"Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"
When James Fleamont Potter had first set foot in Hogwarts, there was one thing he knew for sure: no decent person would ever be in Slytherin.
After his first year, this was a notion that had been backed up incredibly due to a plethora of things ranging from the way Sirius Black, one of the most important people to him now, had been shunned by that house simply for not residing in it, to the atrocities those snakes flaunted justifying it by blood prejudice, to Severus Snape who insisted on maintaining his messed up friendship with Evans, as if he wasn't preaching his distasteful views on muggleborns whenever she was gone. It disgusted James — that house disgusted him in ways he openly voiced because at least his parents had raised him right, unlike Slytherin's. Brave, loyal, accepting - it was what he strived to be, even if he would sometimes be led astray the way young boys tended to, so how could he stand by a house who preached nothing of the sort?
In second year, his views were put under further inspection upon Regulus Black's arrival and swift sorting into Slytherin. James had been baffled to say the least - Sirius had always described his brother as intelligent yet quiet, impressionable yet good. If there was one thing about James, it was that he'd trust the words of his friends, even if it left him a puzzle with a missing piece - however could a Slytherin be good?
James had pushed his confusion aside, laying a hand on Sirius' shoulder in comfort as his dark-haired friend sighed. Sirius may have wanted Regulus to be in Ravenclaw, but James figured his sorting couldn't erase the boy's positive characteristics just like that, could it?
"I'm just thinking how embarrassed I'd be if I was Sirius Black," a blonde first year by the name of Evan Rosier, loudly said to another boy (Lestrange, was it?), his spiteful eyes momentarily settling on James' dejected friend before they snapped away. James had narrowed his eyes, in disbelief by such public resentment towards Sirius, despite it having become the norm ever since the start of school.
That year, James discovered that practically wherever Sirius' brother ventured, that hostile blonde boy would be there by his side, talking constantly about whatever he pleased and enhancing the distance between the Black brothers like it was his sole purpose in life. James could tell it greatly bothered his friend, even if he acted like it didn't.
Weeks prior to the winter holidays, Sirius received a wedding invitation from Andromeda Black, though she was only Black by name and clearly that would not be the case for long. Instantly Sirius had insisted on knowing if Regulus would come, because he claimed he had to - it was only fair. James agreed — he could never imagine abandoning family over who they loved, and from what he'd heard of Regulus Black, he was sure he couldn't either.
They found Regulus sat on a bench the same day, laughing with Rosier over something the former had said, and for a moment James thought they looked like a normal pair of boys chatting away, though that thought quickly dissipated as the two first years went silent, Rosier's evident displeasure encapsulated by the sneer on his face as he caught their gaze. Classic Slytherin.
If Regulus was unhappy to see them, he did a much better job of hiding it, as only a flicker of confusion appeared on his face as they stopped in front of him. Sirius glanced at James, clearly unsure of what to say, and James offered him a smile, happy to be a place of comfort.
"Hey, Reg."
"Get lost, Black," Rosier immediately snapped at him. Both Gryffindors scowled.
Regulus ignored his dickhead friend, rolling his eyes. "Hi, Sirius."
Sirius' expression softened as he looked at his brother, "Uh... you okay?" His awkward response was new to James - Sirius had always been one with words, much like James himself - the two were always riling up Remus and Peter with their never-ending conversations, especially in the middle of the night. Those talks were the only thing that calmed Sirius down after his nightmares, but obviously they never resented the other two for not knowing - it was how Sirius wanted it.
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure? I know we haven't talked much since your sorting, but..."
"If you're here to tell me how disappointed you are that I'm not a defect like you, Sirius, I don't want to hear it."
Sirius' shoulders slumped. James stared at his brother, shocked by his cruel words. "Hey Sirius isn't a defect. In fact-"
"Save it, Potter," Rosier interjected dryly, leaning back on the bench table, "no one wants to hear about the power of friendship." He was really starting to piss James off.
"Oh piss off, Rosier, will you?" Sirius retorted, clearly feeling the same. "No reason for you to be here."
He smirked, raising his head ever so slightly. "I was actually here first."
"Really?" James muttered. "Guess we just didn't see, garden gnomes aren't very noticeable. Sucks." He actually hadn't thought that jab through, but it seemed to have worked.
The blonde's smile faded, his face flushing in embarrassment, and James tried not to grin at his small victory. "It'll suck when I snap your glasses in half!"
