Intricate
By Lunaleth
01.22.2010
Lily Evans is a complicated individual. The four Marauders each have their own perspectives of this intriguing girl. Fourshot. LJ
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Sirius
Lily, Lily, Lily.
I'd be lying through my teeth if I say she's not pretty. Because damn, she's beautiful.
She wasn't always that way, of course. She used to be this awkward little carrot top with a ton of freckles and oddly colored eyes. Not quite green, not quite brown, not quite grey, but intriguing. Her eyes reminded you of the forest on a foggy day, of rocks and of moss. Stuff like that. She was cute, sure. Pretty came later.
She was always fun to tease.
I don't really know why. It might have been just the fact that she was a cute Gryffindor girl and friends with the greasiest, homeliest little slithery Slytherin at Hogwarts. It might have been because of her odd hair and odd eyes. It might have been because I was best mates with James Potter, the kid who landed himself into some weird unconscious-attraction-at-first-sight nonsense, thus dragging me in as well. A stray remark, a slight taunt, and that feisty inferno of a girl would become instantly furious. She would flush a color that rivaled her not-quite-scarlet hair, hair that would stand up on end as she yelled. The fog in her eyes would clear up, and you could see hints of the startling emerald that would become so apparent in later years. Perhaps that was another reason both James and I loved winding her up; without a doubt, that peculiar green was, and still is, the most beautiful color I've ever seen.
---
In second year, November, my best mate realized he liked her.
I remember the moment quite clearly myself.
We'd all gotten settled, well and proper, for our second year back at Hogwarts. We were no longer the smallest pipsqueaks in the school, and that inflated our twelve-year-old egos quite a bit. Arrogant little James Potter paraded around the school, taunting everyone and everything that crossed his path, but most especially Lily Evans. She'd changed over the summer, grown out that pretty hair so that it wasn't so much an awkward orange as a soft, pale red.
That fateful day, James was singing loudly (and quite tunelessly) in the Common Room about carrot tops and freckled cheeks. I admit, even I was a little annoyed; my best mate couldn't carry a tune for his life. He couldn't even carry a tune for treacle tart, and that's saying a lot. Suddenly, little Lily got up from her seat near the fire, marched over to him, and slapped him hard across his arrogant twelve-year-old face. As she yelled at him, furious, eyes flashing, he got this rather glazed look in his eyes, a look that I would begin to see so very often in later years.
After she finished telling him off and stormed away, James looked over to me, slightly dazed, and sighed happily. "Her hair caught the light so nicely. I like her."
I was surprised. I had always seen her as just the cute Gryffindor girl who was friends with the greasiest, homeliest little slithery Slytherin at Hogwarts. Sure, she was fun to tease, but that was about it. Nothing more, really. Just another girl.
My interest piqued, I watched as Lily grew prettier, day by day. That light red hair flared into full-out crimson. The fog in her eyes disappeared completely, leaving them stunning in their clarity.
In a weird, metaphorical sort of way, she found her true self within herself.
I'm horrible at this philosophical stuff. I'll leave it to Remus. He's good with it, the pansy. I always told him, he should have been a poodle instead of a werewolf.
And really, she was a genuinely kind person, even if she didn't show that side much in front of James. I'd see her helping out the younger students with a kind smile on her face. I'd see her determination to excel in her classes. And, alright, even though I was the kind of guy that would rather sleep in class than pay attention, I admired her for that.
---
The first time we had an actual, civil conversation was in the kitchens. Third year, May, I believe.
Hungry as usual, I had gone to the kitchens to find something to eat. I was surprised to see her sitting there, munching on a plate of delicious looking cookies. Those house elves made some mean cookies.
"Evans?"
"Black." She didn't sound happy, but at least she wasn't glaring.
"Those cookies look amazing. Might I join you?" I grinned.
She smiled a tiny smile and gave me a chance. I wasn't nearly as arrogant as I was when James was around. "If you really want to."
"Why, of course. We can't let James capture all of your attention, now can we?"
She snorted. "He only wishes he had my attention."
I chuckled. "That he does."
And so we sat there, talking lightly. I even got her to laugh a few times, I'm proud to say.
From then on, we struck up an interesting sort of friendship. In many ways, we were so similar: passionate, rather intelligent, casually elegant (if I do say so myself), and just really…alive. We lived everyday for ourselves, milking as much as we could out of this thing called life. Of course, in other ways we were worlds apart. Aside from the obvious that I was a guy and she was a little lady, she had, I'm slightly ashamed to say, tons more respect for other people than I did. She was always able to see the good in others that they might not see in themselves.
