Of Course They Are

Sylvie Clearwater was expected to be at the Hogwarts train on September 1st. But a few other complications were needed to be resolved—like Madam Olympe Maxime persuading her parents not to transfer her, her mother wanting her to stay at Beauxbatons, and her father wanting her to attend Hogwarts—that it was already the end of October when everything was finally settled. She had to be nearer to her home, England.

She did not know how many students were like her—a transferee, as a result of the war. After being dropped off by her parents, she was immediately met by the kind Headmaster—Dumbledoor (what a charming name) and the stern Professor McGonagall. They let her put on a somewhat grubby hat when they reached the Headmaster's office and it said inside her head that she should belong to a certain Gryffindor house.

Sylvie didn't understand what it was all about but both professors told her to wait in the office until someone fetched her. There was apparently an ongoing feast the both of them needed to attend to but in which she—Sylvie—will also join in just a few minutes.

She sat on one of the stone benches outside the headmaster's office for roughly ten minutes before she heard hurried footsteps coming along at the corridor.

"I... am so... very... sorry." He said when he finally reached her, panting slightly. "I had... to tell all... first years not to... destroy the pumpkins."

Sylvia nodded and whispered. "Do not worry about it."

"Well, that's very nice of you then." He stood up straighter and Sylvie noticed two extra badges she didn't seem to wearing on her own black robes. She looked closely then understood why.

He was Head Boy—as it said so in the much bigger badge, while the other—Quidditch Captain.

"Hullo, I'm James Potter." He said finally and offered a hand to her. Sylvie stood up and took it.

"I'm Sylvie Clearwater."

"Yeah, also a 7th year right? It was mentioned by McGon—I mean Professor McGonagall. Well it's... nice to meet you then. Shall we proceed?"

James Potter took her from one corridor to another and one moving stair case to another. As he did so, he was also telling Sylvie about the strict rules of the castle and how she should not miss the first Quidditch game of the season where he—as Captain—would be playing.

"Oh sorry, I forgot to ask, which house are you in?" James Potter had asked suddenly as they crossed the second floor the Charms corridor (as James had pointed out).

"Gryffindor."

"Fantastic! It's the best house in the school." James nodded enthusiastically then continued, pointing at another moving portrait. "Now, here you see, is Sir Cadogan. Funny lad, that one. But I heard he's to be transferred somewhere else... seemed to be annoying the hell out of the other portraits..."

James continued to rant on how Sir Cadogan must not be removed and how he and a certain Serious Black would miss him very much. But Sylvie wasn't entirely sure she was concerned about the future of Sir Cadogan because suddenly, she felt so shy and embarrassed and a bit ill.

James Potter was such a handsome fellow.

"Now just a few more staircases before we get to the Great Hall. Every year we celebrate Halloween like it's the only holiday that matters. But when you think about it, it truly is, don't you think?" he asked.

"I—uhm, I guess so."

James Potter nodded. "You have to remember though that Halloween is also a day for pranks. We had loads of laugh this morning when Remus—well, I'll introduce him to you later on—set up a dungbomb at the 4th floor and had traumatized several Slytherins—that's another house. Have I told them about you?"

Sylvie shook her head.

"Ahh, well there's nothing really interesting about those gits, er, I mean students. They're all insanely full of themselves. You'll see how it won't take me and my team ten minutes to beat them at Quidditch tomorrow."

And as he said Quidditch, James Potter ran his hand through his hair and ruffled it. Sylvie giggled a little. James looked back at her and grinned.

"A habit I can't seem to let go, apparently." He replied, running his hand again on his hair as if for emphasis.

"We're all weird people. One just needs to know where to look."

"That's what I always say." James chuckled.

After a few more minutes—and mishaps on her part—they finally landed on the Entrance Hall where Sylvie bid good-bye to her parents just barely an hour ago.

"This is the Entrace Hall, but I assume you've already been in here. But to its right is where our destination is—the Great Hall, where all the fun stuff happens." James nodded his head towards the large oak doors and motioned for her to follow.

As James pushed the doors open, Sylvia felt her eyes go wide at the grandest room she had ever seen, not even the white halls of Beauxbatons could compare.

"Welcome to the heart of Hogwarts, Sylvie Clearwater." James said. "The Great Hall."

There were four long tables filled with chatting students and at the farthest, she saw both Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster. Dumbledoor seemed to notice them, the two new arrivals, and he raised his goblet towards her. Sylvie smiled back, thinking that being in a new school at your seventh year wouldn't be so bad after all.