He crossed his arms. "Just because you can't perform a simple repairing charm doesn't mean we're all incapable."
"Don't get cocky, I can do anything you mudblood-loving idiots can and more."
James blinked, taken aback, "What did you just say?"
"You heard me!"
"Merlin, will you stop bickering?" Regulus exclaimed, getting up. Rosier did, shockingly enough. Regulus glared at the three of them, before looking directly at Sirius. "What do you want?"
Sirius cleared his throat, "Are you coming to Andromeda's wedding?"
James watched as Rosier rolled his eyes at the name. If he was correct, Andromeda was his cousin just as she was Sirius' and Regulus', or at least she had been. Regulus was quiet for a moment, and then shook his head, "No. Is that it?"
Sirius' brows furrowed, "What? Why not?"
"I have other things to do."
"She's family, Reg!"
"No she's not," Regulus hissed back," She left! Get over it. Evan, put your stupid wand down." Rosier huffed, lowering his wand.
"So you're abandoning her," Sirius muttered, bitter betrayal in his voice.
"Bye, Sirius," Regulus brushed past him, and Rosier followed, but not before tossing a jinx James' way. He blinked, realising his glasses were suddenly embodying a kaleidoscope of sorts. When he took them off to inspect the lenses, the shattered pieces fell to the ground.
"Repair that," he murmured smugly, not even caring about the daggers James shot at him. That petty fucker.
Clearly, James had been right about Slytherins - even if they were rarely somewhat decent, their dickhead friends would always make up for it.
Third year, Regulus and Rosier made the Slytherin team, as if to add to James' misfortune. That year he learned that the latter was brutal - their first Slytherin v Gryffindor game, the psychopath hadn't given it a rest with the bludgers - James had spent the entire game dodging for his bloody life. It was as if someone had told Rosier 'You're a beater!' and he'd taken it as 'Beat up James Potter'. The game had luckily ended when Gryffindor's seeker, Frank Longbottom, had caught the snitch and James was thankful for it - he didn't know how he'd cope if Rosier had identified attempted murder as a winning strategy.
The dark-skinned boy had flown down to the ground, fueled by irritation as he stormed towards the younger boy, wand in hand. "You maniac!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up as Rosier's discontented face quickly formed a malicious grin upon seeing him. "You almost knocked me out!"
The blonde laughed. In his face. "Good."
Evan Rosier had jelly legs for the next two days.
When James next properly spoke to Evan Rosier (excluding the string of insults that ran loose whenever they bumped into each other), it was the summer of fifth year and he was accompanied with a cleaning cloth and a collection of trophies. James had scored detention after Avery had challenged him to a duel, infuriated by James' very accurate jab at his dull personality. James would've won too, had Slughorn not interrupted, but instead, here he was slaving over the school's prize collection with some prejudiced fourth year.
James glanced at him from across the room, and Rosier appeared to be resisting the urge to strangle him. He turned his back to him, picking up a Quidditch tournament trophy and proceeding to absentmindedly polish it. "Constipated, eh?"
"What."
"You look like you're about to shit yourself... or is that just your face?"
"But if I hex you, I'm the one in the wrong?" the blonde muttered to himself, grabbing a silver medal.
"Not my fault you're sensitive, Rosier."
"Me? Sensitive?"
James moved to the next trophy in the pile, "Clearly."
"You're the one crying over some ginger mud- muggleborn every lunch. If anyone's sensitive, it's you."
"Muggleborn?" James asked, confused by his sudden correction. The Rosier he'd seen around had never been careful to keep his dislike for non-purebloods a secret. The blonde boy didn't reply, suddenly intrigued by the gold cup in front of him, causing James to frown. "I don't cry over Lily every lunch."
"Uh huh. I almost pity her for having to constantly put up with you."
James huffed, trying not to let that bother him. Yes, he wondered if she still found him as irritating as she'd let on in their earlier years - James knew she'd been infuriated at him for messing with Snape (the git had deserved it), but he'd been working to make it up to her since that incident. James could feel she was warming up to him again. Rejection after rejection had never swayed him at first, but as he'd grown, he'd realised his friendship with Lily was far more important than the idea of a relationship she did not want. Even if James would always know her as the epitome of beauty, compassion and intelligence, and even if he would always love her. "Come off it, Rosier. You've never liked a girl even once?"
