Touché
By 9:30, everyone was ready and waiting by the door for the production van to pick them up for the set.
After breakfast, Lily had taken a quick shower and got dressed in comfortable clothes. She knew she’d be on set all day, and it would be exhausting. As she got ready, she could still hear the music and the occasional indistinct shouts from the energetic boys in the living room.
While they waited for the transport, the boys were quieter, scripts in hand. Maybe reality has finally hit, and now they’re nervous. Lily deeply hoped they were more prepared for the day´s shoot. It wasn’t anything too major—she had seen the schedule, and the boys were only filming indoor scenes, like the ones set in the characters' homes. All the scenes at the school or outside were scheduled for the next day. She estimated they had about six or seven scenes to get through, nothing too complicated, and she took a deep breath.
“Feeling confident?” she asked, trying to strike up a conversation but also subtly checking in.
“I think we’ll manage,” Peter replied, not sounding too enthusiastic. The others just shrugged, going back to their scripts.
Lily felt a bit awkward, unsure of what to say, so she grabbed her own copy of the pilot script and started flipping through it.
The show was, in fact, pretty unserious. The premise was simple—three boys suddenly gain the ability to transform into animals overnight and have to deal with that, all while navigating the usual teenage struggles. And yes, it was just three. Apparently, Peter was more of a supporting character, playing Remus’s younger brother, which was actually pretty funny, considering Peter was the same age as the other guys—twenty-one. Lily had thought about that too, since she was twenty-two and already in a supervisory role.
Lily had also looked into the characters a bit. James’s character was called Aaron, the typical boy next door. Lily found it odd because James seemed more suited to playing the spoiled playboy of the school. Remus’s character made more sense though—Andrew, Aaron’s funny and nerdy best friend, who would dive into researching their newfound powers.
Peter’s character was named Lewis, and his shapeshifting ability wouldn’t be revealed until later in the season as a plot twist. And finally, there was Sirius’s character, Ben, the school misfit who bullied Aaron and Andrew. Lily thought that casting was spot-on.
There were also two actresses cast as part of the main crew, from what Lily had seen. One played Aaron’s love interest, Sophie, portrayed by an actress named Marlene McKinnon. The other played Sophie’s best friend, Bryanna, who came from a family of supernatural hunters, played by an actress named Mary Macdonald. Lily didn’t know anything about them but hoped they’d be nice—it would be great to have some female friends on set.
Suddenly, everyone heard the sound of a van turning the corner. Lily calmly slipped her script into her backpack, waiting to board. But as a brand-new, gray van finally pulled up in front of the house on Nurmengard, the four boys exchanged quick glances and then sprinted toward the vehicle. Sirius even shoved James aside to get to the back seat door first. Lily was baffled. Why are they doing this? The van’s big enough for everyone.
Then she noticed they’d left the front seat empty and assumed it was because it made sense for the MTV rep to sit with the driver. But as she approached, Lily realized the driver was... strange. He had thin, long hair and a bit of a menacing scowl.
Lily leaned in through the window and introduced herself:
“I’m Lily, from headquarters.”
The driver gave a slight nod that somehow said Hello and Whatever all at once. So, Lily opened the passenger door, but the driver’s eyes widened in irritation, and he snapped:
“OUT!”
Lily looked at him, bewildered, then turned toward the boys, who all looked like they were about to burst out laughing. Then she glanced down and saw a cat lying on the passenger seat.
“Is this... your cat?” Lily asked in a low voice.
“That’s Mrs. Norris’s seat,” the driver replied curtly and rudely, referring to the strange, red-eyed cat. “Take a seat in the back.”
Lily found it outrageous. The cat got the front seat? She shot a questioning look at the boys, still not understanding, but they just seemed to find the whole thing hilarious.
With a sigh, she went to the back door. Remus stepped out of his seat and, with a shrug, said:
“Looks like there’s a seat left in the back.”
Lily was confused as he lowered his seat, revealing a tiny bench behind the boys, which looked more like a storage area than an actual seat. The ceiling was so low she’d have to hunch over to sit there.
Lily took a deep breath and climbed in, enduring the boys’ smirking glances.
“I think we’re all quite comfortable now,” Sirius announced to the driver. “Step on it, Filch!”