James led her to the left table which he said was the Gryffindor table (next to them was Hufflepuff and the two table at the other side of the aisle were for Ravenclaws and the "bloody" Slytherins).

There were a few hellos thrown towards James and some bantering as well. He was very popular too, Sylvie noted.

"Babysitting, Potter?"

"Good one, Head Boy!"

"McGonagall would be proud."

James rolled his eyes. "That's Brian Meadows, first year." James murmured towards her. "A bit of a pain in the neck as you could see. But he's very good at Quidditch, I heard. That's why I'm keeping him at bay."

Sylvie looked back at the first year and she felt herself blush when Brian Meadows gave her a wink.

"Now I think this crowd would be a tad bit friendlier." James finally said. He stopped just in the middle of the hall where Sylvie thought to look less than what a crowd usually looked like.

There was just a boy and a girl sitting opposite each other, both of whom had blonde hair—the boy almost ashy brown and the girl, long and sleek.

"Sylvie, this is Marlene and Remus—the one I was telling you about." James sat next to Remus and motioned for her to sit as well.

"All I hope was that whatever anecdote James said about me, it wasn't embarrassing."

Sylvie laughed, sitting next to James.

"You're too nice." Remus said to her. "James never tells something nice—neutral—about someone. He tends to be very talkative."

James snorted as he filled his plate with pudding.

"Well, it's true." The girl at the other side of the table added—Marlene. "Well it's very nice to meet you Sylvie."

"You as well."

"So, " Marlene started again. "What prompted the move?"

"Well..." Sylvie told them of how the war affected her family's lives. Her mum was French and her dad was British. They were happily living in the north of London, with her boarding at Beauxbaton every school year, when the fighting happened. Her father simply wanted her to be nearer.

"These are terrible days, I swear." Marlene replied gloomily. "I understand your dad. I never tell my parents anymore what's happening around here. So does Lily."

James looked up from his plate. "Speaking of, where is she? And the rest?"

"Sirius and Peter are off somewhere pranking someone again, I suppose. But they will definitely be back for dessert." Remus replied. "As for Lily, I thought she was with you to brief Sylvie."

Sylvia noticed James's face contorted into a frown. He looked across the room towards the door where it stood slightly ajar, the way they left it moments ago.

"Well she didn't come with me..." James added.

"Oh, James I bet she was—" Marlene started to explain. But James was already on his feet, his pudding all forgotten.

"I'll be back."

Sylvie watched as he crossed the room and disappeared behind the doors.

"Such a worry-wart." Marlene murmured as Remus laughed.

"So, Sylvie," Remus finally asked, now pushing a plate in front of her. "How was James for the past fifteen minutes he was touring you around?"

"He was nice, I suppose." She answered honestly.

Marlene nodded. "Did he tell you about Quidditch?"

"Yes, and Sir Cadogan."

Remus and Marlene laughed heartily.

But Sylvie didn't have the heart to tell though how she felt so giddy (but still slightly embarrassed) having to be alone with such a...fit Head Boy.

She noticed he had hazel eyes when they were crossing the Transfiguration classroom and the torch lights shone on his face, highlighting his features. He also had a contagious laugh—that despite her falling down on the trick step at the third floor staircase, she felt herself just slightly embarrassed but more conscious because his arms were holding her.

James was taller than her by a few inches and that she even thought her honey brown hair complemented his scruffy dark ones. For a moment on the second floor, she saw their reflection at one of the windows, walking side by side, and felt (a soft and warm sensation down her back) that she could get used to it.

He had glasses, sure, but that added to the mystery that was James Potter—Head Boy and Quidditch extraordinaire.

But above all though, Sylvie thought as she finally filled her plate with pudding—the same kind James placed on his—he was very friendly.

"Oh here we go." Marlene suddenly said, rolling her eyes in the process. Sylvie followed both Remus' and Marlene's gaze towards the entrance where James was walking back, fuming.

Remus had another fit of laughter.

"Whatever you do, don't talk." Marlene warned her. Unknown to what would happen next, Sylvie obeyed the two Gryffindors.

But when the three of them thought James would be sitting back with them, he took an empty seat a few extra feet away. Grudgingly, he scooped another round of pudding on another plate, unmindful of the splatters it made.

"Oh, Merlin. What a poor lad." Marlene snorted.

"Ahh, well you know him." Remus shook his head and attended back to his own pudding.

"My apologies to our friend's moments of childishness." Marlene said.

Couldn't keep her curiosity to herself, Sylvie asked. "What happened?"