Rosier scoffed, grinning to himself and shaking his head as if he knew something James didn't, "Nope."
James had never had a sister. In fact, he'd been an only child. He had never felt lonely though, despite that - his parents had always been immensely active in his life, always spending time with him whether it be vacations or drawing or cooking gajar ka halwa together - which was actually a lengthy process as his ammi insisted making it in bulk. James knew his parents had went through a few miscarriages before his birth and so they had put their all into him, regularly referring to them always as their roshni.
However, after six years of Hogwarts, it was safe to say that James was no longer an only child. Sirius was for sure his brother, especially now that his family had adopted him after he ran away, and so were Moony and Wormtail. When it came to a sister, he would have to say the role fell to Mary Macdonald. Since first year, he'd always found her marvellous - while Lily tended to scold him for his errors, Mary was always there to encourage him no matter what. She had been there for him when him and Lily had first really fought, assuring him that she didn't truly despise him despite the constant dubbing of him as a 'toerag', and he had been there for her after Mulciber had cornered her in fourth year.
(James had been partly at fault for riling up the freak all these years. At least Mulciber had faced the consequence of expulsion, and Mary could stay at Hogwarts feeling slightly safer with him gone, but the guilt from not being there to stop the incident, and for being a potential cause of it, that was something James would hold onto for life, though he'd never burden Mary with the fact.)
So, anyways, you could imagine James' pure concern when Marlene Mckinnon, Mary's best mate, began talking about her randomly disappearing now and again without an explanation. Mary's father had almost pulled her out of school after the incident, understandably enough, and had only been convinced by the assurance that she wouldn't wander Hogwarts alone anymore, and yet she was certainly not wandering with anyone they all knew of.
That case was cracked quickly, in the form of one of the biggest hits to sway James' opinion on Slytherin - Mary Macdonald and Regulus Black were dating. The discovery had been made a few weeks into sixth year when him and Pete had been carrying out their latest prank, shrouded by the magic of James' invisibilty cloak and had stumbled across the two lovebirds snogging. They had kept their mouths shut, yet James was befuddled to his very core.
Regulus was complicated, especially ever since Sirius had left. James knew Pads had begged him to come with, but Regulus had rejected his offer so Sirius had been certain he'd chosen their family and their pureblood mania over him. And here he was? Kissing a muggleborn? It was unfathomable. James felt horrible keeping it from his best friend - Sirius was his brother, his twin flame, his platonic soulmate, but Mary was his sister too, and surely she had her reasons - he would always put that trust into his friend. Still, he was torn. Peter had insisted on keeping it a secret for now, but James knew it was easier for him - Wormy had always been good at keeping secrets. He was the best liar out of the four of them, always ready to make excuses or weave stories to get them out of trouble, even before Hogwarts.
A week later, James had decided to come clean after a miserable few days of keeping it in. He'd tell Mary what he knew and figure where to go from there. The boy head straight to her dorm after classes (the girls had figured out a spell to get past the barrier put up for boys a few years ago) and just as he'd been about to knock on the door, out stepped Evan bloody Rosier, holding a baby pink hairbrush.
James was taken aback, literally — he stumbled backwards, sure his bewilderment was plastered clearly across his face. "What the heck?" Rosier's head was dipped as a slight smile played on his lips — Classic Slytherin — but his eyes widened immediately upon finding James in front of him.
"Potter," he mumbled to himself, as if he was processing being caught committing a crime - he probably was. "I'm sure that's what the people at St Mungo's said when you popped out."
"What were you doing in there?"
"Uh, I just love hanging out in Gryffindor dorms. Really strikes my fancy, y'know?" He held up the hairbrush, "Nice colour, right?"
James blinked, appalled. "You... what? You bloody CREEP—" he began to shriek.
"Oh shut up," Rosier huffed. "I was just visiting."
"Yeah? Visiting who, huh?"
"Your mother. Say hi to your new stepdad."
"I'm going to start yelling again."
Rosier stared at him blankly, "You wouldn't."
"SOMEONE HELP, EVAN ROS- MMPH!" James exclaimed as Rosier tackled him to the ground, clamping his hands over his mouth.
"What the fuck is wrong with you-" the blonde began.
James shoved him away, "Get off, you madman!"