The boys laughed, and Filch indeed floored it. Lily felt queasy as he took the corners even faster. The cramped space only made things worse. She couldn’t understand why this tiny bench even existed back here.
Her view was basically the backs of the four boys’ heads—their hair and their long necks. Peter’s hair was the straightest of all of them. Remus… What’s that?
The van’s movement made it hard to see, but thanks to his loose shirt, Lily noticed something on Remus just below his neck—a mark or something similar. It could’ve been a scar or something, but she knew it was none of her business.
The scenery began to change. The luxurious surroundings of Richmond started fading away as Filch hit a smaller highway, giving a view of the city’s buildings. Apparently, the studio was in an industrial area south of Greater London.
The boys chatted the whole way, but Lily paid little attention, feeling irritated and physically uncomfortable. They seemed excited, talking about the scenes they’d be filming.
Then suddenly, James leaned forward, closer to the driver’s panel.
“Mr. Filch, I’m plugging in my MP3 player, alright?”
The driver grunted irritably, like James could do whatever he wanted as long as he didn’t interfere.
“What’re you putting on, James?” Peter asked.
“Well…” James glanced back with a grin and locked eyes with Sirius.
Suddenly, a sugary pop song blasted through the speakers. It was a track Lily couldn’t escape on any radio since the beginning of the year—Friday, by some new singer named Rebecca Black.
“Oh, c’mon…” Sirius sank into his seat, embarrassed.
“Come on, Sirius!” Potter laughed, moving to the beat. “You’ve got to support your girlfriend’s art!”
Sirius is dating Rebecca Black?
“Girlfriend or cousin?” Remus chuckled, giving Sirius a nudge.
“Guys, I told you it was a mistake, alright?” Sirius said, raising his hands as if begging to be heard. “It’s already weird enough that we have the same last name…”
“Didn’t seem weird when you were grabbing her ass last week!” James said, flashing his trademark grin. Lily wondered what kind of parties those boys must go to. Celebrity parties?
“Turn it off alreadyyyy!” Sirius begged.
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend… Peter started to hum, and soon James and Remus joined in.
Friday, Friday… Gettin' down on Friday! They all belted out at the top of their lungs, playfully shoving a slightly red-faced Sirius back and forth.
“Oh, bloody hellllll!” Sirius yelled as Lily struggled to hold back her laughter.
After plenty of laughter, the boys finally calmed down, now focusing on giving their scripts one last look before they arrived. Lily guessed they’d been driving for about 15 minutes. Filch had switched to a local classical music station, but his sour expression lingered as he glanced at the rearview mirror.
Meanwhile, Lily was discreetly observing the boys while jotting down notes in a little notebook, keeping track of the past few days to compile later into a report.
On the first day, they seemed restless, but they work well as a team and understand their roles in the production.
They have a lot of energy, though it’s not always channelled into the right things.
Remus seems like the intellectual leader, James is the charismatic one, Sirius the intimidating one, and Peter is adaptable.
Lily was obviously softening her observations a bit—part of the deal was giving them the benefit of the doubt. And so far, they were holding up, one way or another.
“Hey, PR!” James’ voice boomed in her ear, snapping her out of her thoughts.
She jumped in her seat, fumbling awkwardly to stash her notebook, not wanting him to see her notes.
“Can you run this scene with me?” James asked, staring at his script with a slightly puzzled look. A crease formed between his eyebrows, as if he were deeply focused.
Lily glanced around, thinking, Me? Why not the other guys?
But they were all engrossed in their own scripts. Lily let out a small sigh, turned to James, and noticed his hopeful expression.
“Alright.” Lily gave a half-smile, her lips tight. “Who am I supposed to be?”
“Sophie,” James said. Ah, the love interest. “Do you know how to read a script?”
“Of course I do!” Lily shot back, her tone slightly defensive. She wasn’t clueless—she’d taken some dramatic reading courses at uni, even if it wasn’t her forte.
Sirius stifled a laugh, and Remus gave him a shove. Lily ignored them, snatched her own copy of the script, and flipped through it.
“What scene?” Lily asked, exhaling as if bracing herself.