Remus and Marlene looked at each other almost so suddenly that it turned out to be so comical. Together they replied to her, as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

"Lily."

"Lily?"

"Lily." Marlene confirmed once more.

Sylvie looked back at James who was still bitterly eating his pudding. Every once in a while he was also rubbing his temples and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Don't worry Sylvie." Marlene said. "This happens all the time."

"You'll get used to it. We did." Remus added.

"But who is Lily?" Sylvie asked.

"Ahh, that is the question, isn't it?" Remus chuckled.

"Lily is our Head Girl." Marlene informed her.

"Oh." Some sort of clarity was dawning up on Sylvie. No wonder James was pissed. She was supposed to be helping him.

"And she also happens to be James's girlfriend."

Sylvie stopped dead. Girlfriend?

"The Head Boy and Head Girl are together?"

"Of course they are!" Marlene exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They have been together since the start of the year."

"But James had been smitten with Lily since we were first years." Remus confirmed. "To Lily's annoyance of course."

Annoyance?

"How could she be annoyed with James Potter?" Sylvie blurted. To her, it seemed so impossible. James was so, so nice.

Remus chuckled again before clearing his throat. "James could be very... passionate."

"Obsessed if you ask me." Marlene contested.

"Oh hush," Remus replied to the other blonde. "He could be quite foolish, I suppose." He added later on.

Sylvie had to wonder how this Lily could treat James that way. Couldn't she see how lucky she was that James Potter fancied her? She hated to admit it, but there was a pang of jealousy that suddenly hit her. Probably, she thought to herself (perhaps in consololation), Lily was like all those girls Celestina Warbeck had been singing about—those girls with flashy smiles and beautiful eyes but had horrid hearts. Lily might also be those girlfriends she had read about in Witch Weekly who took their boyfriends for granted.

James Potter didn't deserve someone like Lily.

"Ahh, speaking of... there she is." Remus continued. "Lily Evans."

Sylvie turned around to finally see who was this Lily Evans.

What she saw astounded her.

Lily Evans was a very, very pretty girl. She had red hair, fair skin (cheeks slightly rosy), and she walked not really with authority but with that slight confidence that helped her keep her posture intact. Like James, she was wearing a Heads badge on the left side of her chest. It also didn't seem to go unnoticed to Sylvie that when she walked by, several heads (both boys and girls alike) turned—not to banter just like what happened with James, but to politely greet and share a laugh.

Lily Evans walked past James (who was still looking so sour and now positively angry as he noticed that Lily didn't stop by his seat) and headed towards, to her astonishment, her—Sylvie.

"Oh, I do have to apologize a lot to you. James just told me a while ago that you were sitting here." Lily started, offering a hand. "There was something I needed to attend to. I was supposed to come and gather you with James but I was late. I am so very sorry."

Lily Evans spoke with grace—not too soft, but just enough to make her voice pleasant and warm.

"I—uhm... I think, that's alright." Sylvie finally blurted, taking the Head Girl's hand.

"I promise to help you get to your classes tomorrow. It's the least I could do." Sylvie thought Lily seemed to be really troubled by this lapse.

"Oh, I am Lily Evans, Head Girl." Lily continued as she let go. She smiled down at her and took a deep breath. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"I'm Sylvie. Sylvie Clearwater."

"It's very nice to meet you Sylvie Clearwater." Then Lily turned her head towards the two blondes. "And thanks to you two for keeping her company."

"Our pleasure, Lil." Marlene smiled. "We'll take care of her until you fix the sour Chaser down there."

Lily rolled her eyes but laughed lightly. "I suppose I still have to fix that, should I?"

Remus laughed. "You better go before he starts to charm all the pumpkins to explode."

Lily sighed. "That's the least I think I need to worry about. I saw Padfoot and Peter at the kitchens earlier today. Better watch out on the next batch of pudding."

With a swift tap on Sylvie's shoulder, Lily left their area and finally sat next to James.

"Don't worry about dessert," said Remus as Marlene casted him a warning look. "Just, erm, be careful with the treacle tart."

Sylvie looked back down on her pudding and realized she actually didn't care about dessert anymore or whoever Padfoot or Peter were.

It couldn't be this fitting, should it? Sylvie thought.

Lily Evans was perfect. She wasn't the girlfriend from Celestina's song, nor was she the girls from Witch Weekly. She was nice and pretty and everyone seemed to love her.

Carefully, she looked back at where the Head students were seated. James and Lily seemed to be in a deep conversation and she could clearly see the frown on James's face.

"What do you think it's all about now?" Remus asked Marlene. Apparently all three of them were curiously looking at the arguing couple.