"Me? " he gasped. "You're the one who can't keep his bloody mouth shut-"
"That doesn't mean you hit me!"
"I didn't hit you!"
"Yes, you did!"
Rosier glared at him, pursing his lips, "Oh, I'll hit you alright!" he announced.
"Don't you dare- Merlin!" James screeched as the hairbrush flew by his head, just barely missing his head. "Pagal!"
"Oh my God, Evan, what are you doing!" Mary exclaimed, her dorm door open to reveal Regulus behind her.
"He's a dick, Macdonald!" Rosier exclaimed, prompting a laugh from Regulus who quickly cleared his throat upon receiving a glare from his girlfriend. James looked between the three, horrified.
"And you're a prick, Ev!" she retorted, moving to retrieve her hairbrush. The blonde rolled his eyes.
"Wait- Ev?" James repeated, scrunching his nose in disgust at the nickname. He turned to Mary. "You're friends with him? He's a Slytherin!"
"Aren't you observant?" Rosier responded dryly, standing and dusting himself.
"They're not all bad, James," Mary replied, helping James up.
James frowned, looking between her and the other two again. "Is that why you're dating Sirius' brother?"
Mary paused, and Regulus seemed to choke on air, "What?"
To James' immense relief, Mary and Regulus did eventually let Padfoot know about their relationship, and the two brothers even reconciled that same year. The result was odd, honestly - with Regulus and Evan quickly squeezing their way into the friend group through Remus and Mary respectively, they'd unlocked several never-seen-before dynamics. For example, never had James imagined he'd be sitting by the Black Lake on a spring evening, being lectured on the origins of its name by a tipsy Evan Rosier, yet here he was. Truthfully, he'd never even thought Rosier would be into geography (or whatever name origins counted as) - it seemed more Regulus' forte, if anything - but clearly he'd been wrong.
Dorcas, Marlene, Mary and Peter were on the bench nearby, seemingly drawing each other. Originally, Moony and Regulus had been sitting with James and Evan as well, but had quickly become distracted by Regulus' pet cat which James could see was really bugging Pads - every now and then Sirius would glance away from Lily to stare at his boyfriend with a look of exaggerated betrayal. James grinned - they were adorable.
Now, as Rosier blabbered on, James' concentration had wavered to Lily, who looked radiant as ever in the orange light of the sunset - her hair was flowing loose, as it always did and, as she smirked at Pads' flickering attention, he noticed her lips were tinted red. James didn't know much about make-up, but he knew every colour would complement Lily Evans, who was beauty personified. That girl was simply bewitching - pun completely intended.
"...would you agree, Potter?"
James blinked, looking back at Evan who was leaning his head against the trunk of a tree and staring at him knowingly. "Huh? Oh, yeah definitely."
Evan chuckled, raising his eyebrows, "You agree redheads suck?"
"Wait, what?" James asked and Rosier burst into a fit of giggles. It was safe to say - alcohol did weird things to people.
The blonde offered him a toothy grin, gesturing to Lily with a nod. "Evans still isn't into you?"
James looked at her again, and then looked away, shaking his head and sighing, "I think it's safe to say she just sees me as a friend."
"And still, you're looking at her like you'd wait lifetimes for her to feel otherwise."
"I would. Didn't know you to be such a romantic, Rosier."
He hummed, holding up a bottle of firewhiskey, "Must be the alcohol," he shrugged. "Or the finally-got-a-boyfriend-instead-of-going-through-my-guy-rota. I don't know. Want some?"
"Boyfriend? You're...?"
James never would have guessed - he was sure he'd seen the blonde with a girl or two before in... third year, maybe? Though he supposed that was a while ago, and Sirius and Remus had taken a while to discover their preferences too, though James himself had known it wasn't just girls the minute he'd laid eyes on Frank Longbottom in first year. "Just guys then?" Evan only smiled, holding a finger up to his lips, before yawning.
"Sooo, drink?"
"I've had my limit."
"You had two shots."
"So did Evans."
"Copycat," Rosier accused, gulping down some firewhiskey as he did.
James rolled his eyes, "You're going to have the worst hangover."
"Who cares? I'm living in the moment."
"You'll be living in the infirmary tomorrow."
"Alright, mum," Evan snorted, his gaze fixing on something behind James, "You might end up joining me when you faint."
"What do you mean?" James looked behind him to find nothing out of the ordinary.