“Scene 14,” James replied confidently. “It’s the one where Sophie confronts Aaron for skipping out on their date.”
“Hmm… You don’t want me to act for real, do you?” Lily asked, a little nervous about opening up like that in such a cramped space. Now, she just hoped they’d arrive at the studio soon.
“At least a little, if you can,” James said, scratching the back of his neck. He looked unsure, but seriously, Lily was way more unsure than he was.
“I’ll give it a shot,” Lily said with a comical lift of her eyebrows, her lips curling into a sheepish smile.
James turned to face her, and Lily could finally see his expression. The boy was staring down, clearly focused, but there was something fleeting in his gaze—a hint of insecurity. Was it shyness? No way.
He straightened his posture, and Lily realized he was slipping into character.
"Sophie. Sophie, wait up!" James acted, his voice realistically pleading. Then, he reached out and grabbed Lily’s wrist. Lily wanted to widen her eyes in surprise but quickly glanced down at her script. That was the direction given: Aaron grabs Sophie’s wrist.
"Look, I’m sorry I didn’t show up yesterday. I…"
James looked up. It was Lily’s cue. The girl could still feel the warmth of James’s touch on her skin. She glanced at the script, which instructed her to respond with resentment.
"I don’t need this, Aaron," Lily said, trying her best. She actually sounded convincing. Then she continued, "If you’re just going to make excuses for why you didn’t want to come…"
For a moment, James broke character. He glanced at Lily, startled, but quickly shook it off and returned to the scene.
"I wanted to come!" James exclaimed, loud and desperate. Filch let out an annoyed huff from the driver’s seat, but James didn’t even flinch. "I… Something came up. My mum… She freaked out at the last minute. She asked me to stay."
"What happened?" Lily replied, following the note to sound annoyed but starting to soften. She couldn’t help but notice James was still holding her wrist. Maybe he’d forgotten he could let go.
"She… fought with her boyfriend again." James transitioned into a more serious tone flawlessly.
Lily couldn’t hide her surprise. She was catching a glimpse of his craft, and it was genuinely impressive. The girl knew that in this scene, Aaron was telling the truth in parts. In the series, Aaron’s mom really did have an abusive boyfriend, but she also knew that wasn’t why Aaron hadn’t shown up to meet Sophie—it was more about a transformation of the character.
Maybe James Potter really is talented.
Lily then glanced at the boy’s hand still holding her wrist. James noticed and, in the same instant, let go, like it was no big deal.
The scene now asked for the character to console Aaron, by putting a hand on his shoulder, but Lily didn’t do it. Not necessary, she thought.
“I’m sorry,” Lily said. “I just… I thought you were standing me up. Now I feel bad.” Lily wasn’t totally happy with how she delivered the last line, but whatever, it was just a rehearsal.
“You couldn’t have known,” James replied, still in character. “But hey, we can reschedule. How about I pick you up tomorrow? We’ll stick to the plan, cinema.”
“Okay,” Lily followed the script. “I’ll see you there.” The script called for her to give a little wink, but that idea made her blush. She would never wink at a coworker.
End of scene. James gave Lily a smile, and she didn’t know how to react. Why is he being so nice?
Suddenly, Lily was startled by slow claps. Sirius was looking at them, clearly impressed.
“Well done, James... and surprisingly, PR!”
“Cheers, mate!” James nodded.
Lily noticed the other boys were watching her curiously.
“Are you an actress too, PR?” Peter asked.
“Oh, no…” Lily smiled, a little embarrassed. “I took some classes in college, but I’m way too shy for that.”
“You read the script better than half the girls in the courses I took in Kensington,” Sirius said, surprisingly friendly.
“Oh, Sirius, but those were Kensington girls…” Remus laughed. Lily figured half the rich girls from Kensington probably bought starring roles in TV shows and plays.
“I just did the basics,” Lily shrugged, looking out the window to hide her smile.
“Maybe we’ll sneak you into the show as an extra, huh?” James suggested.
“Oh, absolutely not!” Lily said seriously. “That would never fly under my contract.”
The boys shrugged but still looked at her with a bit of surprise. Lily thought this was a good lesson. Imagine, a regular girl doing a better job than trained actors like them. It was kind of ironic. Touché.