I don't think it ever progressed further than friendship. Perhaps, if we'd met in another time and place, if we'd never known James Potter, something might have blossomed. But it never did, and I began to know her as more than just the girl my best mate couldn't win over. Sometimes, we'd sit in the Common Room, just the two of us, and talk. We'd talk about things we couldn't talk about with our other friends, things only we understood: our families, our fears, the way we felt so disconnected from everyone else, what with she being muggleborn and I being from a family of dark wizards. We were so similar. During those talks, we'd shelve away all our arguments and differences, shelve away the fact that I was best friends with the guy she despised down to the depths of her being. We became friends. She was truly a good person, a nice little carrot top.
---
"You're kidding me."
"Nope," I grinned.
She chuckled. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised." She shook her head, smiling. "But no, really. You really broke your first broomstick over Regulus' head?"
"Well, he was pissing me off! I told him not to tell my parents about Snuffles, but he just had to. My parents got really mad that I was hiding a pet in my room, and I had to smuggle him to James to keep them from cooking him for dinner." I snorted. "I think James has actually grown quite attached to Snuffles. He sleeps with him every night when he goes home for the summer."
She laughed, eyes glittering. "I wouldn't be surprised. That poor puppy."
"James is actually quite an animal lover. He also has two bunnies."
She snorted.
"And a chipmunk."
"Potter keeps a pet chipmunk?"
I grinned. "He caught one when he was twelve years old. He wanted to keep it, but his parents made him let it go after it bit him."
"Oh, so now I understand why he's mental. He has rabies."
I burst out laughing. "If James wasn't so obsessed with you, I'd elope with you myself."
She winked. "You free next Friday?"
We were pretty tight.
---
In fifth year, June, my best mate realized he loved her.
I remember that moment quite clearly.
That fateful day, we were sitting by the lake, right after a difficult exam. James was bored, playing absentmindedly with a Snitch while Peter watched worshipfully and pathetically. Snape came along with his usual perfect timing, and we began making fun of him. Slimy git got what he deserved.
Lily came along and defended him. She really could be a bit uptight sometimes (another way in which we differed), but I respected her for that, oddly enough. She stood up for what she believed in and didn't let anyone give her crap. She was strong.
Then Snape called her a mudblood, that unforgivable word. I wanted to hex the living daylights out of that kid, but I sensed that this wasn't my fight. James tried to defend her, but Lily turned on him instead and began yelling. I couldn't really blame her though. He could be such a charmer sometimes.
Later that day, I found James lying on his bed morosely. I poked him. He just sighed. "Why do I care so much about what Evans thinks?" he muttered glumly.
I cocked my head. "You love her." Not a question.
James groaned and buried his head in his pillow.
"Crap."
It was pretty inevitable that he'd fall in love with her, the little lovesick moron, though he never could get his feelings across properly. James Potter does not know the proper way to woo a lady, especially a lady such as Evans.
After that…well, to make a really really long story short, Lily turned out to be smart enough for the both of them. She figured him out eventually, fell in love, and they got together, blindingly blissful. Happily ever after.
The day they got together, I sat down next to her at dinner. Grinning, I said, "Well, Mrs. Potter, when you guys start producing the next generation, make sure you don't catch his rabies. And I call dibs on godfather."
She just laughed and smacked me on the arm as James looked on, slightly confused.
I smiled as she drew him into a hug, and he willingly gave in with this huge, foolish, happy grin on his face. I've never seen him that happy before, ever. And honestly, there's nothing better than seeing two people you love be so happy.
Yeah, these days I've grown to love her too. She's one of my best friends. She cares about me unconditionally, a kind of genuine caring that I never received from my own family. She understands things I never imagined anyone would be able to understand, not even James.
She's beautiful, inside and out, but you know, to me, she'll always be an awkward little carrot top. And Merlin, do I love those eyes.
If James makes her unhappy, I'll beat him up for her. It's my duty as her older brother.
Author's Note: I've always loved Sirius and Lily's relationship. Sirius, being the best mate of hopelessly lovestruck James Potter, and Lily, being..well, Lily. Two of my favorite characters :)
(edit 2/22: After I began working on the next few chapters, I added a few lines into this one. It seems to balance out the story more.)
This is the beginning of my first multichaptered story. Hope you enjoyed it. Feedback welcome and appreciated.
lunaleth