"Evans."
"Evans?"
"Just there, Evans was staring at you," he said. "Pretty sure she was blushing."
James' face suddenly felt incredibly warm, "She was?"
He nodded, "Guess you lot have a chance, but what's more likely is she's experiencing second-hand embarrassment from seeing your face."
"Oh." Lily Evans had been staring at him. And blushing. James turned to see her again, the brightest smile on his face as he did.
"Oi, Evans!" Evan called out. "You know Potter has lice?"
"What-" James' eyes widened as Lily stopped mid-conversation to make a face at him. "He's lying!"
Evan only laughed.
The next time Gryffindor played Slytherin and won, Evan Rosier had gotten off his broom with clear frustration etched into his face, muttering something to Regulus who sighed. The beater had then turned to stare at him, looking him up and down, and James had braced himself for a series of unwarranted insults. Instead, Evan held his hand out to him. "You did good, Potter."
James blinked, and then beamed and shook his hand, "Weren't too bad yourself."
Maybe decent Slytherins weren't as rare as James had thought.
Summer rolled around that year and James couldn't wait for the holidays. Though whispers of an upcoming war were brewing, the marauders and the girls had opted to leave all that in the wizarding world — in fact, Lily had offered to show them all this muggle campsite near her home, and James was certain he hadn't imagined how her gaze lingered on him when she suggested it.
"They wanted privacy. Regulus isn't going," Evan stated when James found him alone in the Gryffindor common room. Apparently, Mary had been eager for her boyfriend to join them that summer as well, but Regulus wasn't budging. Currently the two were talking it out in her dorm while Evan waited downstairs for his friend.
"Why not?"
"It's not my place to say." James had noticed Evan had a knack for sharing everyone's secrets, including his own, except when it came to Regulus.
"It's because of Voldemort, isn't it?" Back in first year, Voldemort had been a mere fanatic who spread his pureblood beliefs to anyone who listened — no one had imagined his uprising, let alone it being a catalyst for war.
Evan looked away, "He's growing in power. I've even seen it at my part-time job at the ministry - support is growing."
That was no surprise. James had heard the stories himself. "Why are you working there anyways?" he questioned, opting to change topics. "You said you wanted to be a defense against the dark arts professor."
(It was true. Only a few months earlier, the topic of their futures had come up in the familiar atmosphere of detention. After Slughorn had left, having reminded them of the many flaws on their school record and how it could affect them, the blonde had turned and asked him, "Do you know what you're going to do? After school?"
That question had stumped James. He recalled in first year his dream had been to become a star quidditch player, but as he grew and watched the hardships of those around him — from Remus' lycanthropy to Lily and Mary's struggles of being a muggleborn in their world — James wanted nothing but to help them. Maybe a healer would work for him? Or an auror.
"...I'm not sure."
"Sucks, maybe you can join the circus," he'd smirked. "Defense against the dark arts professor for me."
"Wouldn't you scare all the kids off?"
Evan had rolled his eyes, "I can be good with kids. I have two brothers.")
"People change."
"Right, well... surely Voldemort won't last long. We'll be rid of him soon, especially with Dumbledore on our side. Regulus doesn't have to start distancing himself because Voldemort-"
"Will you stop saying his name?" Evan said harshly, furrowing his eyebrows.
James paused. "What? Voldemort?"
"I said stop, Potter."
"Evan, you can't seriously think he's important enough to-"
"He is important. I've been to the meetings, Potter, I've seen it."
James took a step back, a sense of dread overcoming him at that. "You've what?" Surely he hadn't heard him right.
Rosier inhaled and shook his head, looking away again. "What did you expect? My family's in with it just as much Reg's is."
"Regulus is involved?"
"I didn't fucking say that. Regulus would never—"
"Because if Regulus is involved, Rosier, Mary has a right to know."
"This has nothing to do with you!"
"She's my friend!"
"She's mine, too!"
"Is she?" James challenged.
"Yes," Rosier insisted, sighing when he realised how unconvincing he appeared, "Look, Potter, Regulus has nothing to do with it, okay? I swear. He doesn't even know I've went, and I've only gone because my father told me to so—"
"Then tell Mary."
"What?" He looked almost betrayed, which James was finding incredibly ironic. He understood family issues, but keeping it from someone he appeared so close with, who James cared deeply about, was just insane.
