The Smallest Men Who Ever Lived

Dear Lily,

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE JUST SAY YES TO JAMES THIS YEAR OR AT LEAST JUST TAKE THE FUCKING FLOWERS PLEASE I BEG. I CAN NOT DEAL WITH ANOTHER YEAR OF HEARING A HEARTBROKEN TEENAGE WHINE DOWN MY EAR ON THE QUIDITCH PITCH. LILS YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER.

Marley
(ps. He tried to send at least 40 bouquets throughout summer but we couldn’t work out muggle post so he has decided to make up for it with some grand gesture at Halloween. Beware. )

***

James

“James my boy, wheres your tie? You know your mum will go mad if you don’t have it in before you get your picture taken.”

James Potter is starting his fifth year at Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although he has to do his NEWTs this year, he has other problems.

1. Get McKinnon to play seeker again

2. Kick Perkins off the quidditch team ( His quidditch skills are absolute dogshite and everyone is running out of patience with him on the pitch)

3. Kill Severus Snape ( well not kill but you know what he means.)

4. MAKE LILY EVANS FALL HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE WITH HIM.

James’ wierd, overly obsessive crush on Lily started the moment he saw her scurrying around platform 9 3/4 with her trolly like a river running into an unknown sea. They were never properly introduced until the sorting ceremony by Marlene. James’ ‘little sister’ who’s not realy his sister. He doesn’t realy remember when him and Marls became so close, just that their mothers were dorm mates in the 50s. James doesn’t really know how Marlene and Lily became friends either, but he just assumes they bonded of ‘girly stuff’. Although the Marley James knew didn’t like ‘girly stuff’ like Lily did, Lily loved to pick flower and wander in gardens, Marlene would rather throw herself down a set of stairs, which is precisely what Lily would do if she was forced to play through a game of quidditch. In third year James confessed his great love Lily in the great hall in front of everyone. Not that it was a surprise to anyone watching, the marauders, James’ closest friends, didn’t exactly keep quiet about the whole crush thing. Lily enjoyed the attention she was getting and blushed at his gesture. So imagine the surprise when she rejected him. James was a nervous wreck, Sirius’ mouth hanged open in shock, Remus wasn’t surprised at all, Peter didn’t know wether to laugh or cry, Lily was looking at James with the most utter empathy, as if she’d just shot his dog, and Snape. Severus Snape. Grinning from the end of Slytherins table. Long story short, we fucking hate Severus Snape.

***

At the start of first year Lily only really had one real friend. Severus Snape, who is thought to be a dickhead by everyone, everyone other than Lily that is. He’s constantly got some snotty look on his face paired with a side of unwanted opinions and sarcastic comments. Why would a girl as nice as Lily want to be around someone like him. Everyone avoided Lily in first year, mainly because of Snape, but also because she has muggle parents, everyone cared so much about it that the two girls she shared a dorm at the start of the school year both separately got their mothers to write a letter to Dumbledore demanding that they be moved. That’s when Mary and Marlene were moved in. Mary was one of the popular girls, until after Christmas when the ‘popular’ girls zoned her out after realising that the reason her parents didn’t understand owl post wasn’t because her parents were idiots it was because her parents don’t understand magic at all. Marlene on the other hand came from two of the most respectable, Irish, pure blood, wizarding families. You could say she’s the Irish equivalent of the Black family. Rich, spoilt and renowned for their good looks and charming personalities. Well maybe not spoilt because if she were spoilt then her family would use their money on a big house and fancy car when in reality they live in what they call ‘The Burrow’. Which in reality isn’t at all like a burrow, it is a tall, 7 floor, shed looking building in the middle of Devon. James, Marlene and Peter grew up in the neighbouring esrates of land. Euphemia, James’ mum, and Marlenes mum, Saoirse were both dorm mates during their time at hogwarts. They met Rosalind, Peters mother, after moving in a flat together in south London. Saoirse and Euphemia had to hide the fact they were witches for at least six months till they caught Rosalind using her wand to put dishes away. From then Euphemia went on to marry her Hogwarts sweetheart Fleamont Potter and Saoirse to marry her fancy Erehnoll boyfriend who none of them had met or actually believed existed till they were exchanging vows at the alter several years later. It wasn’t until years later at Hogwarts that the trio met the rest of their little group. James and Sirius Black, who is practically wizarding royalty, clicked instantly. And Remus wasn’t introduced till Marlene had introduced Lily, who had then introduced him. Routinely, everyday they collect at 6 in the dinner hall and eat together, then they would congregate in the library until like clockwork at 7:15 they’d get kicked out for “disturbing the peace” and the usual “ONE OF THESE DAYS YOU LOT WILL BE OUT OF HERE FOR GOOD” bellowed down the echoing hall by Miss Quane and Filch both in unison marching away with a thrown. This became the daily routine. Even know when they are all busy preparing for their NEWTS, everything is the exact same. Even the little things, like how Remus has had one piece of toast, cut into four triangles, one triangle with butter, another with jam, the next with marmalade and the last with lemon curd every morning since forever it feels like. And even the routes they take to all their lessons are the same, even though after all their year at Hogwarts they have now learnt all of the shortcuts and secret tunnels the school has to offer. Every path, every triangle piece of toast, every time miss Quane’s screams have been echoed down the halls of the castle everything managed to stay the same.

I shall like to think that even if the most heartbreaking, life-altering, sad, beautiful, tragic thing happened to them, everything would stay the same, even if that meant they were living out their traditions in the afterlife.