticles.

Lily gasped in outrage.

"Oh no she didn't," James exclaimed in disbelief, his blood boiling at the audacity of Royelle, the idea of someone undermining his Lily's intelligence was a transgression of the highest degree in his books.

"Oh yes, she did," confirmed Sirius, unalarmed by Royelle's cruel mannerisms, for back during the lighter years of his childhood, Sirius had considered her as his closest friend, the pair were pronounced inseparable; as a result, he was often the victim of her teasing but unlike Lily, he had learned to welcomed it.

However, quarrels of academic excellence among Royelle and Evans were not uncommon, in fact, they were customary. Ever since the inception of their educational journeys at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the two had unintentionally engaged in a rivalry of intelligence and skill in the magical arts. Neither on of them could precisely recall which incident sparked this war of witchcraft, was it their equally shared praise from Professor Flitwick for being the only two first years to successfully perform the levitation charm on their first attempt? Or perhaps it was in their third year, during which the two witches were selected to demonstrate proper dueling etiquette during Defense Against the Dark Arts, which resulted in Lily casting an advanced sixth year level jinx and Esme nonverbally deflecting it. Whether it was scoring a point higher on a Transfiguration worksheet, or Professor Slughorn using a sample of her potion as an example of a perfectly concocted batch of Living Draught. Lily could not deny that Esme always seemed to be a single step ahead in their intimate battle of brains, and Esme never failed to remind her of the fact.

"This year will be different, Royelle," Lily claimed her words chaste with the hint of challenge, her arms presently unfolded from their crossed positioning nestled beneath her chest and she placed her hands on the rims of her hips. "I'm going to kick your tight end off that oh-so-high thrown of yours once and for all and when-"

Esme interrupted Lily's speech with a purposefully induced yawn, covering her stretched mouth politely with a single hand. "Pardon me, Lillian," she excused herself, "I seemed to have dozed off, your annual empty threats simply lull me to sleep."

Esme's final remark earned a sequence of chuckles to escape from Andromeda, till that point the Black cousins had remained silent, modest witnesses to the ordeal. Only then did Esme realize that this occasion might be the first time the two Black brothers were in the same shared space since Sirius's abrupt yet foreseen departure. Instinctively, Esme coyly observed Regulus from the rim of her peripheral vision. The young wizard's head was down turned as if disinterested by the whole childish feud between the two opposing witches. Yet to a careful observer it was evident through his dark eyes that were dutifully trained on his elder brother with longing that a wholly separate storm raced inside the walls of his mind.

Subsequently, another gasp was emitted from Lily, her gentle eyebrows were now heavily furrowed in discontent. "My threats are not empty," she contradicted fervently, as the Slytherin trio began to walk away, their interest in affair having chilled, "know what my threats are? Huh?" she exclaimed helplessly searching for a witty rebuke, "they are full, that's what they are, they are bloody lethal," she attempted to solidify her viability.

A fellow Gryffindor companion of hers, Marlene McKinnon, gently patted Lily on the shoulder comfortingly as a gesture of support yet pity at the her dear friend's loss, "Hey, lily, it's over," the striking blonde bluntly remarked.

"Yeah Lils," affirmed Sirius as he leaned solemnly against a compartment door watching his little brother faithfully trail after the common enemy of his friend group.

Meanwhile, James rushed to Lily's side, compassionately offering his perpetual moral support, "It's okay, my lily pad," he stated attempting to rub her shoulder blade affectionately with one hand only to be wordlessly rejected with one of Lily's, "you'll get her next time."

"Yeah," concurred Remus Lupin, Lily's new prefect partner, and the only member of the Marauders that she genuinely respected, "show her with those grades," he suggested.

Lily simply sighed in defeat, somberly heading in the direction of her compartment, the rest of the Gryffindors silently following her. When suddenly, from down the aisle Esme abruptly turned to shout, "Don't you fret, my Lillian! I'll see you and Lupin shortly at our first prefect meeting of the year!" she exclaimed in malicious glee.

Esme then returned to facing her comrades again, unable to contain an animated grin at having successfully ruffled Evans' soft and tamed crown of feathers again.

"This  year is ours," she stated with certainty.

A/N

So this is not a new chapter for those who were wondering...

I just realized how dense the first chapter is and thought that I should cut the chapter in two to make it a lighter read for first-comers.

Sending much love in these hard times.