"Lily patrolled alone, I assume. Everyone was supposed to be in here but little Brian Meadows over there told her that several Slytherins were still at the dungeons."

"Ahh." Remus nodded, getting back to his pudding.

"James worries a lot it is crazy."

Sylvie listened on to Marlene and Remus conversation.

"He's got his weaknesses." Remus said. "You know when it comes to Lily he's a bit protective."

"Overprotective! Lily can take care of herself!"

"I know that Marlene, but he is James. James wouldn't be James if he wasn't a James to Lily."

Sylvie got lost there that she needed to ask Remus of what he meant.

"Like I said, James had been smitten with Lily since we were first years." Remus explained. "He was exceedingly arrogant and foolish that Lily hated him. Hated him!"

"But apparently," Marlene joined in. "She never really hated him. When James finally showed he was capable of handling responsibilities, and could actually talk about other things besides Quidditch (Remus chuckled), she finally had the nerve to say yes to him."

"It was a long and winding romance, Sylvie. Quite the entertainment here at Hogwarts actually."

"Oh, the sexual tension was pretty much obvious. I think everyone was rooting they should finally get together."

"That, or the fact that everyone, including me and Marlene I suppose, wanted the bickering to already stop."

"But we were wrong, of course!" Marlene added happily.

"Even if they are already together, the fighting never stopped." Remus pointed towards the two Heads again. Sylvie turned and saw that both of them were fuming now and not talking to each other.

"But no worries," Marlene continued. "They will be happy as a bee by tomorrow if not tonight."

"Unless of course Lily patrols again alone."

Marlene and Remus chuckled. But Sylvie didn't get it. So what if Lily patrolled alone?

"Isn't that the job of the Head Girl? To patrol?" she asked.

"It is." Remus clarified. "But James doesn't want her to do it on her own."

"Because?"

"She's muggleborn." Marlene said, suddenly quite sombre. "And with the war that's going on... it's unfair. She's the most talented witch in our year."

And now Sylvie finally understood. The worry, the anger, the resentment. It was definitely overreacting, but it wasn't childish nor foolish on James Potter's part.

He simply must truly care for her.

Sylvie was led to the Gryffindor tower by Marlene and Remus (who was apparently a prefect himself) and she actually didn't mind that James had forgotten about her, because from what she had decided after hearing everything at dinner, she was not there to intrude.

And on her way to the seventh year girl's dormitory, in the farthest door of the corridor, it was only fitting she had to have a glimpse of what the whirlwind romance was about.

James was leaning on the wall with Lily already charming the door to open. When it did, Lily turned her head back toward James. She was smiling sadly at him.

"I promise I will try not to have you worried again."

James snorted. "You could've at least promised you would actually do it. Try is such an unfair word."

"Oh, don't fret James, please."

James ruffled his hair again and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But circumstances have changed, Lily. Even if we are here in Hogwarts, we don't know can happen."

Lily caressed his face.

"I know I can be a bit idiotic," James continued. "A pain in the arse even."

"I know." Lily chuckled. "But you are my pain in the arse."

James wrapped his arms around Lily and pulled her closer. "And you, Ms. Evans, are mine."

They both laughed

"I love you." James said after a while.

And Lily, with that soft dignified voice of hers replied with certainty. "I love you too."

Sylvie, suddenly overwhelmed with emotions and guilt fled the floor and the tower and then out again in the corridors. She found herself ridiculously sad—stupid and foolish, actually, for feeling that way.

She ran to the nearest window and opened it. She needed to breathe because suddenly she felt so scared.

Scared for herself and for these childish feelings for James she needed to overcome. But more so, she feared for both James and Lily. She feared what the war could do to them.

And it was unfair. It was so very unfair. Because despite of her jealousy, it was that flicker of hope for James and Lily's love to survive that suddenly mattered. She knew of the gravity they were about to face.

Lily was a muggleborn.

And if it felt terrible here inside Hogwarts (with those "bloody" Slytherins) how could they survive what was out there?

How could Marlene and Remus go on and tell tales of what an epic love affair James and Lily was if there was nothing more to tell?

There was a desperation in Sylvie's mind to make it work. To let them succeed, to at least let the whole world know that there was a love like James and Lily's. There was an ironic delight in knowing that such things existed even in the darkest of days.

So this is Hogwarts, she thought.

And perhaps she knew why her father wanted her to stay there.

Because despite the gloom of the war, everything felt alive in here.

My contribution for the Jily October. A review would be lovely, of course! :)