"She deserves to know what her friend is doing behind her back. You're advocating for someone who wants people like her gone!"
"I didn't say I fucking agree with it, Potter, just leave it."
"Surely she'll understand, but that's her choice to make. You can't just keep that from her."
"Why? It'll only hurt her to know."
"You're being selfish, Rosier."
"Maybe I am. Maybe I don't want to lose two of my best friends. You know Regulus would always stick with her, right? It's good, I'm happy for them. He'd no doubt understand me, but telling her would make things complicated for him, for her and for me. It's not worth ruining everything because of your stupid moral compass."
"Why can't you just trust that Mary will get it?"
"...you know what? Fine."
"Fine?"
"Obliviate."
Seventh year had rolled around with a perfect end to the previous one — they had all went camping that summer (except Regulus and Evan, who sadly hadn't been able to make it) and drumroll please... Lily had kissed James! Okay, to be technical — it had been part of this muggle game by the name of spin the bottle but still! And then she'd told him he wasn't a bad kisser either! Merlin, he loved that woman.
The first half of the year had gone smoothly for the lot of them, with Mary, Evan and Regulus attached to each other whenever possible, him and Lily becoming head boy and girl and Remus and Sirius who were so infatuated with each other that James now had a fear of walking into his own dorm without knocking.
And then right before winter break, a muggleborn student had been attacked in Hogsmeade and hospitalised. It all went downhill from there — by spring break, attacks had become more frequent, Mary and Regulus had split up during winter, which had left the former in pieces, and even though Evan had stopped coming around as a result of it, James had later discovered his face anyways on the front-page of The Daily Prophet. Evan Rosier had once told him he had two brothers — after Spring 1978, he had none plus an imprisoned death eater father.
The blonde no longer acknowledged them at all after that, not even a simple nod in the hallways — scratch that, James didn't think he really saw him acknowledge anyone except Regulus anymore. James didn't fault him for it — he couldn't imagine losing so many people at once, but his sympathy began to waver when Rosier went from some stony-faced bloke to a short-tempered git, even going as far as to threaten and hex Sirius when he'd attempted to speak to Regulus.
Regulus wasn't any better — according to Mary, their break-up had been sudden and occurred with little explanation. Only that he'd been talking to his mother. Regulus refused to even look at her now, and Rosier didn't seem to be helping the case. The two of them had cut everyone off so suddenly that their friendships, or whatever they were, seemed like nothing but imagination.
A year passed, and Hogwarts was finally over. They'd joined the order and James and Lily hadn't just dated, but married.
But Black and Rosier had joined Voldemort at the same time, and just like that the former had practically killed Padfoot, James could tell, even if he acted unaffected. The latter quickly became one of the most active and formidable death eaters — James was sure Rosier just loved the sound of that.
Alice and Frank Longbottom were tortured to insanity. Wormy looked so tired — they were all so tired. Moony was always gone, a spy for the order, but Pads couldn't help but doubt what kind of spy he really was. Regulus Black's death was announced, and Remus hadn't been there. James had rushed over to his friend's and Sirius had cried, and sobbed, and yelled, and cursed. He was a death eater, but he was still just eighteen. He had been killed through Voldemort's wishes, they said. The war was slowly killing them all — that monster was slowly killing them all. James couldn't count on both hands how many funerals he'd attended. Marlene — James couldn't imagine a world without his childhood friend, and yet he had to after they killed her, and so did Peter who had been even closer than himself. Mary was inconsolable. Lily didn't leave their bedroom. Dorcas didn't even wait before rushing to kill Voldemort — he killed her instead.
At the end of Summer, a child was born — their child. Harry James Potter. He was the spark of hope, of life, in the midst of such lack of it. And then a prophecy was told.
James' last battle against Voldemort's followers, before him, Lily and Harry went into hiding, had been a memorable one.
Some cloaked maniac had almost knocked him out and James had just managed to dodge, only to be knocked down by another blast. The death eater had approached him quickly, wand pointed directly at him, but fortunately Sirius had managed to blast him backwards from the right. When he fell, his mask followed suit to reveal Rosier who only glared at them before placing it back on.
James and Sirius may have apparated away instantly, but not as instantly as a conclusion came to James' mind: he was wrong.
It wasn't Slytherins who couldn't be decent. It was the self-serving, vindictive types like Evan Rosier.